By SUZANNE MARINO
Staff Writer

LONGPORT – The borough and the Margate Board of Education have negotiated an agreement whereby Longport will pay reduced-price tuition to send its preschoolers to Margate Schools this year.

The Margate Board of Education has agreed to accept $3,500 for each of the preschoolers attending this year from Longport, in lieu of the $13,100 per child the borough was charged in the past as set by the state, Longport Board of Education President Herbert Stern said in a phone interview Sept. 3.

Negotiations were prompted by the increased number of preschoolers coming from the borough this year.

Longport is a sending district of Margate and is required to pay a tuition set by the state for each of the students it sends to Margate schools. However, preschool is not mandated, so board members saw the chance for some flexibility.

“We were looking at the possibility of nine preschool students this year, and that is a cost of over $100,000 and would have an impact on our budget,” Stern said.

Stern said the Longport Board of Education did some research and found that area preschools charge an average of $2,500 to $4,500.

“We held a meeting and decided that we would offer families $3,500 per student, and we would pay that amount to a certified preschool of the family’s choice for this year only,” said Stern.

Margate charges out-of-district students $3,500 for the first child in a family, so the Longport school board decided to ask if Margate would accept that figure for preschoolers.

“We explained to Margate why were planning to do that and asked if they would consider accepting $3,500 as payment for the Longport preschool students,” Stern said.

Longport Board of Education members Lynn Baumgardner and Linda Bakaj attended the Margate Board of Education meeting Aug. 13 and aired their concerns. Margate held a special meeting, and on Aug. 20 decided that for this year the $3,500 could be charged without having an impact on the school because the space is available, the teachers are already in place, and no additional hires would be necessary.

“We have a very good relationship with Margate and we hope that will continue,” Stern said.