Lincoln Academy has “respectfully declined” a Newcastle School Committee request to waive tuition for students living in the Lincoln Academy dormitories.
Superintendent Steve Bailey wrote to Lincoln Academy Head of School David Sturdevant July 15 asking for a tuition waiver for two students living in the staff housing who are currently enrolled at Lincoln Academy. The parents of the students are dorm parents who supervise the students living in the on-campus housing.
“Given that these families now reside within Newcastle when previously they had resided in towns outside of Newcastle, an additional tuition obligation and burden has been placed upon the Newcastle taxpayers because of these families now residing within Newcastle,” Bailey wrote.
According to Bailey’s letter, there are two students living in the staff housing who are attending Lincoln Academy, however, that number is set to increase as children who are enrolled in Great Salt Bay Community School become old enough to attend high school. Bailey asked that the waiver be granted to those students in the future.
Sturdevant responded with a letter Aug. 26 in which he “respectfully declined” Bailey’s request. Sturdevant said that although the students do live on campus, they are entitled to have their tuition covered because they live in Newcastle.
“If they chose to go to another school in a different location, Newcastle would still be required to cover their tuition at the (maximum allowable tuition) rate,” Sturdevant wrote in his response.
Sturdevant went on to write that through the development of on-campus housing, Lincoln Academy has been able to provide secondary students of Newcastle a quality education at a significantly lower tuition cost than what residents currently pay for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
The Newcastle School Committee discussed Sturdevant’s response at its meeting Oct. 14. The committee currently does not intend to pursue the issue further.
Lincoln Academy and the town of Newcastle are also in discussion regarding the staff residences after the town, in a reassessment of the school property, determined it could tax staff residences. The tax would only apply to the staff apartments within the dormitories. At the Sept. 14 meeting of the Newcastle Board of Selectmen, Sturdevant told the board the school intends to submit an abatement request.
