Wake Board of Education members decided Monday not to resume paying $73,500 in tuition to Granville County for dozens of students in a northern county region known as "The Lost Colony."

Wake County Schools have made the payments for more than 20 years to allow children in the area to attend Granville County Schools. According to WCPSS Growth and Planning Director Chuck Dulaney, there are students living in the same region who are attending Wake County schools.

"We are transporting students from that area and are also paying tuition for students from that area to go up to Granville County schools," said Dulaney. "This is an area where parents are right now exercising a choice."

The tuition money was removed from Wake's budget after a request in January from Granville County School Board Chair Leonard Peace Sr.

In a letter dated January 12, 2009, Peace said the cost of educating the students from Wake County had become "cost prohibitive," stating:

"...please consider this letter to be official notice that Granville County Schools will no longer be able to provide access to our schools for the "Lost Colony." Per agreement, we are providing this notice in January to become effective the end of this (2008-09) academic year."

But a letter received April 6 asked that the arrangement be resumed under the same terms, meaning that Wake County would pay tuition in the amount of $1,443 per student.

Dulaney told Wake school board members that the system can absorb the new students into nearby schools.

"It would add the equivalent of one class to Pleasant Union Elementary," he said. "It would add slightly less than one class worth of students to Wakefield Middle and Wakefield High, which are overcrowded, but we are addressing the overcrowding in our three-year assignment plan."

Transportation costs, according to Superintendent Del Burns, should not be an issue since school buses routes are already running in the area.  Parents who wish to continue sending their children to Granville County will be asked to pay their own tuition.