Six Upper Cumberland Schools have signed up with the state to accept the new Education Freedom Scholrships, more commonly known as vouchers.
Three schools in Warren County, two in Putnam and one in Cumberland registered. Debbie Baker serves as president of Heritage Academy in Monterey. She said the school enrolled so private education could be more accessible.
“[Families] may want to have the opportunity, but be unable to pay tuition,” Baker said. “So this provides an opportunity for parents who are interested in their children attending Heritage Academy the ability to afford it when they would not be able to otherwise.”
Baker said approved families receive scholarship money directly from the state. Baker said only certain types of schools were allowed to enroll, and the process was easy.
Covenant Academy McMinnville’s Brooke Bauer said the financial burden of tuition should not be the thing keeping kids away from private school.
“A lot of people are drawn to Christian schools because of our small class sizes,” Bauer said. “Because we are able to work more closely with their children. There are less things that they have to worry about, especially some of these new laws that are in place, so it’s just a way for them to provide that type of education for their children.”
The deadline for families to request scholarships passed last week. Baker said over 30,000 applications were filled out just four hours after they were opened, and the state would likely accept closer to 20,000 applicants for the program.
Baker said Heritage Academy may not gain any new students from the program due to a high volume of applications.
Bauer said she also is unsure about exact numbers at Covenant Academy.
“There is a deadline sometime in July where [the state] will officially let families know whether or not they did receive [a scholarship],” Bauer said. “We don’t have a number until that deadline.”
In Warren County, Faulkner Springs Christian School and F.C. Boyd Christian School will participate. Putnam County’s Highland Rim Academy and Cumberland County’s Trinity Academy met the state deadline. Inez Wrenn Seventh-Day Adventist School has also requested.
