In the past four school years, Elkin City Schools enrollment has increased steadily.

The district had 1,160 students in the 2009-2010 school year, 1,190 students in the 2010-2011 school year, 1,176 in the 2011-2012 school year, and 1,202 students this school year.

This year, 647 students attend Elkin Elementary School, 184 Elkin Middle School and 371 students Elkin High School.

An average of 20 percent of those students, and students in recent history, are from out of district. This school year, 219 students are out of district.

Tuition is charged for students who are out of district. If the student lives outside Surry County and also outside Elkin City Schools’ district, the tuition fee is $300. If the student resides within Surry County but outside of Elkin City Schools’ district, the tuition fee is $200.

According to board policies, tuition may be waived if the student meets one of the following criteria:

• A student who is admitted to the school district pursuant to an agreement between this board and another board of education, where the agreement specifies that the payment of tuition by the individual will not be required.
• A student resides on a military base within North Carolina, where federal funds designed to compensate for the impact on public schools of military dependent students are provided to the school district in an amount not less than fifty percent of the total per capita cost for education, exclusive of capital outlay and debt service.
• A student who demonstrates extraordinary financial hardship.
• Non-resident students of the school district whose parents moved or plan to move into the school district on or before Dec. 1 may be assigned at the beginning of the school year to the school serving the pupil’s new residence without payment of tuition.

“If a student or a students parents want them to be in our school system, even if they live out of district, we want to do everything we can to make sure that happens,” said Dr. Randy Bledsoe, superintendent of Elkin City Schools.

Reach Darcie Dyer at 835-1513 or ddyer@heartlandpublications.com.