Westmont Hilltop board approves full-time employees' children enrolling tuition-free

May 17—Full-time employees of Westmont Hilltop School District can now enroll their children in the district for free.

The Westmont Hilltop school board approved the measure at Thursday's meeting with the second reading and approval of policies 201 and 202, which deal with admissions and eligibility, respectively, of nonresident students.

"We're going to allow students to come in that fit inside our class sizes," Superintendent Thomas Mitchell said.

He said that additional teachers won't be hired and more services won't be provided with this change, but there is a hope that the school's total tuition expenses, such as tuition paid to cyber charter schools, will decrease.

"I view this as a positive thing for our students and for our employees," Mitchell said.

After the meeting, Mitchell said he's already had a handful of Westmont Hilltop teachers contact him about enrolling their students in the district.

Typically, students seeking enrollment outside their home district have to pay tuition to attend. Past practice is that Westmont Hilltop doesn't accept tuition students, which will be continued, with the exception of employees' children, who can enroll for free.

Other business handled by the board Thursday included passing a preliminary budget with no tax increase. The millage rate is set to remain at 89.2 mills, with revenues and expenditures balanced at $27,277,119.

Board member Joseph Podrebarac commended Business Manager Jacklyn Hanik for her work on the finances.

Board member Kamal Gella thanked his colleagues for passing a preliminary budget with no tax increase, especially in light of recent inflation and the residents in the district who are on a fixed budget.

The group also passed a motion to hire The Fatula Group with a contract for $20,000. The company will assist with Pennsylvania Act 55 safety and security procedures.