Story courtesy of WVLT: KNOXVILLE, TN (WVLT) – Private schools have prepared for Gov. Bill Lee’s new school voucher program with nearly 40,000 families looking to cash in on the scholarships.
This coming school year, only 20,000 students will be granted scholarships from the program. State numbers show 244 private schools have opted-in to allow families to use the scholarships at their private school.
This includes all 10 Catholic schools in the Diocese of Knoville.
“It’s been very rewarding for the schools as well as the families of course,” interim superintendent for the Diocese of Knoxville, George Valadie, said. “There was a lot of leadup to it; a lot of education to our families, a lot of education of families in our parishes.”
The schools in this part of East Tennessee include Knoxville Catholic and Sacred Heart Cathedral.
Valadie added some families are not having to switch schools to get this scholarship.
“Some of the families who have applied and received vouchers were already enrolled,” Valadie said.
Some schools are having to put students on a waitlist with so many families trying to attend certain schools. Valadie said some schools are already full.
“We had some families reach out to a school and a specific grad that they were trying to get into, we were just full. But, another family reached out, a similar family, and the grade they wanted to get into was open,” Valadie said.
Valadie said how the process works of accepting students through the voucher program is that a family will reach out to the state and notify them of the school they’re looking to send their child to. Then, it falls on school leaders to accept them.
Valadie added some students have notified school leaders of their plans to attend, but others they hear about for the first time, so they will ask the family questions about the student before giving their decision.
Regardless of any factors, Valadie believes families should have this choice.
“They might not consider us. They may consider a different private school, but at least they can find the one that works best for their student, so I think that’s what matters,” Valadie said.
The deadline to apply for the program is June 13, and the enrollment deadline is July 15.
