|
St. Jude Catholic School student recruitment ad questioned (March 22, 2012) |
A full-page advertisement appeared in St. Jude Catholic Parish’s bulletin recently, pitching a $300 incentive bonus that’s available for referring students to St. Jude School in South Bend.
The ad — and its potential implications — caused some discord at South Bend Community School Corp.’s meeting Monday evening when Bill Sniadecki, the board’s vice president, said he feels such an incentive policy is unethical for a school that now accepts state vouchers.
“That (state tuition) money is supposed to be going to kids’ education,” he later said, “not some outside individual to recruit kids.”
Mark Myers, superintendent of Catholic Schools, said the practice of some of the Catholic Diocese of Ft. Wayne-South Bend’s 41 schools offering referral incentives has been in place for five years, long before the voucher program began.
But in light of the concerns The Tribune brought to his attention, that policy is now suspended, effective immediately, he said.
“We’re going to review all marketing strategies,” Myers said.
Stephanie Sample, a spokeswoman with the Indiana Department of Education, said the practice of providing incentives for referral of voucher students is not illegal, so long as no state funding is used for that purpose.
“We are rigorously keeping track of that money,” she said, of state tuition support.
Myers said last year, two individuals were paid $300 Scrip incentives for referrals of two students who ended up attending via the vouchers.
However, Myers said, no state money was used for those incentives.
“We’re extremely confident of that,” he said.
As to whether other diocesan schools have paid incentives for referrals of voucher students, Myers said he isn’t sure, but he’s in the process of gathering that information.
Sample, meanwhile, from the Indiana DOE, said when a student attends a private school under the voucher program and returns to his or her home school before the end of the school year, the private school is required to prorate tuition and hand over the balance of state tuition support so it can be refunded to the student’s home school.
Carole Schmidt, superintendent of South Bend schools, said of the general idea of private schools offering incentives for recruiting voucher students, “It is what it is.
“We’re about to launch (our own) marketing campaign,” to recruit students. she said. “It’s a changed environment we’re in.”
Staff writer Kim Kilbride:
kkilbride@sbtinfo.com
574-247-7759
The ad — and its potential implications — caused some discord at South Bend Community School Corp.’s meeting Monday evening when Bill Sniadecki, the board’s vice president, said he feels such an incentive policy is unethical for a school that now accepts state vouchers.
“That (state tuition) money is supposed to be going to kids’ education,” he later said, “not some outside individual to recruit kids.”
Mark Myers, superintendent of Catholic Schools, said the practice of some of the Catholic Diocese of Ft. Wayne-South Bend’s 41 schools offering referral incentives has been in place for five years, long before the voucher program began.
But in light of the concerns The Tribune brought to his attention, that policy is now suspended, effective immediately, he said.
“We’re going to review all marketing strategies,” Myers said.
Stephanie Sample, a spokeswoman with the Indiana Department of Education, said the practice of providing incentives for referral of voucher students is not illegal, so long as no state funding is used for that purpose.
“We are rigorously keeping track of that money,” she said, of state tuition support.
Myers said last year, two individuals were paid $300 Scrip incentives for referrals of two students who ended up attending via the vouchers.
However, Myers said, no state money was used for those incentives.
“We’re extremely confident of that,” he said.
As to whether other diocesan schools have paid incentives for referrals of voucher students, Myers said he isn’t sure, but he’s in the process of gathering that information.
Sample, meanwhile, from the Indiana DOE, said when a student attends a private school under the voucher program and returns to his or her home school before the end of the school year, the private school is required to prorate tuition and hand over the balance of state tuition support so it can be refunded to the student’s home school.
Carole Schmidt, superintendent of South Bend schools, said of the general idea of private schools offering incentives for recruiting voucher students, “It is what it is.
“We’re about to launch (our own) marketing campaign,” to recruit students. she said. “It’s a changed environment we’re in.”
Staff writer Kim Kilbride:
kkilbride@sbtinfo.com
574-247-7759
