Deadline nears for Ohio scholarship program

Some 3,600 schoolchildren in the area are eligible to apply for the scholarships.

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — Friday is the deadline to apply for Ohio’s Educational Choice Scholarship program for the 2009-10 school year.

The scholarships, commonly referred to as vouchers, enable children in academically troubled schools to seek state tuition assistance to attend a private school.

The scholarship pays the private-school tuition charge, or $4,500 for elementary students (kindergarten through eighth grade) and $5,300 for high school students (grades nine through 12), whichever is lower.

There are nine academically troubled schools on the state’s EdChoice list for 2009-10, and children in those schools or scheduled to be enrolled in those schools can apply for vouchers. They are: Westgate Elementary School in East Liverpool in Columbiana County; and the Youngstown city schools of Alpha: School of Excellence; East High School; Hayes Middle School; Odyssey: School of Possibilities; P. Ross Berry Middle School; Taft Elementary School; Volney Rogers Middle School; and Williamson Elementary School.

Some 3,600 children in those schools are currently eligible for the vouchers.

Once a child receives a voucher, it can be renewed every year through graduation from high school, despite what academic improvement their home school might have made in the interim.

To apply for a voucher, a child must first be accepted at a private school on the state’s list of approved schools. The private school then assists the child in filling out the paperwork seeking the state assistance.

The state has 14,000 scholarships available, but only about 10,000 are in use this year.