Can a Parent Co-op Be an Eligible Service Provider?
Parent Co-ops are not forbidden to be providers in Utah Fits All, nor are their services inherently ineligible. However, members and leaders of parent co-ops need to be fully aware of the law because they risk coming into violation by the nature of the organization.
Co-ops can be a service provider, but they must be aware of the law. They are required to have an EIN (nonprofit organizations are still required to have an EIN to be an eligible service provider). However, if the organization is run by parents who are home-based scholarship students or a home school student solely in relation to the parent's child, they cannot be a provider.
So if a co-op is registered as a business with an EIN and run by an individual who is not the parent of a home-based scholarship student or related to the parent of a home-based scholarship student, they can be an eligible service provider.
Can a Parent Use Scholarship Funds to Pay a Parent Co-op?
Generally speaking, parent co-ops exist to pool money across multiple families to purchase in bulk. Parents and service providers are forbidden to mix funds across students. This means that if a co-op wants to bulk purchase 500 boxes of colored pencils, those boxes of colored pencils would then have to be individually purchased by the student's account. The parent cannot spend scholarship funds to go into a pool of money that mixes funds with other students to make a purchase.
Additionally, if a parent co-op purchases curriculum or classes in bulk for parents to then individually purchase, they are acting as an intermediary connecting the parent to a third-party service. Classes and curriculum must be purchased from the organization that creates them.
Original classes and curriculum taught by a co-op themselves are allowed and encouraged. However, if the class is taught by a parent of a home-based scholarship student, that parent cannot be paid with scholarship funds if their own student is taking the class.
What Should I Do If I Am a Parent in a Co-op?
Odyssey highly encourages co-ops with parents who want to use UFA funds to apply to be eligible service providers. This is the most effective way to determine if the organization qualifies to receive UFA funds. Be aware that due to the legal nuances, co-op applications and offerings will take Odyssey longer to process and approve. Reimbursements to co-ops will require the parent to prove the purchase is not in violation of applicable law.
Relevant Sections of Utah State Code
"The following are not eligible service providers: a parent of a home-based scholarship student or a home school student solely in relation to the parent's child" —53F-6-409(6)(a)
"The parent of a scholarship student may not receive scholarship funds as payment for the parent's time spent educating the parent's child." — 53F‑6‑402(7)(d)
"To be an eligible service provider, a private program or service shall provide a federal employer identification number, address and contact information, and description of each program or service offered directly to a scholarship student; shall comply with the antidiscrimination provisions of 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000d; and may not act as a consultant, clearing house, or intermediary." — 53F-6-409(1)
"A private program or service intending to receive scholarship funds shall agree to not refund, rebate, or share scholarship funds with scholarship students or parents in any manner except remittances or refunds processed through the financial administrator." — 53F-6-409(3)