***Media Advisory***

CASAS TO HOST FORUM ON SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOLARSHIP

 WHAT: Parent Information Session on Special Needs Scholarships

WHEN: June 18, 2007 @ 7:00 PM

WHERE: St. Thomas More Catholic School, Mulhern Hall
630 West Ponce de Leon, Decatur

ATLANTA—Georgia State Representative David Casas (R-Lilburn) and representatives of the Georgia Department of Education will host a parent information session on June 18, 2007, to answer questions about Georgia’s new Special Needs Scholarship.

The question and answer session will be held at Mulhern Hall at St. Thomas More Catholic School, 630 West Ponce de Leon, Decatur, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. More information on the scholarship is available at www.specialedoptions.com.

The Georgia Special Needs Scholarship, also known as Senate Bill 10, will provide state-funded scholarships to disabled pupils in public schools to attend another public school or transfer to a private school beginning with the 2007-08 school year. 

Casas, a member of the House Education Committee and a public school teacher in Gwinnett County, sponsored Senate Bill 10 in the Georgia House.

“With the new school year rapidly approaching, parents of children with special needs still have many questions about the legislation,” Casas said. “We want to try and answer them prior to the cutoff dates for applying for a scholarship for the new school year.”

The state Department of Education is enacting the new law concerning the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship. Private schools that intend to participate must submit their application by June 30.

The state Board of Education will release a list of state-approved private schools that may participate in the program at its July 12-13 board meeting. At that time, parents may formally submit their application to get a scholarship to one of those approved schools prior to the start of the new school year.

“This is the first year of the new program, and it will take some time for everyone to understand the rules and get use to it,” Casas said.

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