Application period for Louisiana private school voucher program now open

The application period opened Monday for Louisiana’s private school voucher program, which lets some public school students attend private schools at taxpayer expense. Families must submit applications by Feb. 27 for the 2015-16 academic year.
Students enrolled in the Louisiana Scholarship Program take the same standardized tests as public school students. The enrollment period opened two months after news broke that almost two dozen voucher schools posted test scores low enough to bar them from accepting new voucher students this fall.
Still, state education officials touted schools’ overall academic growth Monday, saying voucher student proficiency on state LEAP and iLEAP tests has grown 13 percentage points since 2010. That’s compared to growth of only 4 percent for the state’s students overall.
Currently, almost 7,400 voucher students are enrolled in 131 private schools, up from 6,750 in 2013-14. The program started in 2008 in New Orleans and expanded statewide in fall 2012.
Students are eligible if they are entering kindergarten or if they now attend a public school graded C, D, F or T, for transition. They also must meet income-eligibility requirements.
All of the schools in Abbeville are considered a C or D school, which means those students qualify to apply for a private school voucher.
Gueydan High School is a C school.
The only private school in Vermilion Parish that is accepting vouchers is Lighthouse Christian Prep School.
Applications can be picked up at the school.
At the start of the school year, Lighthouse had 46 Vermilion Parish students enrolled thanks to the state private school voucher.
Of 129 eligible voucher schools, 91 will accept new applications in 2015-16, officials said. A list of participating schools isn’t final until all applications are received and scholarships awarded.
If the number of applicants for a particular school exceeds the available seats, education officials said they will conduct an admissions lottery. Families are to be notified of the status of their application the week of April 6.
Over the coming months, the Department will work with participating schools to finalize seat allotments and attempt to match applicants with the school of their choice. If the number of applicants for a particular school exceeds the available seats, the Department of Education will award scholarships through a lottery process. The Department will notify all applicants of the status of their application the week of April 6.