The Tama-Toledo Christian School’s board of directors announced last week in a news release they had signed a lease agreement for the vacant former St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, pictured, located at 600 Oswego St. in Tama. PHOTO BY MICHAEL D. DAVIS

The new private K-8 Tama-Toledo Christian School has moved one step closer to an anticipated August 2025 opening by signing a lease agreement.

The accredited Christian school’s board of directors announced last week in a news release they had signed a lease agreement for the vacant, former St. Patrick’s Catholic Church located at 600 Oswego Street in Tama.

The lease was signed with the building’s new owners, VLS Real Estate which is owned/managed by Eric Slagle who is also the contractor on the project.

According to the news release, renovation of the vacant building has already begun, starting with interior demolition.

“The interior will be built out with a two story plan for classrooms in two phases,” the news release reads. “Phase One will hold [four] classrooms on the first floor, along with the administration office, conference room, teacher’s lounge, and a vaulted worship space for school assemblies. There is also space for an art room or library.”

The news release further said the first phase will accommodate up to 120 students in grades K-8 while a second phase “will add additional classroom space on the second floor, allowing up to 160 students” and meet “all Americans with Disabilities Act requirements for a school.”

After the initial renovations are completed, Tama-Toledo Christian School plans to take possession of the building in May of 2025.

“Many elements from the original church will be preserved that will add spiritual and historical significance to the building,” the news release continues. “The original bell in the bell tower will remain functional, and the tower will house an elevator for ADA compliance.

“The carved wood choir railing will be relocated from the west end of the building to the east end, overlooking the worship space. The remaining stained glass windows will be relocated along the south wall.”

Board president Rep. Dean Fisher told Tama-Grundy Publishing in an email his board plans to hire three full-time teachers for the first year of operation (contingent on enrollment numbers) while also hiring part-time teachers for special area classes including art, music, and physical education.

When asked how many families and/or students had registered for the school, Fisher said that process had not yet begun but interest was building.

“We are not yet at the stage where we are registering students. That will likely begin in 2025, and possibly ask for letters of intent later in 2024. We do have several families that have expressed strong interest, some with a firm commitment. We have also had families that would have enrolled if we were able to have started earlier.”

So far, Fisher said, all those interested are from the Tama-Toledo area.

Iowa DoE releases ESA voucher numbers

Last week, the Iowa Dept. of Education announced the 2023-24 certified enrollment numbers for both public and accredited nonpublic school districts. The data release also includes educational savings account (ESA) voucher numbers.

ESAs – private school vouchers – were made available for the first time this year under the Students First Act which was signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds in January 2023.

Tama-Toledo Christian School is one of 13 new private accredited Christian school startups the Iowa Association of Christian Schools was working with last year in the months following Iowa’s ESA legislation being signed into law (according to a December Iowa Association of Christian Schools newsletter).

A total of 16,757 students used an ESA at an accredited nonpublic school as of the Oct. 1, 2023 certified enrollment date, according to the Iowa DoE: 2,135 of those students (approximately a third) attended a public school during the 2022-23 school year, while 3,513 kindergarten students used ESAs.

Also included in the Iowa DoE data release were the number of ESA students by resident school district.

Every school district with a building or program in Tama County has at least one resident student receiving an ESA this school year, according to the data.

ESA vouchers are worth $7,635 per student; for every ESA voucher granted this year, the state in turn grants $1,205 to the public school district where the student resides.

For the 2023-24 school year, South Tama County CSD has one ESA student; North Tama County CSD has one ESA student; Gladbrook-Reinbeck CSD has two ESA students; GMG CSD has one ESA student; and Union Community School District has 13 ESA students.

Funding the Tama-Toledo Christian School

While the Tama-Toledo Christian School’s board plans to fund school operations with ESA vouchers, fundraising continues for the initial $100,000 start-up costs.

“We are on target for our fundraising goal, meeting all of our needs to date with zero debt,” Fisher said. “In every area in this effort God has broken down the barriers in our path, including financially. When we needed people to roll up their sleeves and begin work, we were blessed with great board members willing to do the hard work of starting this school. When we needed a building, we were blessed with VLS and Eric (Slagle) to provide it. When we needed changes to the accreditation process to accommodate new schools accepting the ESA funds, we were blessed with those changes.”

While it remains to be seen how many students in Tama County’s public school districts will elect to use an ESA voucher in order to attend Tama-Toledo Christian School, work on the new school continues in earnest, Fisher said as part of the news release.

“The board members of TTCS are incredibly grateful to Eric [Slagle] and his team at VLS Real Estate for taking on this project … this lease is truly an answer to our prayers for a building to house this new Christian school for the Tama-Toledo area. It has room for us to grow over the years, and it will retain a warm and inviting space for the children to feel God’s presence around them as they learn.”