Despite slow school voucher rollout, some Tennessee families have been scrambling to get them

Not a single Nashville or Memphis family has been approved to participate in Tennessee’s Education Savings Account program, also referred to as school vouchers. The controversial program received the go-ahead from a panel of judges just this month.

More: Tennessee’s embattled school voucher program gets the go-ahead from a panel of judges

But already, 203 families had submitted applications for vouchers as of last week, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Education told WPLN News. Those vouchers can be used to cover the cost of private school tuition.

The political back-and-forth over the constitutionally of vouchers has put parents through a yearslong wait. But now that funding seems to be on its way toward rolling out, people like Giovanni Mejia are hoping to secure a spot in the program. He wants to enroll his kids at Holy Rosary Academy in Donelson. It’s a part of Catholic Diocese of Nashville.

“Without this program, I wouldn’t be able to provide my kids with the education that I would like for them to have,” he said.

Mejia said he doesn’t have a problem with public schools. He just prefers to send his children to a place that teaches students the principles that align with his family’s religion.

“For example, in our case, we would prefer that they would be in a Catholic school, because we are Catholic,” he continued.

Families who get approved for a school voucher will receive $8,192. Forty Tennessee private schools have applied to accept those funds. Many of them are Catholic schools, where leaders say the vouchers could just about cover tuition.

“The schools do all they can to reach out with financial aid,” said Sister Mary Johanna Mellody, who’s with the Hispanic ministry at Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia. “There’s no extra money in a Catholic school at the end of the year. It’s all given out.”

Some families want more private school options

Still, the price tag for families who aren’t interested in Catholic schools can reach $40,000. Some school voucher opponents say the ESA program wouldn’t help people who want to enroll in those private school academies.

For instance, at Christ Presbyterian Academy, which last month co-signed a letter to Gov. Bill Lee expressing support for the ESA program, the tuition ranges up to $22,530. The school has close ties to Lee, whose children attended the academy. First Lady Maria Lee was also a substitute teacher at the school. 

In a statement, a spokesperson for CPA said ESAs were just one way to make the school accessible to families aligned with its mission.

“In regards to our specific participation, we are still working through that, while it may create more opportunities for families pursuing Christian education, we also have to make sure it allows us to stay aligned with best practices in governance for independent schools.”

RonShaye Allen is a Nashville parent who wants to put her son in the private school Ensworth. Even though tuition is pricey, she said getting ESA funding would be better than nothing.

“Just because it’s $8,000, when you’re trying to go to a $20,000 school or a $40,000 school, it may seem like a little, but it helps,” she said.

The director of enrollment at Ensworth said the school discussed ESAs, but still had questions and weren’t ready to move forward with the program. Ensworth was also absent from the original list of interested schools. But whatever happens, Allen said she wants state officials to do even more to expand private school access for children.

She went to both a public and a private school. She said private schools are better, and simply wants her son to get the experience that she did.

“Education is important,” she added. “That’s one thing that somebody cannot take from you is your mind.”