Governor Lombardo’s Roundtable Discussion on Expanding Opportunity Scholarships at Mountain View Christian School in Las Vegas

2023-05-09 07:00:00

By Steve Sebelius ∙ Las Vegas Review-Journal

1 month ago

Governor Joe Lombardo shakes hands with Mountain View Christian School students and their parents before a panel discussion, Monday, May 8, 2023, in Las Vegas. The roundtable follows last week’s hearing on Lombardo’s enforcement of the Education, Opportunity, and Accountability Act (AB 400), which saw pro-school choice activists pack halls in Las Vegas and Carson City. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @btesfaye Governor Joe Lombardo, left, gestures to Valeria Gurr, Nevada School Choice Coalition, as Raymond LeBoeuf, right, principal of Mountain View Christian School, looks on during a panel discussion on Monday, May 8, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @btesfaye Eden Johnson, a third-grader at Mountain View Christian School, gives testimony during a roundtable discussion with Gov. Joe Lombardo and the Nevada School Choice Coalition on Monday, May 8. May 2023, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @btesfaye Gov. Joe Lombardo chats with Kristyn Ramos, right, a senior at Mountain View Christian School, before a roundtable discussion with the Nevada School Choice Coalition on Monday, May 8, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @btesfaye Mountain View Christian School students and their parents listen as Governor Joe Lombardo speaks during a roundtable discussion with the Nevada School Choice Coalition on Monday, May 8, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @btesfaye Governor Joe Lombardo speaks during a roundtable discussion with the Nevada School Choice Coalition at Mountain View Christian School on Monday, May 8, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @btesfaye Governor Joe Lombardo arrives at Mountain View Christian School for a roundtable discussion with the Nevada School Choice Coalition on Monday, May 8, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye Las Vegas Review-Journal) @btesfaye Governor Joe Lombardo, second right, Raymond LeBoeuf, left, Mountain View Christian School Principal Valeria Gurr, second left, Nevada School Choice Coalition, and Kristyn Ramos, right, a senior, listens as Ezra Ramos, a sixth grader, gives testimony during a panel discussion Monday, May 8, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @btesfaye Mountain View Christian School students and their parents listen as Governor Joe Lombardo speaks during a roundtable discussion with the Nevada School Choice Coalition on Monday, May 8, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @btesfaye Kristyn Ramos, a senior at Mountain View Christian School, gives testimony during a roundtable discussion with Gov. Joe Lombardo and the Nevada School Choice Coalition on Monday, May 8 2023, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @btesfaye Mountain View Christian School students and their parents listen as Governor Joe Lombardo speaks during a roundtable discussion with the Nevada School Choice Coalition on Monday, May 8, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @btesfaye Mountain View Christian School students and their parents listen as Governor Joe Lombardo speaks during a roundtable discussion with the Nevada School Choice Coalition, Monday, May 8, 2023, In Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @btesfaye Roman Lomeli, a second grader at Mountain View Christian School, reads his testimony as his mother, Claudia, looks on during a roundtable discussion with Gov. Joe Lombardo and the Election Coalition Nevada schoolgirl, Monday, May 8, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @btesfaye

Governor Joe Lombardo heard Monday from students and parents at a private Christian school who told him how much the Opportunity scholarship program had helped their education.

The event—held at Mountain View Christian School—was meant to highlight House Bill 400 (AB 400), which would expand the program from the current $6.6 million per fiscal year, 0.5 percent of the State Education Fund, increasing it to five percent for the 2031-2032 school year.

“Today, we’re trying to build momentum,” Lombardo told an auditorium packed with parents and students. “We want the legislators who are making the decisions to hear their voice.”

Kristyn Ramos, a Mountain View senior and student body president, said she struggled in school at first but is now an advanced placement student.

“All of this would not be possible without Opportunity scholarships,” he said.

Ezra Ramos, a sixth grader, said he was home-schooled before coming to Mountain View and lacked social skills. But now he’s on the honor roll, he said.

“I mightn’t be more grateful for Opportunity scholarships,” he added.

Several students spoke of being bullied in public schools before coming to Mountain View. Liberty Lockwood, an 11th grader, recalled being bullied but found a different atmosphere in Mountain View with the help of an Opportunity scholarship.

“Nobody has abandoned me even once,” he said.

Several of the students also stated that they were happy to be able to speak freely regarding their religious faith in Mountain View, something they said they would not be able to do in a public school.

There are currently 190 students at the campus on Maryland Parkway near Bridger Avenue, Principal Raymond LeBoeuf said.

Tuition on campus ranges from $7,200 a year for K-6 courses, $8,000 for middle school, and $9,000 for high school. The Opportunity scholarship doesn’t cover all costs, and the school has scholarships and tuition discounts, LeBoeuf said.

“People in this community qualify (for the scholarship),” he said. “The people in this community want that.”

Lombardo said he didn’t know how differently Democrats and Republicans would stand on the scholarship amounts because he hadn’t discussed the details with legislative leaders yet.

“Let’s hope we get it this week because, as you know, we’re running out of time,” the governor said.

There are four weeks of classes left before the end of the course scheduled for June 5.

Lombardo said, however, that he was open to increasing Opportunity scholarships in smaller amounts if it would lead to a compromise.

“If it has to be gradual, it has to be gradual, and we will continue to address it as the years go by,” he said. “We must not have the answer at once.”

An email seeking comment from Assembly Democrats was not immediately returned.

AB 400 would also allow charter schools to request transportation for their students; allow students in public schools to transfer to other public schools in the district if seats become available; would allow cities or counties to sponsor charter schools; increase the maximum income limit to be eligible for an Opportunity Scholarship from 300 percent to 500 percent of the federal poverty line; and would restore a requirement in the law Read by 3 which requires school districts to keep students in third grade if they cannot read at that grade level, with a few exceptions.

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