Room In Little Compton Schools For Out-Of-Towners: Superintendent

LITTLE COMPTON, RI — The Little Compton schools will start accepting out-of-district students for $6,000 a year, Supt. Robert Power said in an interview Tuesday. The price looks like a bargain, given the fact the district's per pupil expense is over $18,000 a year. That's correct, he said. But it doesn't raise the per pupil cost to bring in a few extras, he said, and the tuition's roughly comparable to the parochial schools.

"We're not adding staff, he said. "We have classes with low teacher-student ratios," he explained. Although he's not looking to fill them up, he would like to add one or two youngsters in classes with only 12 or 14 students. Little Compton has K-8. The total newcomers would not exceed 50, he said.

For example, both second grade classrooms have only 12 students enrolled. Adding two to each class would bring $12,000 more to the district. That would pay for a lot of new computers or come close to paying for the after school sports program.

Individual parents would be welcome to apply, as well as school districts, he said.

"If people knew how good the Little Compton schools are," he said, they might see the $6,000 tuition as a very tempting alternative to private school.

Little Compton has one of the top academic programs in the state, he acknowledged. "We're in the top ten."

Power said some tuition deals do work well.

North Kingstown High and Narragansett High accept tuition students, primarily from Jamestown, which, like Little Compton, does not have a high school. Both have good buildings and high academic ratings.

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