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HB 816

Voucher School Transparency Act.

2025-2026 Session Introduced by Eric Ager and 30 co-sponsors

HB 816 increases accountability for voucher-funded private schools by mandating annual reporting, standardized testing, audits, safety plans, and annual State Auditor review of sel

Passed 1st Reading
0
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Bill Summary · HB 816

HB 816 — Voucher School Transparency Act (Summary)

Status: Passed First Reading
Introduced: November 12, 2024
Primary sponsor: Rep. Rubin (and others)

Purpose
- Increase accountability and transparency for nonpublic schools that accept Opportunity Scholarship (voucher) funds.
- Strengthen reporting, testing, audit, and safety requirements for those schools and require the State Auditor to review audits annually.

Key provisions and changes
- Expanded reporting and documentation (annual)
- Nonpublic schools must provide the Scholarship Authority (the Authority) documentation of tuition and fees charged for each scholarship student.
- Annual provision of school contact/operational data: name and physical address (separate submissions for each campus), owners and chief administrator, number of students (as of Oct. 1), attendance records for scholarship students (previous year), percent of teachers with licenses, accreditation status and accreditor, curriculum by grade level, and proof of a fire inspection within the prior 365 days.
- Counts of scholarship recipients who previously attended public schools (new and returning).

  • Student progress and testing

    • Schools must give parents/guardians an annual written explanation of each scholarship student’s progress, including standardized test scores.
    • Schools must administer annual tests to all scholarship students in grades 3 and above; results must be submitted to the Authority by July 15 each year.
    • Grades 3–8: nationally standardized test designated by the Authority.
    • Grade 11: ACT.
    • Other grades 4+ : a nationally standardized test or equivalent as selected by the school’s chief administrator, with specified content coverage for grades 4–7 and 9–12.
    • Test performance data submitted to the Authority is not a public record under Chapter 132 (maintains some confidentiality).

  • Graduation metrics

    • Schools must report graduation rates for scholarship students, including four‑year cohort graduation rates consistent with federally recognized standards.

  • Audit and financial oversight

    • Financial review / audit requirements changed to a dollar threshold:
    • Schools that accept $100,000 or more in scholarship grants in a year must contract with a CPA for an audit consistent with AICPA standards annually.
    • Schools accepting less than $100,000 must procure an audit every three years.
    • Audit results must be reported to the Authority and to the State Auditor by December 31 of the audit year.

  • Special education reporting

    • To the extent permitted by federal law and without revealing personally identifiable information, schools must report the number of scholarship students with disabilities who have IEPs, and whether the school is educating those students in compliance with IDEA and State Board policies.

  • Safety and emergency preparedness

    • Schools must comply with Article 8C requirements, including adopting a School Risk Management Plan (SRMP) developed in coordination with local law enforcement and utilizing the State’s School Risk and Response Management System. Certain safety documents (e.g., SRMPs, schematic diagrams) are not public records.

  • State Auditor oversight

    • The State Auditor is required to annually review audits of at least three nonpublic schools that receive Opportunity Scholarship funds (targeted audit review to strengthen external oversight).

Who is affected
- Primary: Nonpublic (private) schools that accept Opportunity Scholarship / voucher students.
- Indirectly affected: scholarship students and their families, the Scholarship Authority, the State Auditor, and indirectly taxpayers (through oversight of public funds).
- Some data elements remain confidential (e.g., criminal background disclosures to the Authority; select test data not public).

Timing and procedural notes
- Test results: submitted to the Authority by July 15 annually.
- Audit reporting: audit results reported to the Authority and State Auditor by December 31 of the audit year.
- Audit frequency triggered by scholarship dollars accepted: $100,000+ → annual audit; < $100,000 → audit every three years.
- The bill text requires compliance with existing privacy and federal law when reporting personally identifiable student information.

Limitations / enforcement
- The bill sets reporting, testing, and audit requirements and requires State Auditor review; statutory enforcement mechanisms (penalties, loss of eligibility) are not detailed in the provided excerpt.

Bottom line
HB 816 raises transparency and oversight requirements for voucher-funded private schools by mandating standardized testing and reporting, tightening audit thresholds and timing, requiring safety planning, and creating annual State Auditor review of selected school audits to increase accountability for public scholarship funds.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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