State wants costs of freezing school choice program covered

Nevada officials want a group that’s suing over the state’s new school choice program to cover the costs of putting the program on hold.

A brief filed Wednesday in a Carson City court requests the group Educate Nevada Now post a $239,000 bond. The state would be eligible for the bond money if a court overturns a hold placed on the Education Savings Accounts program earlier this month.

The bond would cover the costs of paying an IT company to store application information for a year so families wouldn’t have to reapply if the injunction goes away.

It would also cover the costs of fighting the injunction in the Nevada Supreme Court.

The program lets parents claim more than $5,000 in state education funds each year for private school tuition.