16-05-2025
Oak Ridge catholic school welcomes voucher applicants on program launch day
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (WATE) — The Education Freedom Act passed in Tennessee back in January amid plenty of controversy. Applications are now open for parents to apply for the new state-funded scholarships. Saint Mary's Catholic School in Oak Ridge is one of the eligible private schools. On Thursday the school hosted an open computer lab to help parents through the process.
Parents jumped at the opportunity to apply on a first-come first-served basis, with Tennessee receiving 20,000 scholarships to more than 200 private schools across the state. Many took advantage of resources at Saint Mary's but faced varying waiting times throughout the day. Once inside the application, parents found the process quick and easy, though each child required a separate submission.
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'It was super simple and I think that's a lot of thanks to the state of Tennessee for just walking us through the whole process. From the initial information to the checklist of what documents we needed to prepare, and then the step-by-step guide to really see what that application was going to look like before we got in there that we were able to just breeze right through it and be so prepared for it,' explained Tiffany Shreve, a mother and Director of Advancement at Saint Mary's Catholic.
The school voucher program allows K-12 students to access around $7,000 in state funds for private school. Saint Mary's serves pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.
'Catholic education is an extra expense, but it's an invaluable expense really. But we do have to pay our bills and our teachers, so we welcome this opportunity to help parents to cut some of those costs that they would pay for our school that they can use for their other family needs,' said Sister Mary John Slonkosky, the school's principal.
Amy Shanahan, a mother of three, told 6 News that vouchers ease financial stress, especially with her mother living at home and another child on the way.
'It's putting the choice back into the people. We don't have to go to schools we're zoned for. Private schools are expensive, but this helps make it more affordable so that parents have more choice in where they send their students,' Shanahan said.
While it's unclear how many vouchers each school will receive, 10,000 will be income based and another 10,000 will be universal.
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'They're the future and that starts with education and all different types of education. And every student is different. They learn differently. They learn in different environments. And that's what's so beautiful about this, is that there is support to educate our future in the right environment for that student,' added Shreve.
The Department of Education reported the Tennessee's Education Freedom Scholarship website has had around 30,000 visits within the past week. Initial wait times varied from 45 minutes to upwards of two hours. After the initial wave of applicants Thursday morning, parents are able to log right in with little wait.
Saint Mary's Catholic School plans to continue to stay open throughout the weekend allowing parents an opportunity to gain access to the technology to apply if needed. The private school shares vouchers will help to pay 72% of their tuition costs.
Many people in the state are not for these new vouchers, saying that they will essentially do more harm than good.
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'Vouchers do not work, not in any state that has them. We should not be subsidizing private school for students who never attended public schools over the next few years,' Democratic Knoxville State Rep. Gloria Johnson. 'We will be sending $1 billion to private schools for the voucher scam while our public schools continue to lose funding. We are giving more money in a private school voucher than we pay for public school students in the majority of counties.'
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