The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

August 26, 2012

Scholarship program has a few problems

By Joy Leiker Herald Staff Writer

MERCER — When the state promised scholarships to parents who want to pull their children from what were labeled failing schools, Candice Delgros thought it was the perfect solution to her problem.

Delgros’ daughter, about to enter third grade, is a student at Farrell Elementary, and her son is ready to start kindergarten. Delgros’ problem isn’t with her daughter’s teacher or the administrators. It’s with her classmates.

“My daughter gets distracted. When she’s doing something, she wants to focus on it. She tells me all the time how bad the kids are in the classroom. The kids are always yelling,” Delgros said. “She falls by the wayside. She deserves to be educated but she’s not because so much educational time falls to disciplining the kids.”

That’s why Delgros considered it good news in late July when the state said students from Pennsylvania’s 414 lowest-performing schools could apply for scholarships and use that money to pay tuition to attend another public or private school.

Farrell Elementary, Farrell High School, plus Musser Elementary, Sharon Middle School and Sharon High School were all on the state’s list of schools in the bottom 15 percent of combined math and reading scores on last year’s PSSA exams. School leaders have loudly dissed the list, calling it an attack on poor schools and a contradiction to other educational measuring sticks.

But Delgros, a single mom who lives in Wheatland, has encountered two problems in her quest to find a better environment for her children:

ä No public school district in Mercer County has signed up to accept any of these possible transfer students. Five private schools did – the four Catholic schools plus the county’s newest school, Creative Learning Christian School in Mercer.

ä There’s no money available for the scholarships.

The scholarships, provided through the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit, are supposed to be funded with donations from businesses. But businesses must first apply to the state Department of Community and Economic Development to make a contribution to a state-approved scholarship organization.

After the application is approved, the business has 60 days to send the donation, and then is eligible for a tax credit. The scholarship organization then uses the donation to award scholarships to students and distribute the money to the appropriate school.

The state says the money is tied up in paperwork, but should be available soon.

That’s of little help to Delgros now, because school starts Monday in Farrell. Both of her children are registered there, and as of Friday afternoon, she felt she had no choice but to send at least her daughter there.

Delgros, 29, still was considering holding her son back, keeping him from kindergarten for an extra year and hoping another option surfaces.

“I don’t want to, because he’s excited to go to school,” Delgros said.

She’s considered the private schools, but there are obstacles.

“I would consider sending them to Notre Dame (now Blessed John Paul II Elementary in Hermitage) but I have two problems. I can’t afford the uniforms. Number two, my ex-husband would probably put up a fight. He does have rights to his kids,” Delgros said. “The school in Mercer, I would send them there, but if I can’t afford uniforms, I can’t afford gas to drive to and from Mercer every day.”

For Delgros, it’s created a lot of unneeded anxiety.

“It’s just frustrating because if they’re going to be giving out the money, why aren’t more schools accepting it? It seems like the other public schools don’t want kids coming from those schools. I don’t know if it’s the reputation that Sharon and Farrell might have,” Delgros said. “It’s kind of pointless. Why put it out there if no one can do anything about it? Why create hysteria?”



The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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