Relating to the establishment of an education savings account program.

Contracts

• Enrollment Agreements: You must insert a clause stating that refunds for withdrawn students or returned goods must be remitted to the Comptroller’s program fund, not the parent.
• Liability Clauses: Update contracts to hold parents personally liable for tuition/fees if their ESA account is suspended, frozen, or insufficiently funded.
• Statutory Waivers: Private schools must include a specific notice (Sec. 29.367) informing parents that enrolling in the ESA program waives their federal rights under IDEA (special education) and that the school is not required to provide the same services as a public school.

Hiring/Training

• Background Checks: You must submit documentation verifying that every employee interacting with a participating child has undergone a national criminal history record information review.
• Registry Verification: HR must verify all staff against the statutory "Do Not Hire" registry (Sec. 22.092) prior to the 2026 school year.

Reporting & Record-Keeping

• Segregated Accounting: Your financial systems must be able to produce a clean audit trail linking specific student accounts to eligible expenses. Commingling ESA funds with general operating funds without clear attribution creates audit risk.
• Mandatory Testing: Private schools must administer a nationally norm-referenced assessment (or STAAR) annually for grades 3-12 and report results to the Certified Educational Assistance Organization (CEAO).

Fees & Costs

• Price Gouging Prohibition: You are prohibited from charging an ESA participant an amount greater than your standard rate for the same service or product.
• Transaction Fees: Certified Educational Assistance Organizations (CEAOs) are prohibited from charging transaction or usage fees to program participants.