Demopolis City Schools officials announced Friday that there will be no non-resident tuition implemented, at least not at this time.

During a February meeting of the Demopolis Board of Education, Superintendent Kyle Kallhoff said a committee had been formed to explore a “reasonable tuition” for students attending the school system who actually lie outside of the city limits. Kallhoff said the goal of the possible fee would be for financial purposes only, not necessarily as a way to exclude students.

After the committee met, Kallhoff said there would be no fee implemented.

“The timing is not right,” he said in a written statement. “With the push for charter schools in West Alabama and the questioning of the quality of public education from state leaders, we do not want to risk losing any of our students. I feel confident that the quality of teaching and learning in Demopolis is far more superior than alternative options in our region. We want to make sure all of our approximate 2,300 students have access to the high caliber education we are able to offer and give them no reason to explore other routes.”

The committee did conclude that a fee could help offset certain costs,” the superintendent said.

“After meeting with the committee and analyzing the data, the financial numbers certainly indicate that there is a need for a reasonable annual tuition or fee for non-resident students,” Kallhoff said. “Specifically, due to the inadequate state funding we receive in the areas of speech, special education testing, nursing, and transportation for extra-curricular activities.

“We will continue to closely monitor our non-resident student numbers to prevent overcrowding in our programs and classes and make sure our high quality education is not impacted. It is also our desire to continue to attract excellent students to our school system who do not reside in the city limits of Demopolis.”