2/23/24 - Friday Forget-Me-Nots by Jim Silcott

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Dear Our Lady of Peace Family,

It is mentioned for the second time this week later in the newsletter. It was also covered in a letter that was sent electronically to you by the parish business manager, Tom Wangler. But the new landscape concerning tuition is quite different from previous years, so I will attempt to repeat some of the important points about that difference and what it means to you, particularly if you are a registered parish member.

Until this year, registered parish members paid one rate of tuition. This was called the “participation” rate. Non- registered parishioners paid the non-participating rate.

This is not the case anymore. The tuition rate for the 2024-2025 school year, which should be announced shortly will show one rate, per child with no difference for both of the above categories. I cannot emphasize enough what a change that is for families registered and participating at Our Lady of Peace. As Tom mentioned in his letter, this change does not simply affect Our Lady of Peace School but all of the Catholic schools in the Diocese.

I anticipate basic questions that I will attempt to answer because of this change. First, is my tuition going to increase dramatically? Last year, although we actually put into place the one tuition rate only offering, the parish pledged that no family would pay more than the announced prices for this year. On paper, a family of three who are registered in the parish, were told that their tuition for this year would be $11,605. This was with the multi-children discount for the second and third child. With the new one tuition rate scheme, the tuition for the same family would be $20, 775. We did not, and will not for next year double this family’s tuition!

So, does it matter whether you are a registered parish family in your tuition? For years, the parish has subsidized parish tuition by almost a third. Although officially, this is not the case with a one rate tuition policy, each family will be looked at on an individual basis specifically with these criteria in mind: income level, parish member, tuition paid last year for families currently enrolled, students on Jon Peterson and the Autism scholarships.

How will this work? This is where the cooperation of every family comes into play. First, for many families, the ED Choice scholarship will play a significant part in reducing everyone’s tuition depending on income level as well as if your family resides in the boundary of a failing school. That is why we urge every family to apply for Ed Choice. Because, unfairly, families receiving Jon Peterson or the Autism scholarships are not currently eligible to apply for Ed Choice (for the individual student only, not the family) this is a fourth criterion when we look at tuition.

Renewal applications are ready to be filled out now and we need to have them back to our office by March 27.

Second, just as about every family fills out the college FAFSA form annually if there is a child attending a post-secondary school, every family hoping to receive a financial grant from the parish and/or Diocese must fill out the free FACTS tuition aid application. The link is factsmgt.com . Click on family login, and then financial aid. In order to be considered for Diocesan assistance, you must apply by March 15.

Finally, every family should take advantage of the Emmaus Road tax scheme. Bottom line is that if you donate money ($750 for an individual, $1,500 for couple filing jointly) by December 31, you will receive every dollar of that money back when you file your taxes next year and the parish will receive that same amount of money that can be used towards tuition grants. Go to emmausroadscholarship.org to apply.



I know this can all seem overwhelming. For years, parents and the parish have been funding most of Ohio Catholic schools. Now we have a chance to rightly use money from the state to fund tuition, but we need your assistance in accessing those funds!

Jim Silcott