College Heights to offer tax seminar in annual open house

Feb. 08--College Heights Christian School in Joplin will conduct its annual open house Thursday for families who are interested in enrolling their children for the 2018-19 academic year.

The open house will offer its regular features: a science fair in the gymnasium, performances by music groups in the chapel and tours of the school. Teachers will be available to talk with families about their curriculum.

New this year will be guest speakers who will discuss the recently approved Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and how it relates to private school tuition. They will speak at 7 p.m. in the chapel.

A late amendment to the tax overhaul plan approved in December allows parents to put money they save for their children's college costs toward K-12 education, including private school tuition. The plan expands 529 education savings accounts that previously have been restricted to college tuition and expenses, and it lets parents use up to $10,000 from those tax-free accounts to pay for private K-12 tuition.

"Expanding 529s to include any educational option is a commonsense reform that reflects the reality that we must begin to view education as an investment in individual students, not systems," Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has said.

Daniel Lewis, the secondary school principal, said the guest speakers will help current and prospective College Heights families figure out how 529 accounts work and how to set them up.

"I set mine up a couple of weeks ago," said Lewis, who has one child of his own left in attendance at College Heights. "Yet I know there are a lot of people who have questions about it or don't even know about it. Our goal is to get that information out there."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

If you go

College Heights Christian School will conduct its annual open house from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the school, 4311 E. Newman Road. Current and prospective families are invited to attend.

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