`~by Taylor Teays for The Scranton Journal
More than 18,000 Students First Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) were approved as of Aug. 4, with area schools seeing the effects.
ESAs are for students whose parents choose to enroll them into an accredited nonpublic school. Each student approved will receive an amount equal to the per pupil funding allocated to public school districts for the budget year. The money can be used for tuition, fees and other qualified education expenses.
Greene and Guthrie County schools won’t see the effect of the new legislation as much as other districts, with nine applications from students in Greene County and three from Guthrie County. For last school year, the Iowa Department of Education showed six Paton-Churdan students open enrolling to Carroll County schools.
With the Kuemper Catholic School System, Carroll County ranked among the highest counties with approved student applications, with 427 as of Aug. 4. The public schools in Carroll County are Carroll public, Coon Rapids-Bayard, Glidden-Ralston and IKM-Manning. With 22.9 approved applications per 1,000 residents in Carroll County, the public schools could see a big impact.
If a student does not attend an accredited nonpublic school by Sept. 30, the ESA account will be closed for the school year, the funds remaining with the state and returning to the general fund.
Additional information about the final number of approved applicants will be available after Sept. 30, with details available when certified school enrollment numbers are finalized this fall.
