Money could flow to Education Savings Accounts in February

By Ian Whitaker

Published Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015 | 10:39 a.m.

Updated Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015 | 12:18 p.m.

State Treasurer Dan Schwartz today announced proposed changes to Nevada’s Education Savings Account program that would allow more parents to qualify for subsidies to send their children to private schools.

Schwartz proposed exempting kindergartners and children of active-duty military personnel from the requirement of attending public school for 100 days before becoming eligible for the program.

Schwartz and his staff also revealed today that they expect the first payments to be disbursed to families as early as February. The original plan was to fund accounts in April.

The announcements came at a public meeting to iron out regulations for the program that are now expected to be finalized next month.

Patricia Showers, an active duty Air Force member, said military life can be overwhelming, and the ESA “provides the opportunity for my children’s needs to be met.”

Under the program, families can receive upwards of $5,000 from the state to use for things such as private school tuition and tutoring. Nevada’s program is similar to a voucher system, but the state puts money in a bank account and allows parents to spend it on approved educational services.

The program’s proposed regulations have been the subject of scrutiny from parents, mostly due to questions about whether families with children already enrolled in private schools would qualify for the ESA.

Parents packed previous hearings, demanding Schwartz find a work-around for a rule requiring families enroll their children in a public school for at least 100 days before qualifying for the program.

The stipulation was included in original legislation governing the program because the state only allocates education funds for students counted on official school district count days, said Grant Hewitt, the treasurer’s chief of staff.

That is pushing the political battle over the program into the next legislative session, as private school administrators like Catherine Thompson, the superintendent of the Catholic Schools Diocese of Las Vegas, seeks to broaden the program’s scope.

“These were three wonderful gifts,” she said of the regulations announced today. “But it’s still very difficult that not all of our kids can use the program.”

Other questions also remain, such as whether families can use ESA money to pay for private schools outside Nevada. That was the concern of one parent from Incline Village, near the California state line at Lake Tahoe, who said there were no other viable private school options near her in Nevada.

Hewitt said the Treasurer’s Office would address that and other concerns in time for the next hearing in November.

More than 3,000 families have applied for the ESA since open enrollment began.

The program is set to go into effect next year, but all eyes are on an impending court battle between the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada and the Nevada Attorney General’s Office over whether the program is legal. A second lawsuit challenging the law was filed by a group of parents.

Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt filed a motion on Monday asking a court to dismiss the ACLU’s lawsuit.

Laxalt alleges the lawsuit, which centers on the use of public money to fund education at private religious schools, does not violate the state constitution as claimed by the ACLU.

A judge will decide at a hearing on Nov. 25 whether that lawsuit can move forward.

“First we have to dispose of these two lawsuits,” Schwartz said. “We’re optimistic that the state of Nevada will prevail.”

Las Vegas Sun reporter Cy Ryan and the Associated Press contributed to this report.