PHOTO: Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva discusses draft rules with state education board members during a work session in Little Rock on March 6, 2024. | Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate
By ANTOINETTE GRAJEDA | Arkansas Advocate
The Arkansas Department of Education is seeking a new company to help administer the state’s school voucher program after terminating a contract with its current Indiana-based vendor due to delays and failure to implement required components.
ADE posted a new online bid for another vendor to run the state’s Education Freedom Account and literacy tutoring grant programs. According to the agency’s tentative timeline, proposals were due by noon Tuesday, Oct. 15, and a contract is expected to be awarded by Nov. 18.
Arkansas awarded a $15 million contract to Indiana-based Student First Technologies in April to help administer the second year of the EFA program. Created through the LEARNS Act, a sweeping education law, the school voucher program provides around $6,800 per student for allowable student expenses such as private school tuition.
The EFA program is being phased in over three years with expanding eligibility requirements until it’s open to all students during the 2025-2026 academic year.
ADE announced the program reached its second-year cap in September, and families unable to secure a spot will be placed on a waitlist. A department spokesperson said Thursday that there are 14,297 funded students for the 2024-25 school year.
Student First Technologies has struggled to implement voucher programs in Arkansas and West Virginia, according to The 74, an education-focused news site. Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva sent a letter to the company’s CEO on Sept. 16 expressing concern about missed deadlines.
Oliva sent another letter Tuesday informing Students First that ADE was terminating its contract because the company “failed to deliver a fully functioning system by the deadlines established under contract.”
Additionally, the letter notes components that were delivered “had significant problems and delays” that included “unreasonably slow payment processing” and “repeated failure of the system to operate as required.”
ADE is fining Student First $563,000 in damages and penalties that is due in full by Dec. 31, 2024, the date when the contract expires. The company is expected to fulfill its contractual obligations until the contract is terminated at the end of the year, according to the letter.
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