A New York-based company that touts itself as the first designed “specifically for education savings accounts” was selected Friday afternoon to manage Utah’s $100 million school voucher program, the Utah Fits All Scholarship, which remains in operation after a judge last month ruled it was unconstitutional.
The company, called Odyssey, has a questionable track record stemming from its recent management of a similar voucher program in neighboring Idaho. That checkered past was cited before all but one of the 12 Utah state school board leaders present Friday signed off on an initial contract with the company.
The decision comes a little over a month after the state terminated its multiyear deal with The Alliance for Choice in Education (ACE), citing “convenience” as the official reason for parting ways with the program manager less than a year after formally launching Utah Fits All.
The new Odyssey agreement is set to begin May 16, according to the $9.7 million contract that the Utah State Board of Education approved. That’s a day after ACE officially steps down, according to board documents. Odyssey’s two-year contract will run through June 2027.
USBE officials said in a statement that they are now working on the transition process, which “includes determining the process for possibly transferring the use of the existing UFA website.”
ACE was invited to reapply but did not submit a bid, according to Deputy Superintendent Scott Jones. Just one other organization in addition to Odyssey responded to the state’s request for proposal, Jones said.
“We are excited to work with the State and Utah families in enabling access to personalized learning opportunities for students across the state,” Odyssey said in a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune on Friday.
The same company was hired in 2022 to oversee Idaho’s then-$50 million Empowering Parents microgrant program, the Idaho Education News reported.
After reports surfaced that Odyssey had reimbursed families for improper purchases — such as clothing, TVs, smart watches and household cleaning supplies — the Idaho state board launched an internal review in April 2023.
They determined that less than 1% of reimbursed purchases, totaling $180,000, were ineligible and ordered Odyssey to pay back the funds, which the company agreed to do.
Separately, in June 2023, Idaho’s Department of Administration found that Odyssey had earned and collected nearly $500,000 in interest from the Empowering Parents account, a breach of its contract. Odyssey also agreed to pay that back to the state.
Odyssey in an email late Friday asserted that when it first operated the program, the state of Idaho had asked it to be the trustee on the account, but later changed its mind.
Utah board members on Thursday expressed concern about whether Odyssey’s repayment situation could interfere with its new responsibilities in Utah.
Deputy Superintendent Scott Jones assured board members Friday that he had addressed their concerns with Odyssey and emailed the board its responses, but he did not publicly disclose what all had been discussed.
He said the state typically enters five-year contracts with vendors but noted Odyssey’s was approved for only two years with the option for renewal.
“The reason for that is because of the complexity of these programs,” Jones said. “And because we want to follow the legislative law, or intent, for the program.”
Utah Fits All most ‘complex’ school choice program in nation
In the Utah Fits All program’s first year, lawmakers allocated about $80 million toward it — enough to award $8,000 scholarships to 10,000 students.
Families could spend the funds on a range of “educational expenses,” including private school tuition, tutoring, homeschooling expenses and even entirely on extracurricular activities, such as violin or swim lessons.
About 80% of recipients for the program’s inaugural year (2024-25) were homeschoolers, which made managing reimbursements challenging, USBE member Cindy Davis said during an earlier meeting Thursday — and made for a far more complicated workload than other states.
“In other states, 80% of these reimbursements are payments to a private school,” Davis said. “Well, in this state, 80% of the reimbursements are thousands of little reimbursements that you have to vet and evaluate.”
Board Chair Matt Hymas agreed.
“It has been a nightmare,” Hymas said Thursday, ahead of the Friday vote. “The previous vendor was not ready for it. And I’ll tell you right now, I doubt that this current, this new vendor, will be. … I would love to see us get a vendor and then say, ‘Good luck.’”
Utah Fits All still faces legal challenges
To further complicate the situation, Odyssey’s management will come online as the constitutionality of Utah Fits All remains in legal limbo.
Third District Court Judge Laura Scott already ruled that the program was unconstitutional, and while the state plans to appeal, if a higher court upholds Scott’s ruling, Utah Fits All will be completely dissolved. Scott in the meantime agreed to allow the program to continue.
Her April 18 decision came almost a year after the Utah Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union, sued the state, alleging that the voucher program was an unconstitutional use of the state’s income tax dollars — which are reserved only for public education, higher education and services for people with disabilities.
“Why would any organization want to take over a program that was just declared unconstitutional?” USBE member Joseph Kerry asked Friday.
“I think that’s a question that’s better answered by the vendor,” Jones replied.
If Utah Fits All survives, major changes are ahead for the now-$100 million program after lawmakers boosted its funding by 25% during the 2025 legislative session.
There will be new limits on spending for certain extracurriculars — as well as varying scholarship amounts, depending on a student’s age and whether they are homeschooled.
Homeschoolers age 5-11 will receive a $4,000 scholarship, for example, and homeschoolers age 12-18 will qualify for $6,000. Students attending private schools still will receive the full $8,000, regardless of age.
This means the more than $100 million in taxpayer-backed scholarships — if allowed — could be spread across more recipients. Applications for the 2025-26 school year closed Thursday.
Clarification • May 2, 8:55 p.m.: This story has been updated to reflect that the $180,000 that Odyssey was ordered to pay back in Idaho amounted to less than 1% — rather than 1% — of reimbursed purchases. Context has also been added from Odyssey about the history of the Idaho interest dispute.
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