Parents under scrutiny for allegedly misusing Empowering Parents funds

BLACKFOOT — Idaho mother Brenna Collum homeschools her children and is always on the lookout for educational materials to make the job easier. That’s why she was excited when the state announced the $50 million Empowering Parents Grant.

Announced by the Idaho Department of Education in August 2022, the grant aims to give Idaho families the chance to compensate for the learning loss kids experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The grant allocates $1,000 per student and up to $3,000 per family, which families can used to purchase educational items from vendors on an online marketplace. Odyssey, a company the Idaho State Board of Education hired to build and oversee the marketplace, must pre-approve all purchases: grant funds cannot be withdrawn from a parent’s digital wallet without it.

K-12 students attending public schools, private schools or homeschools are all eligible. It sounded like a great deal to Collum.

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However, what started off as a good opportunity turned out to be a big headache for her and several other families across the state.

Although the grant was announced in August, the Idaho State Board of Education didn’t provide parents with a list of eligible expenses until December 2022, according to Mike Keckler, the chief communications and legislative affairs officer for the Idaho State Board of Education.

By that time, many parents had already received grants and made purchases on the marketplace. Collum was one of those parents. She bought a sewing machine for her eight-year-old.

“I feel like a sewing machine is a great STEM learning tool,” said Collum. She noted Idaho public schools often purchase sewing machines with state money. She says the purchase was approved through Odyssey’s marketplace process.

The state completed an internal review of the grant process in June. It found that over $83,000 had been misused — less than one percent of the total grant purchases. At that time, Odyssey agreed to reimburse the state for the funds.

But now, Idaho parents have received an email from Odyssey containing allegations of misusing the grant funds. The parents have until August 15 to justify their purchases or risk having to repay the funds. If misuse is found, those parents would also become ineligible for future grants.

Parents say they understand why the state would be concerned about misuse, but Odyssey approved the items in question. They thought were following the process laid out for the program’s use.

“It’s shocking to me that parents are going to be held accountable for something that went through their approval process,” Collum said about the situation.

Grant recipient Heather Anders of Caldwell voiced a similar concern.

“I received an email,” she said. “How do you run a program and make those that use it responsible for checking you on your allowances, and if they don’t catch your mistake – they get penalized at a further date … It’s all a mess and they should have designed this with custodial parents and with the school districts together.”

Odyssey Founder, Joe Connor, said the company is just doing its job.

“While we can monitor platform activity, we are a third-party hired by the state and overseen by the Idaho State Board of Education,” Connor said. “Therefore, we have no authority to promulgate rules for eligible and ineligible expenses. We act under the supervision and control of the Idaho State Board of Education.”

Holly Cook is a member of the Empowering Parents Advisory Panel, which has been tasked with deciding which expenses are eligible under the grant. She says she doesn’t want parents to suffer for purchases made before the guidelines were clear.

“I can tell you that I, personally, have several concerns with the fact the parent panel is being asked to approve or deny purchases that were already pre-approved,” Cook said. “I don’t think it’s our place to make judgments about things like backpacks and ballet shoes after those were already approved and purchased. If they should not have been approved, then the parent shouldn’t have been able to purchase them.”

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The advisory panel is made up of seven people: two appointed by the Senate Pro Tempore; two appointed by the Speaker of the House; and three appointed by Governor Brad Little.

Under State Statute 33-1032, these panel members must be parents of at least one student who is eligible for the grant. Although parents who have actually received the grant are supposed to be given priority, not all current panel members have used the grant or its marketplace.

Parents say those working for the state, who haven’t utilized the marketplace, cannot adequately understand their frustration with how the grant has been handled.

Anders and Collum are both members of a Facebook group of 3,000 parents who have received the grant. Lately, they say, the group has been inundated with questions about which vendors and items are approved. Parents are anxiously wondering if they can utilize the funds granted to their children.

“My wife and I received the grant and have been very hesitant to spend the money, as the approved items change from one day to the next … as we are seeing with these emails that have gone out.” wrote Joshua Dawson of Idaho Falls.

Keckler says The State Board of Education and Odyssey will continue to work together to improve the program and put parents at ease.

“The State Board of Education has not removed any parent from the program to date. If a parent is found to have misused funds and removed, they may appeal the finding to the Parent Advisory Panel,” said Keckler.

Connor also expressed Odyssey’s commitment to improving the program and noted, “This program is transformational for the State and families it serves, and we are proud to be part of it.”

Many recipients feel the same.

“I think the grant is phenomenal and am so thankful for it. The process was smooth for us,” said Megan Talbot of Rexburg.

Kyra Foerster from Blackfoot agreed, “I am grateful each time we have received the grant. And each time, no matter which company is used … parents complain.”

Collum said even if she isn’t found liable for the expense of the sewing machine, she won’t be able to trust the system enough to participate again.

“I think the grant is a good thing. It can make a difference in kids’ lives,” Collum explained. “We just need to hold the state accountable and push for them to choose somebody to run it with experience doing this sort of thing, and also with a proved reputation.”

The next panel meeting discussing the grant will be held August 17 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Madison School District building in Rexburg. It is open to the public. Those who cannot attend but want to watch the meeting can do so on the State Department of Education’s public streaming page.