(Radio Iowa) [Updated] – Iowa parents applied for 29,025 of the new state-funded Education Savings Accounts that will cover a child’s private school expenses.

The application deadline for a state-funded Education Savings Account was June 30. As of today, the private company handling those applications has confirmed income data for more than 17,481 students. The parents or guardians who filed the other requests for a child will need to provide more documents confirming their income level. State funding this year is limited to students who live in a household with an annual income at or below 300% of the federal poverty line.

Step two in this process will be to determine if there is a spot in a private school for each of these students. According to the governor’s office, there are only 9000 open spots in accredited Iowa private schools for the upcoming school year and it’s possible some of the ESAs won’t be activated because there was no private school option for the student. Sixty percent of the 17,481 applications that have been approved are for students already enrolled in a private school. The other 40% are for public school students planning to transfer to a private school.

Starting July 15, parents will be able to indicate if they have found a private school for their child. The company handling the program will confirm enrollment and that’s when the state
money will be available to cover private school tuition or other eligible expenses. According to the governor’s office, the total amount that’s spent on these new Education Savings Accounts won’t be available until October when public and private school enrollment is confirmed.

Data released by the governor’s office today indicates 60% of the ESA applications are for students already enrolled in a private school and 40% are for students who’ll be moving from a public school to a private school.

Trish Wilger, executive director of the Iowa Alliance for Choice in Education, said there is a limit to the number of students private schools will accept. “There’s some schools that are really full in certain parts of the state,” she said. “Some schools might have a situation where they had a lot of space in certain grades, but not others.”

When Governor Reynolds approved the program six months ago, officials estimated about 14,000 students would be approved. Twice that number of applications were submitted.

“Programs have been passed in other states and that was a big hurdle was informing parents that this option was out there for them, so I think in Iowa we’ve done a good job of getting the word out,” Wilger said.

Lawmakers budgeted $107 million for Education Savings Accounts in this first year. However, there is no limit on what the state will spend on the program and the final cost will depend upon how many students are approved. Iowa State Education Association president Mike Beranek said the governor and Republican lawmakers “have decided unlimited budgets are reserved for just a select few Iowans.” Beranek, who issued a written statement his afternoon, said 90% of Iowa families continue to choose the public schools in their neighborhood and “that’s where precious resources should be directed.”

(Radio Iowa) – Fort Dodge police are now releasing the name of the boy who was shot and killed Tuesday night. The victim is identified as 15-year-old Jameel C. Redding Pettrigrew, of Fort Dodge. Pettigrew died of his wounds after being shot in the area of South 15th Street and Fourth Avenue South.

Fort Dodge Police issued an arrest warrant on Wednesday for 18-year-old Jamarrion James Davis also known as J-J from Ankeny. Davis is wanted on a charge of murder in the first degree as a result of the Tuesday night shooting.

The Webster County Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of $500 if anyone has information on the whereabouts of Davis. The incident remains under investigation by Fort Dodge authorities.

(Casey, Iowa) – Emergency personnel from Anita were called to the scene of an accident just west of the I-80 eastbound rest area, near mile marker 80, in Adair County. The call about a semi that went into a cornfield went out at around 11:41-a.m. There was no immediate word on injuries. Cass EMS was also responding. Additional details are currently not available.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – A collision with a deer Wednesday night in Guthrie County, resulted in the arrest of a man from Greene County. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office reports 38-year-old Andrew Ross Reisner, of Jefferson, was traveling north on Highway 4 at around 9:34-p.m., when the 2010 Ford van he was driving, struck a deer on the road. Reisner was subsequently arrested for OWI/2nd Offense. He was transported to the Guthrie County Jail.

Damage to the van was estimated at $10,000. Reisner was not injured in the collision.

(Radio Iowa) – An insurance company in central Iowa is the subject of a high-dollar sale. West Des Moines-based American Equity Investment Life Holding Company is being purchased by Brookfield Reinsurance of Bermuda in a deal that’s reportedly worth four-point-three billion dollars. Brookfield says it will maintain an Iowa presence, but didn’t specify how many of the current staff will be kept on.

American Equity is one of the country’s biggest retirement insurance providers, and reported a total workforce of 840 last year. That includes the headquarters in West Des Moines and offices in Miami, New York, and Charlotte, North Carolina.