More Money, More What?

A look at how HB215 might change Juan Diego

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What if I told you that Juan Diego has a chance to get an influx of new money? 

Most of you already know that our multiple trips to the Capitol were to promote “school choice,” but in reality we were going to peacefully protest and influence the decision on House Bill 215. 

Whether our force of students influenced the decision or not, Governor Spencer Cox has signed HB215 into state law, circa two weeks ago. 

This essentially means that $42 million dollars will be given as $8,000 scholarships to 5,250 students across the state of Utah. 

Now picture this:

The entire circle or “pie” is the total amount of tax money that is given to schools by the Utah state government. This is a value of just under $7.5 billion dollars.

The green piece of the pie, representing the amount of tax money donated to public schools has a value over $7 billion dollars.    

On the other hand the orange slice is the maximum amount of money that could be given in scholarships to private schools, and this has a value of $42 million dollars. 

In other words, less than 1% of tax money donated to public schools would be relocated to private schools. 

Keep in mind that there are approximately 64 private high schools in Utah (Juan Diego being the largest) that will get $42 million dollars dispersed among them. 

Thus, school choice will give Utah residents the ability to go to any one of these 64 schools for a discounted price via the government bill scholarships. 

With Juan Diego being the largest private school with a good reputation, we can expect a good portion of new money coming to the school when this bill applies, starting in 2024.  

Ultimately, this means that we have a chance of getting several more students with the new ability to lower tuition and open our doors to more of the student population in Utah.