21-4-501. Payment of tuition for children resident in districts which maintain no high school; admission of children to high schools in other districts; state board approval for out-of-state placements; duties of admitting districts; tuition amount.

(a) Any district which does not maintain a high school shall pay tuition, in addition to transportation or maintenance, for any child resident therein who has successfully completed the course offered therein and desires to attend high school, at any public school within or subject to the approval of the state board of education, without the state, which the district board may designate in the best interest, welfare and convenience of the child. Application for attendance at a high school outside the state shall be filed by the nonunified district board with the state department of education. If the nonunified district provides evidence that the amount of tuition assessed by the out-of-state district for the out-of-state placement shall not exceed one hundred twenty-five percent (125%) of the actual per pupil cost as determined under subsection (c) of this section, state board approval shall be waived under this subsection.

(b) The board of trustees of any school district within the state which maintains a high school shall admit, upon payment of tuition, pupils of districts which do not maintain a high school; provided that nothing in this section shall be construed to require a district to admit nonresident pupils, when to do so would overcrowd the facilities of the admitting district or in any way work a definite hardship upon the educational program offered by the admitting district. The admitting district shall:

(i) Include any pupil admitted under this section among its average daily membership (ADM) for purposes of computing the foundation program under W.S. 21-13-309; and

(ii) Account separately for the portion of the tuition received pursuant to this section which is related to school buildings and facilities, as determined by the district and reported to the state department, and deposit that portion in its debt service account. The remainder shall be reported as revenues for purposes of W.S. 21-13-310(a)(ix).

(c) The amount of tuition assessed under this section shall be determined by dividing the total operating cost of the district for the previous year, plus the cost of bond redemption and interest for the previous year, by the total of the district's average daily membership for the previous year.

(d) Subject to state board approval if an out-of-state placement as required under subsection (a) of this section, nonunified school districts shall be reimbursed from the school foundation program account for tuition paid under subsection (a) of this section as if the district's total foundation program amount for that year as computed under W.S. 21-13-309(p) was increased by the amount of the tuition paid during the preceding year.

(e) Any out-of-state placement under subsection (a) of this section shall include within the agreement with the out-of-state school district, that district's agreement to provide student transcripts as required under W.S. 21-16-1308(a)(ii). The agreement shall also require the out-of-state school district to cooperate with the department of education to identify those courses provided by the out-of-state school district which satisfy the success curriculum requirements established under W.S. 21-16-1307.