With a Friday deadline looming, many slots are still available in the state’s new school voucher program.
The Indiana Department of Education hasn’t provided specific details but State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett said last week about 3,700 of 7,500 Indiana Choice Scholarship Program applications have been made by parents, leaving thousands unused.
Friday is the official school attendance count day for which state support is based upon for public schools.
In Gary, Ambassador Christian Academy, a private school operated by Embassies of Christ Church, nearly doubled its enrollment with 113 new voucher students.
“It’s going well, we have a waiting list now for every grade except 6 and 8,” said Principal Vercena Stewart.
The General Assembly passed the controversial private-school voucher bill earlier this year and supporters hailed it as the most expansive one in the nation. Although it’s targeted at low income families, the program allows middle-class families to use taxpayer money to send their children to private and religious schools.
The law caps the vouchers at 7,500 this year but allows the number to grow to 15,000 next year.
At an Indiana Education Roundtable meeting last week, Bennett said 15 percent of the approved vouchers are going to students in small towns and rural areas. He said no school district has seen a disproportionate number of students enter the program. Bennett said 85 percent of the children entering the program are on free and reduced lunch programs.
A lawsuit filed by opponents of the program is still pending in Marion County.
At Ambassador Academy, Stewart said the voucher students are acclimating well to their new environment.
“It’s a challenge for some of them, especially the older ones. I’d say about 90 percent are doing well.”
She said there’s been one in-school suspension. “There’s been some inappropriate language and disrespect of authority.”
At St. Aquinas, a Catholic school in the Diocese of Gary, Principal Bruce Schooler the voucher students have adjusted well. “We’re a small school so we can take more of a hands-on approach.” His school has just four voucher students — two from Merrillville, one from Hobart and one from Crown Point, Schooler said.
Meanwhile, public school superintendents across the state are scratching their heads over conflicting letters they received from the Department of Education.
A Sept. 2 letter listed the amount of November and December tuition support that would be reduced because of the Choice Scholarship program and the Early Graduation Scholarship for 11th graders who fulfill graduation requirements a year early.
However, the Department of Education backtracked on Monday, telling superintendents to disregard the Sept. 2 letter.
Merrillville Community Schools Superintendent Tony Lux said his district would have lost $49,000.