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however, there are a few setbacks. for instance, a student may not be matched with a
voucher
through the lottery, and there is an increased burden on the
school
s accepting children on a
voucher
through additional paperwork and compliance issues with testing. also, the tuition provided through the program may not be the same as the tuition the
school
charges, creating a budgetary gap for
school
s. there are other limitations to
voucher
s as well. last
school
year, over 10,000
students
applied for the scholarship program. approximately 7,000
students
were awarded the
voucher
s and nearly 120
school
s participated. although there is a chance that your child may not be awarded a
voucher
, stone suggests, ?it?s worth doing the application. be persistent if your child doesn?t get in the first time. mention that there are other siblings, to try to keep siblings together. families should also keep in mind the transfer procedure. if you match and you accept any
school
you are matched to, you can ask for a transfer within the program later,? stone says. and most importantly to note, ?
students
remain eligible without having to reapply as long as their household remains within eligibility parameters,? she adds. finally,
school
s may face sanctions if there is a high turnover. in a report from july 2018, turnover for
voucher
students
was 16.5 percent. the
voucher
policy states that
school
s who have a turnover rate of 33 percent for two years in a row will be prohibited from accepting new
voucher
students
the following year. the idea is that, if the turnover rate is that high, something may be wrong. what about special education? when it comes to special education, there is a unique collection of pros and cons for
students
with special needs and
school
s. participating
school
s do not have to provide special education services. parents may even be asked to sign a waiver relinquishing special education services. but stone?s
school
, greater baton rouge hope academy, has a reputation for meeting the needs of unique learners. she praises the
voucher
program for providing the
school
?s brand of differentiated instruction to
students
who would otherwise not be able to attend for financial reasons. however, she does point out that if a
school
chooses to participate in the
voucher
system, they must accept the
students
who match to the
voucher
. in theory, this is wonderful, but as stone points out, this could lead to a student being matched with a
school
that does not have the resources to fully meet his or her needs. when can we apply? applications are accepted during the
school
year prior to the year that the student can use the scholarship. for
students
in the baton rouge area, the application process opens january 2019 and closes in february for the 2019-20
school
year. for additional information about the louisiana scholarship program and other assistance programs, visit louisianabelieves.com.? j a n u a r y 2 0 1 9 | b r p a r e n t s . c o m 7 9
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