The new private school voucher program opened for applications on Wednesday. It provides families with public funds to use for private school tuition.
Education experts say it is still unclear how the program will affect public schools. However, new documents obtained by ABC13 show that Fort Bend ISD plans to share its estimates at a trustee meeting next week.
These numbers did not surprise parent John Strader. "It seems that they're setting things up to say that they just can't afford it," Strader said.
Fort Bend ISD officials said the district has faced declining enrollment for several years, even before the voucher program began. Because of this, trustees are considering closing as many as seven elementary schools.
Austin Parkway Elementary School, where Strader's child attends, is one of the schools at risk. "We moved specifically to this neighborhood for this specific school," Strader said. "Our principal has been here for 13 years. We have teachers that have worked 20 plus years at this school."
Trustees will hold a public workshop about school boundaries next week. They are expected to vote on possible closures next month.
Since learning about the proposal, Strader has been active. "We're doing our best," he said. "We're speaking at board meetings. We're protesting."
On Wednesday, Strader took another step. He began the process of possibly removing his children from the district by applying to the state's new voucher program.
"We're looking at possibly either a mixture of homeschooling, private schooling, or Christian schooling," Strader said.
New documents suggest Strader is not the only parent thinking about this. A budget report from Fort Bend ISD says the district could lose 1% of its enrollment due to vouchers.
The district's website says it has about 78,000 students, so it could lose around 780 students to the voucher program. The documents show this could mean a $7.8 million financial impact.
While Fort Bend ISD is sharing its estimates about the vouchers, other districts have not. On Wednesday, ABC13 reached out to more than ten districts.
Pearland ISD and Cy-Fair ISD responded, saying it is too soon to know how the voucher program might affect their budgets.
Fort Bend ISD will talk about the impact of vouchers at Monday's trustee meeting.
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