This month the Arizona Attorney General sent a letter to the Arizona Department of Education notifying them of an investigation into the approval of certain ESA expenses. It directed ADE to require more documentation of certain types of expenses including textbooks, curriculum and supplementary materials. ESA recipients should have received notification of this change on July 3, 2024.
If you are using all of your ESA funds for private school tuition for your student with disabilities, this may not have a big impact on you. But if you are home schooling your student with disabilities and developing your own program, you may need to take additional steps to get certain ESA expenses approved.
Assume your child qualified for an ESA based on a disability for other health impairment and had an IEP or a 504 plan for ADHD and are using different programs and curricula to provide for your child’s education needs. If you want to buy supplementary materials with ESA funds, you will now need to have documentation that the curriculum requires or recommends the use of those supplemental materials. The “required or recommended” language has not changed but ESA will now be enforcing it more stringently.
As part of the Attorney General’s investigation, ADE is required to submit certain documentation of its approval of expenses from past years in the following areas: supplementary materials, curriculum materials and textbook expenses. https://www.azed.gov/sites/default/files/2024/07/2024-07-01_PM2024-0008_Opening_Letter_and_Request_for_Information.pdf There may be more changes to the ESA Handbook and guidance as the investigation continues.
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