RUSD Parents and Students Prepare School Choice Applications

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Hundreds of Racine Unified School District families will take the first bureaucratic steps towards school vouchers on Monday, when applications are accepted for the first time.

Private school officials and the group "School Choice Wisconsin" will be at the DeKoven center on Aug. 1 from 3 to 8 p.m. to help families with both their individual school applications and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction forms. Monday is the first day those forms can be handed in.

All those forms were handed out -- along with cookies and helpful answers -- at a school choice forum held at Kurt Sports Complex on Sunday.

Nicole Smart attended Sunday's event on behalf of her 12-year-old son, Dylan, who will be a 7th grader this year. He went to Starbuck last year.

"I wasn't thrilled with Starbuck," she said. "I think they're stretched. They're dealing with a lot. Unless a kid is doing really well or really bad, they are falling through the cracks."

Smart said she definitely had a private school in mind for Dylan, who wasn't happy with Starbuck either.

Shoreland Lutheran High School Dean of Academics Jason Lowrey said that they're happy to be part of a new opportunity.

"A lot of parents wanted the choice but didn't feel like they had the ability to afford it," he said.

Lowrey said that Shoreland, which is in Kenosha County but can still accept RUSD voucher students, has been getting a steady stream of calls and questions.

He said he also has some questions the process, like whether names will be chosen randomly by a computer or literally pulled out of a hat.

Dave Sieker of the Wisconsin Lutheran School Inter-Parish School Board was shaking hands and handing out paperwork for parents at Sunday's event as well. He said they've had a lot of interest since the voucher law passed, and also a lot of questions.

"There will be bumps in the road, but we'll work it out," he said. "It's a Christ-centered education, but also a very good education."

The schools at the forum on Sunday included John Paul II Academy, Mount Pleasant Renaissance School, Our Lady of Grace Academy, Racine Lutheran High School, St. John Fisher Academy, St. Joseph School, Shoreland Lutheran High School, Trinity Lutheran School (Racine), and Wisconsin Lutheran School.

Here's a to learn more about these private schools.