Cobb County opens school seats to outside families

Other news tonight. Right now, people who don't live in Cobb County can apply for their children to go to a Cobb County public school. The program called Choose Cobb. Fox 5's Denise Dillon is live in Cobb County tonight. Denise, does that apply to any school? No, not all of them. There are 12 schools in the program. Now, today was the first day the district started receiving applications for the program, and they say there's been a lot of interest. They've been getting calls and emails across all grade levels. How do I do this? When can I start? Will I be able to stay my entire educational career? Those are just some of the questions Cobb County school officials are getting from families who don't live in the district but want to enroll their children in a Cobb County school. The tuition-based enrollment program is called Choose Cobb. We believe that Cobb offers the best product and we want to expand that opportunity to families who do not live inside our district boundaries. Twelve schools are participating, four elementary, four middle and four high schools, including Kell, South Cobb, Harrison and Allatoona. The 12 schools that were chosen are the ones that had the most open seats. The number varies by school, but school officials say each location currently has dozens or more empty seats. We are only using the open seats in existing classrooms with existing teachers in existing programs. There is a $600 tuition fee per student for each semester. And by filling those empty seats, schools receive state funding. These are additional revenue... dollars we wouldn't otherwise receive and it isn't costing us anything in expenses. District officials say this gives families another option when it comes to education. We are excited to expand the opportunity. And the application period for the next semester which begins in January is from now until the end of November. Reporting live in Cobb County, Denise Dillon, Fox 5 News. Denise, thanks.