Perpich Arts High School to Eliminate Dorm Fees
Big changes are on the way for the Perpich Center for Arts Education. The changes are aimed at luring more students from greater Minnesota to the Golden Valley high school.
“Our governing board, along with our executive director, voted during the December board meeting to eradicate dorm fees for any student that lives over 20 miles away, and wouldn’t be able to otherwise attend without access to the dorm,” said Ahava Silkey-Jones, principal of the Perpich Center for Arts Education.
The eradication of dorm fees at Perpich would begin in the fall. For the impacted students, this would mean an annual savings of $3,600.
Enrollment this year at Perpich is at 116 students. The hope is to get that number closer to 200 students with this investment.
Perpich didn’t receive any additional money to waive the dorm fees. Instead, the school’s executive board plans to make changes to the current budget.
“We’ll make decisions about what we do, and what we don’t do, what we buy and what we don’t buy,” said Curt Tryggestad, executive director at Perpich. “And out of a $7 million budget, there is room to move.”
Currently, 30 percent of Perpich students come from greater Minnesota. The deadline for students to apply is Feb. 1.
