ESA early enrollment is almost over!

Karen Gray

Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s hard to believe, but ESA early enrollment will be closing in less than one week. I hope everyone qualified has submitted their applications. If not, NPRI, in partnership with Word for Life Academy, will be holding one last registration event for the public on Monday from 4pm to 7pm. There will be volunteers on hand to assist Spanish-speakers with their applications. The location is:

    Word of Life
    3520 N. Buffalo Dr.
    Las Vegas, NV 89129

If you are coming to the registration, you will need the following information or documents:

  • Student's public school ID number 
  • Copy of parent's valid government issued ID, not expired;
  • Copy of Child's birth certificate, a verified copy;
  • Proof of residency such as a utility bill, rental or lease agreement, mortgage statement;
  • Copy of 2014 income tax return (first 2 pages) or current pay stub, if claiming the income qualification for annual household income within 185% of the federally designated poverty level;
  • Copy of IEP if student is considered a pupil with disabilities. (NRS 388.440)

It would be helpful if the above documents can be brought on a flash drive or CD-ROM, as saved, individual files. However, a scanner will be available if needed. Of course, scanning documents may take some time, so plan accordingly.

If you’re an applicant filing during this early application period, remember that you will be allowed to choose your funding start date — February, May or August 2016.

You must have been enrolled in a public school — and charter schools are public schools — for the 100 school days immediately preceding your application. The 100 days can go back into last school year

If you were unable to register during this enrollment period, registration will reopen in January.

Here's a quick ESA status update…

ESA Regulations:

As you know, the November 23rd ESA regulation hearing was postponed. Nevada Treasurer Dan Schwartz wanted to ensure that parents and the public have plenty of time to review the proposed regulations. Those are now posted on the Treasurer's ESA webpage.

The Treasurer anticipates a hearing in mid-December. I’ll keep you informed.

Military and Kindergarten exemptions:

You can read the proposed regulatory language regarding the military and Kindergarten exemptions (to the 100 day enrollment rule) on the Treasurer's website. These exemptions are still in the proposal stage and will have to go through the regulatory approval process — which means adoption by the Treasurer in mid-December and then approved by the Legislative Commission. I will let you know when those meetings will occur, so that you can voice your opinion on the regulations.

Where's my application?

Good news! The Treasurer's office has started sending out approval (and denial) notices! Chief of Staff Grant Hewitt estimates about 900 notices will be going out his week. So, some of you may have already gotten them. If so, let me know your status! I'm excited for every family!!

Lawsuits:

In Duncan v. State, which is the lawsuit filed by the ACLU in Clark County, the State and the Parents who have intervened in the case have moved to dismiss the lawsuit. There will be a hearing on Thursday, Dec. 10 at 1:30pm in front of Judge Eric Johnson on the motion to dismiss. If the judge dismisses the case, the ACLU will have to appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court. If the judge denies the motion to dismiss, the next step will be for the judge to hear the ACLU’s motion for preliminary injunction — filed yesterday according to the ACLU’s local attorney, Amy Rose. However, the motion for preliminary injunction, as of yesterday, had not yet shown up on the district court’s website.

In Lopez v. Schwartz, which is the lawsuit backed by the “Educate Nevada Now” group and was filed in Carson City, the Plaintiffs have moved for a preliminary injunction and the State Defendants have cross-moved to have the case dismissed. Those two motions will continue to be briefed through December 17. A hearing date to be set sometime after the 17th.

I will keep you updated.

We at NPRI value all our partnerships and want to thank all those individuals and organizations who make it possible for us to keep Nevada parents and our community informed on this groundbreaking opportunity for Nevada! We truly could not do our work without your support!

To all the parents and members of this community, thank you for trusting in us to keep you informed and up to date. It is a true pleasure to meet each and every one of you!

Thank you to all, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

~ Karen Gray
Citizen Engagement Coordinator
Nevada Policy Research Institute