Latest news with #CreatingHopeandOpportunityforOurStudents'Education
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Local homeschoolers, private schools continue to see effects from CHOOSE Act
Jun. 5—Nearly half of students awarded an education credit from the CHOOSE Act in Morgan, Limestone and Lawrence counties will use it for homeschooling expenses. According to the Alabama Department of Revenue (ADOR), of the 817 students approved in the area, 386, or 47%, are homeschooled. The concentration of CHOOSE Act credits for homeschool in this area is higher than the statewide amount. Of the total students approved in the entire state, 30% are homeschooled, based on ADOR data. Meanwhile, local private schools are already at near capacity and looking to the future, as families submit proof of enrollment to receive a financial credit on July 1. An additional 390 CHOOSE Act recipients living in Morgan, Limestone and Lawrence Counties have plans to attend a private school in the fall, according to ADOR. Decatur Heritage Christian Academy and Lindsay Lane Christian Academy in Athens have multiple grades that are full. Both have opened additional kindergarten or pre-K units to address the need. "I'm very curious to know, in subsequent years, will we see even greater involvement because people are coming to know what this is about, and they're starting to understand it, and they're starting to figure it out?" said Steve Hall, head of schools for Decatur Heritage. "Or have we in one year gotten ourselves to a place where people get it, and the people who want it are doing it?" The Creating Hope and Opportunity for Our Students' Education (CHOOSE) Act is an education voucher program for lower-income families, which will award financial credits for the first time with the 2025-2026 school year. ADOR spokesperson Frank Miles said 23,465 applicants statewide were approved to receive this credit. Eligible families can receive $7,000 per student enrolled in a private school. Homeschooling families can receive $2,000 per student, or a maximum of $4,000. Families have until June 30 to provide proof of enrollment at a participating school to receive this credit, Miles said. The consensus from private school leaders is that the CHOOSE Act has brought some growth within its first year but not an unexpected or overwhelming amount. "We have been growing steadily since the COVID shutdown in 2020," said Limestone Christian Academy Academic Administrator Corey Patton. "The upcoming school year's growth is mostly in line with what we have experienced year over year the last three years. I wouldn't say the CHOOSE Act has affected our enrollment in a huge way, though it certainly has played a small role." Private schools saw some increased traffic around the application due date. Hall believes the school will continue to receive calls from both CHOOSE Act recipients — as the deadline to submit proof of enrollment approaches — and other prospective families through June and July. Hall is interested to see if the CHOOSE Act has a larger impact in coming years. He doesn't think knowledge of the voucher program was widespread, particularly in Morgan County, within its first year, he said. Although its student population has increased in the last five years, Hall said Decatur Heritage continues to be intentional with its growth. "Suddenly education was thrown in the laps of parents (during COVID-19), like, 'I can't get away from it. I can't just turn my kid over to a school; I'm overseeing it,'" Hall said. "They couldn't help but be intricately invested in it. ... It's been different. This has been a very impactful moment in history as it relates to education in America." Decatur Heritage broke ground on an expansion project in 2024. Original estimates gave a completion date in January of 2026. As of Wednesday, Decatur Heritage had about 380 confirmed students for the 2025-26 school year, plus an additional 25 that listed it on their CHOOSE Act but haven't contacted the school yet. Hall said the school could serve a maximum of 425 — 450 within its current space. Decatur Heritage would have space for an additional 80 — 100 students with this expansion, Hall said; however, he emphasized that the project's purpose was not to grow quickly, but rather to expand programming the school offers. Lindsay Lane Head of Schools Robby Parker said his district is also examining growth. He has started to discuss what this growth could mean for the future with the school board. "At this point, we're at the initial stages of seeing where we're at as we grow and as we fill," Parker said. "As the Lord blesses us, we've got to continue to look at where we're going." The school recently hired Brie Hollander as a director of admissions because it needed a dedicated contact for prospective families. With private schooling and homeschooling on the rise, Morgan County Schools Superintendent Tracie Turrentine said their student population hasn't declined. "In Morgan County Schools, our enrollment fluctuates slightly from year to year, but these changes are minimal and have not led to significant shifts," Turrentine said. "We have not seen any downward trajectory in enrollment, and as a result, maintaining and even adding teachers continues to be a priority." — or 256-340-2437
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CHOOSE Act brings increase in applications to local K-12 religious schools
Apr. 29—Local K-12 religious schools are seeing an influx of new applications due to an Alabama voucher-like program that begins in the 2025-26 school year and is funded with state education dollars. "With the families that we are interviewing for next year, a good number of them are telling us that we just were never an option until this came into play," said Steve Hall, head of schools for Decatur Heritage Christian Academy. The state Legislature passed the Creating Hope and Opportunity for Our Students' Education (CHOOSE) Act in 2024. Qualified families can receive $7,000 per K-12 student enrolled in a private or out-of-district public school or $2,000 per student — up to a $4,000 maximum — for homeschooling programs. For now, eligibility is limited to families with adjusted gross incomes below 300% of the federal poverty level. According to ALDOR, about 75% of Alabama families meet those guidelines. For example, a family of three applying for the 2025-26 school year must make less than $77,460. Starting in the 2027 — 28 school year, those income limits will be eliminated, opening eligibility to all qualifying students regardless of household income. Applications for next school year closed April 7, and families will begin to hear if they've been awarded the credit this week. "We didn't necessarily know what to expect," Hall said. Nearly 37,000 students applied for the program statewide, including 521 Morgan County residents, 696 Limestone residents and 109 Lawrence residents. Decatur Heritage Christian Academy had 137 students list it as their school of choice in their CHOOSE Act application. Lindsay Lane Christian Academy had 244 and St. Ann Catholic School had 30. Most of the applications are from current students, but each school also saw significant growth in applicants. About 20 students not currently enrolled at Decatur Heritage listed it as their school of choice. If each of these students enrolled, it would mark a 5.3% increase of student population from the previous year. Hall said Decatur Heritage could handle this increase without too much trouble. "We do not intend to grow in a fashion that overwhelms us," Hall said. "We're going to measure our growth very intentionally." Kenneth Rolling, principal of Saint Ann Catholic School, sees the CHOOSE Act as an opportunity to recover from a decline in enrollment brought on largely by COVID-19. "I think especially as the program reaches fruition in the next couple years, it will have a significant impact, most especially (because of our) reliance on the parish for so much of our financial aid," Rolling said. St. Ann has 67 current students, many of whom receive financial aid of some sort, such as scholarships or parish member discounts. Rolling said having the CHOOSE Act shift the financial burden from the church to the state and will allow it to provide programming it couldn't previously afford. "One of the limitations that we've always kind of had in the competition for students, so to speak, against the public schools is that they've always had significantly more funding, obviously," Hall said, "and they often have, as a result of that, many programs that we can't afford, whether those be extracurriculars or additional services provided for students who have special learning needs." Critics of the CHOOSE Act are concerned about the damage that it will inflict on public schools. The act was originally funded with $50 million, and another $50 million was added this year, revenue pulled from the Education Trust Fund. A pending House education budget bill would add $80 million from an education reserve fund after a higher-than-expected number of students applied. "We value the importance of parental engagement in shaping their children's educational path," said Tracie Turrentine, superintendent of Morgan County Schools. "The Morgan County School System is committed to being that choice by providing great academic programs, career and technical opportunities, and a thriving athletics program. "However, we are concerned that the CHOOSE Act may redirect critical funding away from our schools." Robby Parker, who previously worked at Bob Jones High School in Madison for 33 years and is now head of schools for Lindsay Lane, has experience in both the public and private realms. "I don't think the CHOOSE Act is a scary thing," Parker said. "I don't see that it will hurt public schools, but I think that it will certainly help people who choose to come to a private school." The 244 CHOOSE Act applicants that listed Lindsay Lane as their choice represent a mix of current students and new applicants. Parker said the school has seen a significant increase in new applicants in the last two months. Lindsay Lane is near full capacity, though, and is even considering adding an additional kindergarten unit to meet the demand. Parker said that as the CHOOSE Act attracts more students to Lindsay Lane, the school will continue to be a Christian school. "We welcome everybody," he said. "We welcome diversity. We want diversity. But we do preach Jesus every day, and we want to share the gospel. ... We want to prepare our students to go anywhere, and be able to share Christ in whatever setting they're in." Hall said the CHOOSE Act aligns with Decatur Heritage's mission as a religious school. "We're a Christian school, and the kingdom of God is made up of people of all different races and ethnicities and socioeconomic positions, so our heart has always been, 'How do we look like our community? How do we bless the fullness of our community?'" Hall said. "And one of the greatest hurdles to doing that has been the financial limitations that some of our families face. (The CHOOSE Act) allows us to actually pursue the mission of our school and what we do more fully, so we're very excited about the opportunity to do that." Contact me at or 256-340-2437.
