LJWorld.com

An influx of students from foreign countries means more than increased diversity for Coldwater.

It also means extra money for the school district.

The district that includes Coldwater gets about $7,500 per student enrolled. With eight exchange students this year, that means an extra $60,000 for the district.

That's only 1.1 percent of the district's annual budget this year, but Superintendent Mike Baldwin says it's still a significant amount.

"They saw the enrollment getting low," he says of the town's exchange student host families. "They saw this as a way to bolster student enrollment and give life to the community."

The district's high school, South Central High School, has 12 part-time and full-time staff. With only 81 students enrolled, there are many classes that have only four or five students.

"We've got more space for kids," Baldwin says.

In Lawrence, there are eight foreign exchange students enrolled this year - four at each high school.

Kim Young, the Lawrence district's federal programs and international students specialist, says the district caps foreign enrollment at eight each year. That's partly because of the staff time required to teach English as a second language, and partly because there's not a dire need for international students in Lawrence.

"We're different from other districts in that we have the opportunity to have diverse students without the foreign exchange students," she says. "We have lots of opportunities for a diverse population."

Unlike students who are Kansas residents, international students must be enrolled on the Sept. 20 official count day and stay through the entire first semester before a school district can receive funding for them. That does leave some risk for districts if they spend resources on students who leave midway through the semester.

Dale Dennis, the state's interim education commissioner, says he wouldn't advise districts to count on funding from foreign students.

"The reason is it's too inconsistent," Dennis says. "There are too many things that can happen at the last minute. I remember a year or two ago, a district had students from a country signed up to come, and at the last minute the country said, 'No, you can't go.' ... I think relying on foreign exchange students is very, very rare and also would not prove healthy."

Andy Tompkins, a former state education commissioner who now is an education faculty member at Kansas University, says he doesn't remember much talk about districts recruiting international students during his time at the Kansas State Department of Education.

Tompkins says he thinks legislators would quickly become involved if districts started making a concerted effort to recruit foreign students.

"If it's an issue of public concern, I think you'd have the Legislature be interested," he says. "Until it becomes a big deal, or there's a pattern of it, I don't see it being a problem."