Dear Utah Parents,
First and foremost, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to all parents, schools, and providers across the State of Utah for your continued patience and cooperation during this period of transition.
Over the past two weeks, Odyssey has been reviewing the data provided by the outgoing administrator of the Utah Fits All (UFA) Scholarship. Unfortunately, the information provided to Odyssey in many cases is incomplete, inconsistent, or lacks proper verification. As such, Odyssey will need to take additional steps to ensure accuracy, consistency, and compliance with the Utah Fits All law. Accordingly, we are sharing the following updates:
Schedule Updates:
- Eligibility Determinations: The data provided for eligibility determination was incomplete and it is not possible to make eligibility determinations at this time. As one example, our records indicate that only a small percentage of year two applicants successfully completed income verification, a statutory requirement in the law. Accordingly, eligibility determinations will be delayed beyond the original May 31st deadline. We will be back in touch soon with new guidance and timelines related to this.
- Portfolios: The May 31st deadline for portfolio uploads will be postponed. Year one participants who did not upload a portfolio before the prior portal was taken down will not be penalized. Those who submitted a portfolio under the previous program administrator will have that submission honored. However, we recommend holding onto any related documents for now.
What to Expect Next:
- Year One Participating UFA Parents: Odyssey will need to gather additional information from year one participating UFA parents in order to confirm year two eligibility. These parents will be asked to verify Utah residency, confirm whether they plan to enroll in an approved and registered private school or conduct home based learning, and upload portfolios, if needed. Odyssey will reach back out soon with directions for how to complete this step.
- Balances and Spending: Odyssey is still in the process of reconciling balances for all current UFA participants. There is a large population for whom Odyssey cannot determine their current balance because there are thousands of pending reimbursements, receipts, and transactions, many of which were received by Odyssey as recently as May 29th. These pending purchases, completed under the previous administrator and their rules, must undergo further analysis before any additional spending can be authorized for any current UFA families.
- Year Two Application Cycle: Odyssey will be re-running the recent application cycle for families. We understand that this may be frustrating, but we believe this is the best path forward to determine eligibility accurately. We want to emphasize how simple our application process is. The Odyssey application is quick and easy to use. On average, across our partner states, the application takes parents five minutes to complete with more than 80% of users completing it from a mobile device. We will be in touch soon with how you can best prepare for it.
- Providers: In the coming weeks, Odyssey will open its vendor application to become a provider on Odyssey’s marketplace. Providers will complete and submit a quick application before being onboarded. For providers, there are no transaction fees in our marketplace and all providers will be housed in the same marketplace. Guidelines on who can be a provider for UFA can be found in our FAQ section.
- Schools: Odyssey will soon be contacting schools eligible to participate in the UFA Scholarship. These schools will be provided with an online orientation and the ability to create an account on the Odyssey platform. Additionally, private, public, and charter schools are eligible to become providers on Odyssey’s marketplace.
- Email Contact: It is important to note that the email address provided by the previous provider is our primary means of identifying parents. Please make note of this and maintain access to this email in order to have a smooth transition to the Odyssey platform. We have included a form below to add your email address to this listserv if you are seeing this communication through other means.
As previously mentioned, Odyssey’s intent is to be as transparent during this process as possible. We understand that there will be a lot of changes during this period of transition and we deeply appreciate your continued cooperation. Together, we hope to build a program that will be a model for choice and parent empowerment across the country.
All the best,
The Odyssey Team
*If you are seeing this message through other means and would like to be included on future Odyssey communications, please add your information to this form here.