Dear Bishop Watterson families,
I hope your summer is going well and that you had a great 4th of July holiday celebrating our wonderful country. In response to the state budget bill that was signed by Governor DeWine on July 3, I am reaching out with some information about the changes.
EdChoice
The newly approved state budget greatly expands the EdChoice Scholarship, utilizing tax dollars to support your choice of Catholic education for your children. We recognize that this will be a financial help to many families. The EdChoice Scholarship (up to $8,407) will now assist all families, on a prorated scale, based on a family’s percentage of the federal poverty guideline for income. Families whose income is up to 450% of the federal poverty guideline will be eligible for the full scholarship regardless of your assigned public school. Further, regardless of family income or assigned public school, every family will be eligible for at least 10% of the scholarship amount. Additionally, state law still permits a family to receive only one state scholarship, either EdChoice or Jon Peterson.
While the state has not yet finalized and opened the application process, we will be paying close attention this month and will update you when we are ready to start accepting applications. Given the anticipated volume of applications and the state guidelines, there will be a very specific process that will need to be followed, along with required documentation. We will email the application and directions as soon as everything is available. Please do not send applications at this time.
SGO
The state budget also continued the Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO), an important opportunity for families and friends to redirect state tax dollars to Bishop Watterson. The Diocese of Columbus SGO, The Emmaus Road Scholarship, is something we kindly ask all families to review and participate in this current tax year. Anyone who has Ohio taxable income is eligible. This program is a way to redirect your state taxes to Bishop Watterson and Catholic education. We would greatly appreciate your participation in this program. For more information, click here.
We hope you will join us in thanking our state leaders who support school choice and Catholic Education. We will continue to keep you informed about the expanded EdChoice and the application process. Until then, we hope you continue to enjoy your summer.
Deacon Chris Campbell '77
Principal
