CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Hope Scholarship approved a number of qualifying expenses for the scholarship program at its meeting Tuesday in Charleston.
The board has received several requests in recent months from scholarship families and private schools seeking clarification on what the funds can be used for. The board approved a few requests Tuesday but rejected a few others.
The Hope Scholarship provides money to K-12 students leaving the public school system to use for various educational costs.
Families receiving the Hope Scholarship now have approximately $4,488.82 they can spend on educational expenses for their students.
One of the requests the board received was consideration of private school lunches as a qualifying expense to receive scholarship money for.
The request read, as expenses related to the cost of school lunch has increased, private schools say they have been forced to raise the charges of those lunches to students and this could create a hardship for them and their families receiving the Hope Scholarship. The request went on to say, because students have qualified for additional needs-based assistance, there entire scholarship is not required as part of their tuition expense and could be used for other expenses such as this in this instance.
The board approved the request, state Treasurer and Hope Board Chairman Riley Moore said it makes a lot of sense to allow the scholarship money to go for providing lunches.
“This will help cover the cost of what they are doing, if they are already receiving assistance from that school, help some kids be able to eat while at that school, help families who can’t generally afford that, I think it’s the right thing to do,” Moore said.
He said the cost of school lunches is different for private school children than for those going to public school, and families trying to afford the cost of private school altogether could use the extra help in affording expenses such as lunch for their kids.
“I think it makes a lot of sense for a state like West Virginia to allow them, as long as they are eating in school, to be able to use their Hope Scholarship dollars, and which is a big part of their day in school is to be able to eat lunch,” he said.
Another qualifying expense approved by the board was the inclusion of an ASFAB test-prep program for students who are wishing to enter the military after their school career. They unanimously agreed that this made sense as a qualifying expense, because the Hope Scholarship already authorizes test prep courses for those students who are going into colleges and four-year universities.
The board then approved the request for DVD and CD players to be purchased through the scholarship funding, but disapproved of other electronic expenses, such as home theater equipment and gaming systems.
Finally, the board approved for field trip expenses and general admission fees to educational-related venues be paid for through the scholarship, but disapproved the purchase of bookshelves and household furniture for scholarship recipients.
The board was also updated on the current scholarship application period. There are a total of 6,942 applicants for next year. A total of 6,024 students have now been awarded the scholarship with 231 students who have been declined.