Lakota revises foreign exchange program

“We’re not over 18,000 students like we used to be. We have a little bit of flexibility, so we want to slowly allow a pilot of some foreign exchange students but we’ve got to monitor it closely and make sure it’s the right students, the right way.”

The district’s school board voted Monday to revise guidelines for the dormant program, which will only accept foreign-exchange students in grades 10, 11 and 12.

The revised guidlines require students to have an F-1 visa, which is cleared by the Department of Homeland Security, instead of just a visitor visa, which doesn’t have as extensive a background check, Vogelmann said.

“If you declare an F-1 Visa, you have to go through certain organizations … that are certified nationally as being an authorized student exchange program,” Vogelmann said.

That, in turn, also assures that a Form I-20 is filled out, which gives Lakota a tuition payment, he said.

“That means that we get the amount that we get for all students,” Vogelmann said. “That organization or that student provides tuition payment to the school district while attending here.”

“We felt like we can’t just give the seat away to somebody because our students have a right to those seats and if someone wants to take that seat we consider it like an open enrollment. We should get that tuition paid so that we’re not doing it at the cost of the district,” he said.

The new guidelines allow for as many as 10 students at each main campus, said board member Lynda O’Connor.

The program is not intended to apply to other foreign students residing in the district who must be enrolled in accordance with state law, according to the district.

Vogelmann said the issue of foreign exchange students is being addressed at a time when “the world has changed a lot.”

“We want to protect our students and we want to make sure that we are making sure the students in our schools are acceptable to be in our schools,” he said. “We want to make sure that they follow National Homeland Security guidelines and a lot of those rules have changed.”