Vouchers spark local interest

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - On July 1, 7,500 school choice scholarships will be made available to Indiana families.

This fall, some Indiana school children will be headed to new schools, due in large part to a voucher program that offers state-funded scholarships to attend tuition-based schools. Lafayette Catholic Schools Enrollment Director Angie Schrader said informational meetings and word-of-mouth has sparked a lot of interest in the program.

"We had 20 families, that were not in our schools already, that came to find out more information. And then of course, since then, I've received, I would say two to three phone calls a day," said Schrader.

Faith Christian School Administrator Scott Grass said it's the same story at his school. But both Grass and Schrader said there are still things they need from the state to make this program work for the upcoming school year.

"Probably the key that we're still missing is some of the forms that the parents and the families will need to submit to us. We have a lot of samples," said Grass.

"Our biggest challenge right now is when we're helping these families, who would probably qualify for that Indiana School Choice Scholarship, we don't have instructions for them on how to make application," said Schrader.

Schrader said the Department of Education has also given them no specific date for when the on-line application will be made available to families. For now schools are conducting their own interviews. A spokeswoman at the Indiana Department of Education said the on-line application should be ready within the next couple of weeks.