SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio mother of five credits a state-funded education savings account program with keeping her children in private Catholic school — and getting her daughter the support she needs for a learning disability.
Ashley Valdez said her family was close to enrolling the children in public schools because keeping all five in private school would have cost more than $25,000 a year.
Then, her children were taken off the waitlist for the Texas Education Freedom Account program, known as TEFA.
“When we received it, we were just over the moon,” Valdez said. “Just the relief that our kids could stay in the private school that they had known for all these years.”
The family contacted Holy Name Catholic School on the West Side after learning of the acceptance.
For Valdez, TEFA is about having options for her children’s education.
“To be able to choose a private Catholic school to help with that pillar in faith as they go through life is just so important,” she said.
For her second-grade daughter Zoe, the program means access to professional support to assist her learning disability. Valdez said the funds will also help cover school costs and tutoring, with leftover money.
Holy Name Catholic School Principal Jennifer Sisk said the campus has seen a significant enrollment increase as more families are able to afford private school or return after leaving.
“For us, it’s been over a 30% increase in our enrollment,” Sisk said.
The school is welcoming 65 new families, and 55 returning families are using TEFA funds, according to the campus.
Sisk said the program is also helping Holy Name Catholic School add resources for students with special needs.
“On my side, we’ve hired an interventionist, so they are able to serve our students who have dyslexia or special education,” Sisk said. “We’ve always been able to, to the best of our abilities, follow the accommodations if they have IEP plans. But now we’re slowly gaining additional resources.”
In San Antonio, families in the Northside ISD area have the largest number of students participating in TEFA, with 2,271. North East ISD follows with 1,536 students, and San Antonio ISD has 972.
As the school year begins, families like the Valdez’s say the program is changing what is financially possible, while schools receiving TEFA students are adding staff and support to meet their needs.