As legislation that expands public money for private school uses moves rapidly through the Iowa Statehouse, Pella Christian’s administration has contacted their constituents and supporters to lobby in favor of the bills creating Educational Savings Accounts for K-12 students.

Pella Christian Head of Schools Dan Zylstra says the legislation as written has the full support of the Iowa Association of Christian Schools, as he feels unlike other voucher programs that pay private schools directly to educate students, by paying families directly in the form of a grant allows Pella Christian and others to maintain their curriculum and admissions practices.

“The bill provides religious protections, which means that PC will continue to admit students and hire employees based on our core values and principles, statement of faith, mission statement, and beliefs. It also protects our freedom to provide a distinctly Christian curriculum at Pella Christian Schools. We feel confident in the protections provided in the bill.”

One of the main concerns from opponents of the legislation is that Pella Christian and all other private institutions can ultimately deny a student for any reason — whether it be for special needs, religious beliefs, or on any other basis that public schools must accept. Zylstra says they make all accepted applicants sign a Statement of Faith, but they are open to providing more resources for students with certain needs if they can find the funding to do so, which may be possible with the expanded ESAs.

“I know at Pella Christian we have tried to work very hard to enroll students who have needs — we can’t always meet those needs, but a lot of that boils down to funding,” he says. “We have licensed special education teachers and we provide a lot of supports, but if there was more funding that accompany these students, which is what this bill does, we hope that allows us to service more of those students.”

Zylstra also credits the success of the Pella Community School District and others in the area, and does not believe there will be a massive amount of enrollees coming from those areas to Pella Christian because of the new money.

An interview with Zylstra will be featured on Tuesday’s Let’s Talk Pella, with an extended version available on the Let’s Talk Pella podcast.