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Commission presses EFA administrator on how students qualify for differentiated special-education aid
Summary
A legislative commission probed the Children's Scholarship Fund about how EFA differentiated aid is awarded, focusing on two pathways—school-district IEPs and medical certification (MCD)—and flagged that about 890 students receive differentiated aid while only ~240 have district documentation, raising questions about oversight and data accuracy.
Chair Rick Ladd invited Matt Southerton, director of policy and compliance for the Children’s Scholarship Fund, to explain how the state’s Education Freedom Account (EFA) program qualifies students for differentiated aid.
Southerton said the program accepts two pathways: (1) district evaluations and existing IEPs and (2) a medical certification of disability (MCD) signed by a medical professional. He said the MCD form (referred to in CSF policy as STU 19) lists qualifying disabling conditions and requires the signing clinician to state their credentials and diagnosis. Southerton said CSF will accept district evaluations or an…
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