Without taxpayer subsidies, Tama County’s only private school likely wouldn’t exist.
In its first year of operation, Tama-Toledo Christian School received more than $200,000 in school vouchers via Iowa’s Students First Education Savings Accounts (ESA) program, which provides taxpayer dollars to support private school tuition.
Tama-Toledo Christian School was founded by Iowa Rep. Dean Fisher, his wife, and several other community members in March 2023, less than two months after the Republican from Montour voted for the bill that would later fund his school.
All students who attend Tama-Toledo Christian School receive free tuition if they are enrolled in the ESA.
While the school did some initial fundraising, Fisher previously told the Tama-Toledo News that vouchers would cover future expenses.
“Once we start classes, the ESA funding will pay the bulk of our operating expenses, and we will also continue to fundraise from the community to enhance our funding,” Fisher told the paper.
Conflict of interest?
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement filed a complaint in February 2024 accusing Fisher of trying to cash in on vouchers by voting for them and then starting a school that would be primarily funded by them.
However, the bipartisan Iowa House Ethics Committee determined that Fisher’s support for the voucher bill, and his then-intent to start a private school funded by them, did not meet the criteria and unanimously dismissed the complaint.
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While Fisher’s connection did not technically break any of the rules for Iowa House members, the longtime Iowa lawmaker is deeply intertwined with the school:
- One of his official legislative portraits is used on the school’s website to denote his role as board president.
- Fisher is the signatory on the school’s nonprofit incorporation paperwork with the state.
- Fisher is also listed as the school’s principal officer on Tama-Toledo Christian School’s IRS Form 990-N.
Privately held, publicly funded
Iowa’s voucher program went into effect before the 2023-24 school year with slight income restrictions in place. However, there were no financial restrictions heading into the 2025-26 school year, the first year of operation for Tama-Toledo Christian School.
Located inside a former Catholic church in Toledo, the new K-8 Christian school completed its first year of operation in May and had 32 students, according to data from the Iowa Department of Education.
Based on last year’s ESA rate of $7,988 and its 32-student head count, Tama-Toledo Christian School likely received $255,616 in state funding. According to the school’s website, it has a capacity for 164 students. Were it to reach that mark in the future, taxpayers would send the school more than a million dollars annually to fund it.
School leaders considered the first year such a success that Tama-Toledo Christian will start offering classes to ninth graders in the 2026-27 academic year, according to a press release sent to the Tama-Toledo News.
Vouchers aren’t the only public benefit the private institution uses as a selling point.
Courtesy of a local public school, Tama-Toledo Christian’s fifth- and sixth-grade students can participate in band, while older students can participate in band, basketball, choir, cross country, football, track and volleyball.
“State law allows for students in private schools to dual enroll in the public schools for sports and other activities,” the extracurricular tab on Tama-Toledo Christian’s website notes. “This option will be available for TTCS students.”
