CLEVELAND — Parents with two or three children attending parochial schools on vouchers worry about the financial impact if the U.S. Supreme Court finds the state-funded program unconstitutional.

        The status of more than 4,500 children in Roman Catholic schools awaits the court's decision, expected by July.

        About 46 percent of students in the 32 Cleveland parochial schools that participate in the pilot program use vouchers to pay their tuition. At Blessed Sacrament School, 77 percent receive vouchers.

        The program is at the center of a constitutional showdown on whether it is legal to use public money for tuition at religious schools. A ruling is expected by July.

        “It's business as usual in the context of uncertainty,” said Sister Carol Anne Smith, diocesan superintendent of schools. “What the parishes and schools have done is talked very realistically to their families about the need to plan financially.”

        Students in the program received vouchers this school year worth up to $2,250. Tuition levels at most Catholic schools in the city were below that cap, averaging about $1,391.

        Public school is an option for some parents, but they may not consider it the best one.

        The overwhelming number of parents said they wanted to stay in Catholic schools, but three-quarters said they would not be able to afford the tuition without vouchers, Sister Smith said. Most said they could pay something if it meant their child could continue.

        Critics of vouchers charge the real motivation for the program was to subsidize struggling Catholic schools and said the program violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

        Sister Smith said many teachers are delaying their own plans until the outcome of the court case is known.

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