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 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 school board launched an internal review in April 2023, according to board documents.
The internal review determined an estimated $180,000 in reimbursed purchases were ineligible, which was less than 1%. Initially, Odyssey agreed to pay back that amount to the state, according to board documents.
A subsequent independent audit, which covered a slightly longer period of time, looked at Odyssey’s approvals under two sets of rules: the ones actually in effect at the time Odyssey was evaluating parents’ purchases, and broader eligibility rules that were adopted months afterward.
With the broader rules retroactively applied, the November 2023 audit still found Odyssey improperly reimbursed purchases — estimated at $40,614, again amounting to less than 1%. The Idaho state school board decided to require Odyssey to pay back only that amount, a spokesperson for the board said Tuesday.
Separately, board documents show, the board noted in March 2023 its concern that Odyssey was retaining the interest being earned on funds that belonged to the state and were being held in the Empowering Parents account; that interest amounted to roughly $550,000.
Idaho considered that interest collection and retention to be a violation of Odyssey’s initial contract with the state, the board spokesperson confirmed to The Tribune Tuesday. In a June 23, 2023, letter to Odyssey, the state Division of Purchasing described the breach and demanded the interest, according to Idaho Education News, which reported it had obtained a copy of the letter.
In Odyssey’s reply, which Idaho Education News said it also obtained, the company said it would return the interest but also noted it would owe federal taxes on the earnings. Idaho and Odyssey negotiated a settlement; the company has since paid the state $478,656, the board spokesperson said.
In an email to The Tribune late Friday, Odyssey 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 last 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.
Correction • May 6, 6:10 p.m.: This story has been updated to reflect that Odyssey agreed to repay Idaho $40,614 for ineligible purchases, following a decision by the Idaho state school board to reduce the original amount of approximately $180,000.
Clarification • May 2, 8:55 p.m.: This story has been updated to reflect that the approximately $180,000 that Odyssey was initially 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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