Nevada residents who attend private or religious schools, such as Faith Lutheran, have the potential to receive a grant for tuition assistance through government funding. However, there is a catch to this funding. The student must be enrolled and attend 100 days of public school before accepting the savings for their private education.

“I don’t think that it’s fair. The students that have attended [private] school their whole schooling career should have first priority in receiving the grants opposed to the students that have only attended public school for 100 days,” said senior Kayley Neukam.

This 100-day requirement could disrupt the student’s education track and they would be torn from their friends, teachers, and the familiarity of their school and community. Also, public schools already have overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages, so there is no reason to add more students to the classrooms, especially if many of them are going to drop out after they meet the 100-day requirement.

“Our public schools here in Nevada will become overcrowded due to the 100-day requirement. Parents will want to take advantage of the savings, so they will transfer their student for solely one year, which could throw off the numbers in the public schools. This has potential to be a very difficult situation for myself and fellow teachers,” said Clark County School District employee.

Parents of these students that attend private school but are not eligible for the grant also think it is unfair to the students that have been at a private school and want to remain there without transferring to a public school for 100 days. They are faced with the challenging question: whether to pull their child from private school for 100 days, or keep them in private school and give up the opportunity for tuition assistance.

“Deciding to pull my child from private school would depend on what year of schooling he is in. If he were in elementary school when this grant became available, I would have put him in public school for one year. However, now that he is in high school, I would not take him away from his friends or his studies. Not to mention, he is more advanced due to being enrolled in a college preparatory school rather than a public school,” said Carolyn Scott, parent of Faith Lutheran High School student.

This grant could give more children the opportunity to stay in private school with the tuition assistance.

“Parents of the children receiving the grants will feel better knowing that their children are receiving a better education at private school. In the long run they will also be able to spend more time with their children instead of having to work more to try and keep up with the payments at a private school,” said Neukam.

From giving parents a respite from the price of tuition to giving children the opportunity to receive a private education, the grant has great potential to help many American families here in Nevada. Even though the 100-day requirement is not ideal for students already attending private school, it is still going to have a positive effect for Nevadans in need of financial aid.