With reduced scholarship for homeschool students, Utah Fits All update poised to become law

Yahoo

04-03-2025

Students work in an art class at Wasatch Junior High School in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
With about 80% of school choice voucher recipients being homeschooled in the Utah Fits All program's first year, the Utah Legislature has passed a bill restricting funding for extracurriculars and decreasing awards for students learning at home.
HB455, sponsored by Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Herriman, was updated in the Senate Education Committee last week to reduce the amount that homeschool students can receive, bringing down the $8,000 annual scholarship.
Now, homeschooled Utah Fits All students 5 to 11 years old would have access to $4,000 a year, while those 12 to 18 years old could get $6,000. Private school students are still eligible for $8,000 a year to help cover their tuition or other expenses.
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'We made that change,' Pierucci said on the House floor on Monday. 'It will open up a minimum $16 million in the current existing appropriation, so that that money can be reallocated to more students.'
The bill passed both the House and the Senate and now only awaits the governor's signature.
In a public hearing, many spoke against the change in scholarship amounts. Madeline Ogborn, who has two children in the program, said it would be devastating to lose 50% of her budget to educate them.
'We're, I guess, confused, disappointed, worried about being treated equally,' she said, adding that she has tried to be thoughtful about her expenses, but still, one of her students is already over that $4,000 limit for this school year, she said.
However, Pierucci defended the scholarship amount cut, arguing that while she acknowledges that homeschool learning can work in many ways, with different expenses, she heard concerns about the program encouraging 'frivolous spending' with the $8,000 amount.
She struggled with the cut, she said, because it could send a message that homeschooling is 'less than.' But, the change is to allow more students into the program.
The school choice scholarship, which detractors call 'school vouchers,' has been controversial and even faces a challenge in court with a lawsuit questioning its constitutionality. But, it has also been highly sought after in the state, with a lengthy waitlist of those vying to get state dollars for education expenses including private school tuition and fees, homeschooling, tutoring services, testing fees, materials and other expenses.
Pierucci said lowering the scholarship amount could potentially allow some of the more than 17,000 students on the waitlist to get into the program. And, more Utah students may also have access to the money in the coming year, as a new request for appropriations was included in the state's budget recommendation for the 2025 fiscal year, leaving some Democratic lawmakers frustrated.
Currently the Utah Fits All is allocated $82.5 million in taxpayer funding a year, used to serve about 10,000 students. A request to almost double that amount was met halfway in the budget, which adds $40 million more in ongoing money for the program.
The legislation also establishes more guardrails and clear guidelines for the program manager, strengthening residence requirements and adjusting the priority for families with an income from 200% of the federal poverty level to 300%, 'to make sure we're truly capturing low income and middle class families before it is available to all families in Utah,' Pierucci said.
It also includes a provision that has been very unpopular among recipients — a 20% cap for extracurriculars and physical education, and the clear exclusion of ski passes, furniture, musical instruments, apparel and others from the allowable expenses.
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