Utah News Dispatch
New Utah Fits All administrator to rerun applications after finding inconsistencies
Students work in a math class at Wasatch Junior High School in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
The administration change of Utah Fits All, the state’s school choice program has hit some road bumps.
Days after the Utah State Board of Education switched managers to run the program and the application portal closed, families are learning that they may have to apply again.
Odyssey, a New York-based technology company that won the bid in May to run the voucher program, announced Friday on its website that after reviewing the application data the outgoing administrator provided, it found that in many cases the information was incomplete, inconsistent, or lacked proper verification.
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The company “will need to take additional steps to ensure accuracy, consistency, and compliance with the Utah Fits All law,” Odyssey officials wrote. They said those actions include re-running applications for families participating in the second year application cycle.
“We understand that this may be frustrating, but we believe this is the best path forward to determine eligibility accurately,” company officials said.
The announcement comes after the Board of Education canceled early its multiyear contract with the program’s previous third-party manager ACE Scholarships, citing “convenience” reasons. The move was made possible by a 2025 bill that, among other changes to Utah Fits All, opened the door for a switch should the Board of Education need to change its current program administrator.
Utah Board of Education ends contract early with Utah Fits All administrator
Odyssey officials said ACE Scholarships’ previous records make it impossible to determine students’ eligibility since those records only show a small percentage of second year applicants successfully completed their income verification — a step on their application that’s required by law.
Those eligibility determinations will be delayed past the initial May 31 deadline, according to Odyssey. However, the company hasn’t set a new timeline for the new process.
After the announcement, ACE Scholarships issued a statement saying that the company had collected and transferred all data required under its original contract. The Legislature added new requirements in the middle of the application cycle, so the responsibility to collect the new data rests with the new program manager, the company’s representatives wrote.
“ACE collaborated closely with (the Utah State Board of Education), the designated bridge manager, and they were fully informed of the data being transferred,” ACE representatives said. “During our tenure, ACE processed applications on schedule, approved expenses with 24-hour turnaround — crucial for low-income families — and earned an 89% customer satisfaction rating.”
Reconciling scholarship balances for current Utah Fits All participants is also underway, with “a large population for whom Odyssey cannot determine their current balance because there are thousands of pending reimbursements, receipts, and transactions, many of which were received by Odyssey as recently as May 29th.”
The company won’t authorize any additional spending until pending purchases undergo further analysis, according to its website. As of Thursday, Utah Fits All’s website listed June 30 as the last day to use 2024-2025 funds.
Among the changes to Utah Fits All the Legislature approved this year is a 20% cap on extracurricular activities and physical education, in addition to tightened expense guidelines to explicitly prohibit the use of scholarship money to pay for ski passes, furniture, musical instruments, apparel, and other uses.
While lawmakers approved more money to fund additional scholarships, bringing the total annual allocation for the program to $100 million, they also voted to reduce the amount some students could receive. This year, homeschooled children of ages 5 to 11 would have access to $4,000 a year, while those aged 12 to 18 years old could get up to $6,000. That’s down from the $8,000 that was allowed during the program’s first year.
Private school students are still eligible for $8,000 a year to help cover their tuition or other expenses.
Meanwhile, Utah Fits Alls is also facing other challenges that may threaten its existence. A 3rd District Court judge recently ruled the program to be unconstitutional, a win for the Utah Education Association, the state’s largest teacher union.
The union sued the state for diverting “funds from already underfunded public schools,” union leaders said. They alleged the program violates the Utah Constitution, which explicitly says income tax revenue should be used to fund public education, among a few other limited uses. State leaders said they will appeal the decision to the Utah Supreme Court.
While the case plays out in court, the program will continue to operate.
