The telephones at 3625 Guernsey Street in Bellaire just got a lot busier.
With a recent stroke of the pen by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a private school education just got a lot more affordable to a lot more families all across the Buckeye State.
And that means a lot more students can and will be considering a private education at St. John Central Academy.
DeWine signed the state’s biennium $86M budget two weeks ago. Signed into law as part of that budget was an increase in the state’s EdChoice Expansion scholarship program.
The program provides scholarship money for students in K-12 to attend private schools. There are two options: the traditional, which targets students living in failing public school districts.
The other, the expansion program, is entirely income based. Previously, students living in families whose income level reached 250 percent or less of the Federal Poverty Level were eligible.
For a family of four that was right around $70,000. Now? That amount has increased to $135,000, meaning many more students are eligible.
In addition, families falling above the 450 percent income limit will still be eligible, but on a sliding scale that provides less scholarship money as income increases.
But for those who meet the 450 percent or less requirements? They will be eligible for the full scholarship amount of $6,165 for grades K-8 and $8,407 for 9-12.
“There’s been a lot of talk on the board about this,” admitted Johnetta Yaegal, Board Chairman with SJCA. “We’re probably going to have a lot of people who were turned down for an expansion scholarship in the past that are now eligible.
“They can now come here for free. Kids can go to a public school or a private school, and now, it gives everybody that opportunity.”
SJCA is carrying on its tradition of a solid educational experience aimed at preparing its students for a successful career, and life, beyond their teenage years.
Yaegal pointed to the amount of scholarship money made available and earned by the graduating class just two years ago which totaled $2M. Now consider that graduating class consisted of just eight students.
“That means we are pushing academics over everything else,” Yaegal said. “The (graduating) class was only eight kids and they have that many scholarship offers among them.”
Big Things Happening
Onward and upward is the goal down at SJCA as big plans are in the works, even prior to the expansion of the EdChoice Program.
The Academy hired a new principal in 1991 St. John Central graduate, Dr. John Rose. He’s served as a professor at West Liberty, West Virginia University, and even Yale. He’s lived and taught abroad.
He’s putting his spin on the schools’ goal of providing “excellence in education”.
“We just signed him to a five-year contract,” Yaegal said. “He brings a lot of culture and things that he wants to implement long term.”
One of those evolutions is soon, SJCA will be taking on boarding students from both out of the area and overseas.
St. John is in the process of receiving its I-17 form approval. It’s a “petition for approval of school for attendance by a nonimmigrant student” from the Department of Homeland Security.
While that’s in process, academy leaders are beginning the hunt to find appropriate housing for those students.
“We’ve looked at several properties and had several opportunities to purchase,” Yaegal admitted. “And we need to get our I-17 solidified before we can sponsor (boarding students).”
Yaegal noted the eventual boarding house for those students will be overseen by what she classified as dorm parents, adults who will live in-house and provide assistance and guidance and ensure the students’ out-of-class needs are met.
She also assured boarding students will not affect St. John Central Academy’s OVAC, nor its OHSAA status.
With all that in play, coupled with the expansion, Yaegal also sought to dispel any rumors of the impending downfall of SJCA.
The Fighting Irish are not going anywhere.
“We’ve heard from two (local) bus garage superintendents who asked one of our employees when we were closing,” Yaegal said. “They heard we were closing. But we’re signing contracts with people for five years. We just finished installing a $127,000 chemistry lab. We’re putting in a $92,000 boiler.
“I think it’s important for parents to know because we’re moving forward on so many different aspects of school and growth.”
St. John offers a quality education and experience, one unique and evolving here in the Ohio Valley. It’s also one now that’s a LOT more affordable to families, both there, and beyond.
