There have been many questions and much speculation the past few months as to whether or not Oxford Schools is breaking the law by having Chinese students study for more than one year and whether the agreements between Oxford Schools, Rochester College and Weiming Education Group are legal.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is looking into the matter.
‘The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) closely monitors U.S. schools that enroll international students for compliance with U.S. laws and regulations. The relationship between Oxford Community Schools, Weiming Education Group and Rochester College is currently being reviewed by SEVP,? said Public Affairs Officer Carissa Cutrell, who responded to an e-mail from the Oxford Leader, inquiring about the situation.
Oxford Schools? Superintendent Tim Throne said he is perfectly fine with homeland security reviewing everything.
‘We’re not hiding anything or trying to pull the wool over anybody’s eyes,? Throne said.
First-year students
According to Throne each first-year student equals one ‘FTE? (Full-Time-Equivalent) student. For every FTE, the district receives roughly $7,300 of foundation allowance from the state. In addition to that, they also receive $10,000 tuition per student.
Throne explained that all foundation money collected goes into the general fund to help pay for the education the students receive from Oxford. Meanwhile all the tuition money goes into the Oxford International Residence Academy (OIRA) budget and helps pay for such things as after school support, OIRA salaries, administrative support, etc.
?(In year one) they take classes and participate in school activities, just like any other student,? Throne said.
If students stay at Rochester College, they are considered ‘School of Choice International OIRA Students;? if students stay with host families who live within the district, then they are ‘resident international students.?
‘If a student was staying with a family and then moved outside of our borders, just like any other student we have to go into the student accounting process and change that student to a school of choice,? Throne added.
He also noted that most people don’t know that public schools can charge tuition for students beyond just foreign students. Both Birmingham and Bloomfield Schools charge tuition for School of Choice students.
Second-year students
Because the state only pays a foundation allowance for year one foreign students, the $10,000 tuition per student in the second year is used to pay the education cost of each foreign student.
Of that $10,000, roughly $4,000 goes to Rochester College for the courses taken through them. $3,650 ($7,300 divided by 2) is used to cover the cost of classes taken through Oxford, which leaves around $2,350 (per student) to go back into the OIRA budget.
With some of that money, Throne would like to not only pay the salaries and extra support for the foreign students, but also put in for some strategic investments and be able to give some money towards school clubs, middle school support and elementary school playground support. However, he noted none of that is set in stone.
‘These are just general buckets and general things that people had told us that they wanted to see,? he said.
When it comes to controlling VISAs, Oxford can only control them for one year. This is where the relationship with Rochester College comes in.
?(In year two) it just so happens, Rochester College controls the VISA and they can do so for numerous years,? Throne said.
Because both Oxford Schools and Rochester College are SEVP (Student and Exchange Vistor Program) certified, Oxford and Rochester are able to work under the visa law known as ‘concurrent enrollment.?
Under concurrent enrollment VISA law (8 CFR 214.2(f)(6)(iv)) an ‘F-1 student (F-1 visa is a non-imigration visa for those wishing to study in the United States.) may be enrolled in two different Service-approved schools at one time as long as the combined enrollment amounts to a full time course of study. In cases where a student is concurrently enrolled, the school from which the student will earn his or her degree or certification should issue the Form I-20, and conduct subsequent certifications and updates to the Form I-20??
So for those who have wondered how Weiming students are taking both college and high school classes, this is how.
Throne further explained that concurrent enrollment is not the same as ‘dual-enrollment.?
‘Dual-enrollment means I am getting (foundation allowance) from the state and I am taking local classes and I am partnering with some other institution, paying them some money and depending on how that dual enrolled course is taken I can either take it for college credit, high school credit or both,? he said. ‘If you do call it dual-enrollment, then some people will look under the dual enrollment laws and say ‘dual enrollment laws say you can’t be a second year international student and all these other things.? Correct. But these are not dual-enrolled students they are concurrent enrolled students.?
Outside of the international piece, Throne said Oxford uses Rochester College for their OSEC (Oxford Schools Early College) program. Because of that partnership Oxford is considered a ‘satellite school? to Rochester and some of Rochester’s professors come and teach at Oxford High School.
In order for the students to have a valid VISA they must be taking 12 credits per semester with no more than three credits being online. Throne said this is achieved by taking four Rochester College courses and three Oxford High School courses. Throne clarified that year two students are still considered Oxford High School students and all there course credits through Rochester College go towards their Oxford diploma.
‘We made sure of that,? he added. ‘Because there is not enough fluff in their schedule to be taking a bunch of non-core classes. They need to be able to fulfill all the requirements (to get a diploma).?
Reimbursements
Other expenses that Oxford gets reimbursment for by the students families are health insurance, transportation to and from Weiming residence (currently Rochester College) daily breakfast and lunch at school, camp expenses such as food, transportation, hosts, etc and miscellaneous items for each student such as bedding, supplies and mailing. Then there is also reimbursement to host families. If the dormitory proposed by Weiming gets approval and is built, Throne said they will still continue to offer the options of host families.
‘Our plan is to always offer that, and offer that to as many families as want to host,? he added.
Types of foreign students
According to Jill Lemond, coordinator of ESL (English as a Second Language) programs and director of international operations, Oxford has a few different types of international students. The first are students that come to study for a year who are brought in through a third party organization. These students are here on ‘exchange visas? known as ‘J-1.?
‘That’s a one year program by the United States government,? Lemond said.
Then there are international students who they get through partnerships such as Weiming and BCC (Bejing Channel Consulting) as well as their Sister Schools in both China and Mexico.
This past year, Oxford had eight countries represented at Oxford High School, including Germany, Brazil, Paraguay, Japan, Venezuela, China, Italy and Denmark.