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Local school officials react to new law

-Messenger file photo
Cooper Elementary students work in their classroom. Some Fort Dodge school officials are concerned about the impact the school voucher bill that was signed into law Tuesday will hvae on public school funding.

Local leaders in public K-12 schools woke up Tuesday morning with news that the state legislature had passed the Students First Act, or so-called “school choice” bill, and was sending it to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ desk to sign.

The Iowa Senate approved House File 68 early Tuesday on a 31-18 vote. Three Republicans, Sens. Lynn Evans, Charlie McClintock and Tom Shipley, joined Senate Democrats in voting against the bill.

The Senate debate directly followed the Iowa House passing the legislation 54-45 at 9 p.m. Nine Republicans voted against the bill, along with all House Democrats. Similar legislation failed in the House the past two years.

The bill was Gov. Kim Reynolds’ top priority for the 2023 legislative session. She signed the bill at the state capitol at 11 a.m. on Tuesday.

The bill will provide Iowa students with $7,598 each year to use for private school tuition and associated costs. All public school students will be eligible to use an educational savings account or ESA starting in the 2023-2024 school year. Students currently attending private schools must meet income limits to qualify in the first two years of the program; all private students would be eligible in the third year.

Public school districts will receive an estimated $1,205 for each student living within the boundaries of their district who attends a private school, even if they have never been enrolled in a public school.

That math doesn’t add up for the state’s public school districts, and there are still a lot of unknowns, Fort Dodge Community School District Board of Education President Stu Cochrane said.

“The reality is, we don’t know for certain what sort of an impact this will have,” he said. “There are nuances to this bill that have not been included in prior bills. There are some categorical funding deficits that we don’t know yet how it will shake out. … A bigger concern is the overall impact on finances available to schools, families and students. If you would take what you hear from those responsible for the legislation, they would make you believe that they are going to be able to continue to fund public schools in a way that makes public schools able to continue to provide quality education, but at the same time, they’re still going to provide $7,000-plus dollars to each student to go where they want to go.

“If you do the math, it doesn’t work … The money just does not go that far.”

Democrats had called during committee debate last week for the Republican majorities to wait for the nonpartisan legislative staff to release a fiscal note on the program before moving forward. But House Speaker Pat Grassley and others pointed to the governor’s office report, saying that they had enough information to proceed.

The Legislative Services Agency released its fiscal analysis Monday morning. The nonpartisan office’s estimates roughly lined up with the governor’s calculations. Private school scholarships will cost the state nearly $107 million in fiscal year 2024, LSA estimated, matching the amount Reynolds allocated. Once the program is fully phased in, the agency calculated it will cost the state just under $345 million each year, while the governor estimated it would cost around $341 million.

Webster County is home to three private schools — both Community Christian School and St. Paul Lutheran School educate students from preschool through eighth grade, while St. Edmond Catholic School serves preschool through 12th grade.

Stephanie Coble-Day, CCS principal, said she understands how it can be financially challenging for families to send their children to private school.

“CCS is excited to continue supporting all of our current families and looking forward to any incoming families we can welcome because the financial barriers are lifted as the state rolls out the Student First Act,” she said. “Now parents can make the best choices for their students without being limited by finances and we are thankful for that.”

CCS provides “families an academically-excellent, Biblically-integrated education, which encourages spiritual development and social responsibility in an environment where students can develop their God-given gifts and talents,” and the school is looking forward to building on that foundation, Coble-Day said.

Angie Tracy, vice president of the FDCSD school board, said she was disappointed to see the legislation signed into law.

“I believe parents should have a choice to send their children to their school of choice, I just don’t believe that it should be with public dollars,” she said. “Public schools are overseen by elected school boards that make sure that public funds are spent appropriately and with this bill, private schools will not be held to the same standard.”

Diane Pratt, a retired teacher and current FDCSD board member said she anticipates little local change as a result of this bill and said while Fort Dodge has three “quality” private religious schools, they can’t always provide access to the choices of learning experiences and needs, as well as some advanced high school courses, that public school offers. She also noted that there are 41 Iowa counties that will not benefit from this legislation because there are no private school choices in those counties.

“Having deeply invested my beliefs and career and much of my community service to our public schools, I am of course dismayed by the legislators who supported this bill.” Pratt said. “Instead of investing in the 328 public school districts, they choose to invest equally in the small number of private schools in our state.”

With the governor signing the bill into law on Tuesday, local communities and school boards now need to focus on what their next steps will be and how they can work together to address the main issues that all schools are facing, said FDCSD board member Lisa Shimkat.

“Teacher shortages, improving student mental health and continuing to provide a strong educational environment for students to excel are going to continue to be what we focus upon,” she said. “Our landscape has changed many times over the last few years and we have adapted and moved forward. Our district is already focusing on our next steps to continue our mission to provide quality learning experiences for students.”

Bishop Walker Nickless of the Diocese of Sioux City Schools, which includes St. Edmond, issued a statement following the bill’s signing, saying that it was a great day for both private and public school education.

“We look forward to serving more families in the Diocese of Sioux City who want to enroll their child in a Catholic school,” he said. “We are also pleased that the Students First Act will also help parents keep their child in the Catholic school of their choice and assist us in enhancing quality education.”

With this being only the third week of the legislative session, Cochrane said he was “blown away” when he heard the bill had passed both chambers of the legislature on Monday night.

“I know that advocates, as well as those opposing the legislation, were just gearing up for an educated conversation about what this would all mean,” he said.

There were still experts pouring through the bill to try to answer questions about funding and other aspects, Cochrane said.

“I don’t know if that was the ploy to try to push this through quickly before that debate could happen,” he said. “Of course, as we all know, the challenge when you rush legislation without all those questions being asked and answered is you typically get legislation that needs to be fixed. I thought there would be a period of time where everybody was trying to digest the legislation and address concerns that were being raised, but there doesn’t appear to be that kind of time.”

Though the ESA program will begin with the 2023-2024 school year, it will be awhile until public schools see the direct effect, Cochrane said.

“There are so many unknowns with this legislation that I don’t think anybody’s going to really appreciate the impact until we’re two or three years down the road,” he said. “We are still trying to sort out the complexities that this is going to create for us in terms of staff shortages, recruiting and retention of quality staffers.”

The Messenger also reached out to administrators from St. Edmond Catholic School and St. Paul Lutheran School but did not receive a response by press time Tuesday.


Other comments from local school officials

Angie Tracy, FDCSD school board vice president

I am disappointed to see the school voucher bill being signed. I believe parents should have a choice to send their children to their school of choice, I just don’t believe that it should be with public dollars. Public schools are overseen by elected school boards that make sure that public funds are spent appropriately and with this bill private schools will not be held to the same standard.


Lisa Shimkat, FDCSD school board member

The school voucher will impact public schools. With the Governor signing the bill, we, as a school board and community, need to focus on what our next steps will be and how we can work together to address the main issues that are facing all schools. Teacher shortages, improving student mental health and continuing to provide a strong educational environment for students to excel are going to continue to be what we focus upon. Our landscape has changed many times over the last few years and we have adapted and moved forward. Our district is already focusing on our next steps to continue our mission to provide quality learning experiences for students.


Diane Pratt, FDCSD school board member, retired teacher

Having deeply invested my beliefs and career and much of my community service to our public schools, I am of course dismayed by the legislators who supported this bill. Instead of investing in the 328 public schools districts, they choose to invest equally in the small number of private schools in our state.

I anticipate there will be little change locally. The input I have received over more than 30 years in the FDCSD is that the majority of parents are very satisfied with our public schools. While Fort Dodge has two quality K-8 private religious schools and one structured for K-12, they simply cannot provide the choices of learning experiences and needs that a public school can offer and some offer an extra fee for attending if you are not of that faith. We had students attend FD high school for needed advanced classes.. That said, there are 41 Iowa counties that will not be impacted, as there are no choices in those zip codes.

Parents have always had choices in their child’s education. Besides Open Enrollment options to public schools that accept and service all learners, parents have many conference opportunities to develop a relationship and communication plan for their child. They can arrange a visit anytime outside of conferences with their child’ teacher or administrator. Public truly means public. Come on in and visit!


Stephanie Coble-Day, Community Christian School principal

As the Principal of a small Christian school and being an educator over 27 years, I understand the importance of a quality education. I also understand how it can be challenging for families to send some or all of their children to a private Christian school, based on finances even though that is the school of their choice.

CCS is excited to continue supporting all of our current families and looking forward to any incoming families we can welcome because the financial barriers are lifted as the state rolls out the Student First Act. Now parents can make the best choices for their students without being limited by finances and we are thankful for that. We don’t know all of the specifics yet but look forward to build on the great foundation and traditions we have at CCS which provides “families an academically-excellent, Biblically-integrated education, which encourages spiritual development and social responsibility in an environment where students can develop their God-given gifts and talents.”

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