As used in this part:

1. (1) “Account holder” means the parent of a participating student, or a participating student who has attained the age of majority, who:

   1. (A) Signs the EFA agreement; and
   2. (B) Is responsible for complying with all of the requirements of the EFA;

2. (2) “Agreement” means a contract signed by an applicant outlining:

   1. (A) His or her contractual obligations as the account holder of an EFA; and
   2. (B) The acceptable uses of EFA funds;

3. (3) “Applicant” means:

   1. (A) A prospective participating student; or
   2. (B) The prospective participating student’s parent, when he or she is applying to the Arkansas Children’s Educational Freedom Account Program on behalf of the student;

4. (4)

   1. (A) “Education service provider” means an individual, business, nonprofit organization, or other entity that offers educational materials or services that are qualifying expenses reimbursable by EFA funds.

   2. (B) “Education service providers” may include without limitation:

      1. (i) Public school districts, in-person or virtual;
      2. (ii) Full-time student-facing providers, e.g., micro-schools, learning pods, full-time home school co-op, full-time home school instructional support group, and contracted educators, which provide the majority of a participating student’s instructional time;
      3. (iii) Part-time student-facing providers, e.g., part-time home school co-op, part-time home school instructional support group, tutors, educational therapists, and transportation providers; and
      4. (iv) Vendors (entities that do not directly interface with students, such as retailers, curriculum providers, etc.).
   3. (C) A public school district may participate as an education service provider to the extent that the public school district provides eligible services to a participating student who is not enrolled full-time in the public school district;
5. (5) “EFA” means an educational freedom account established for a participating student;
6. (6) “EFA funds” means money from one (1) or more EFAs;

7. (7)

   1. (A) “Foster care” means the care of a child on a twenty-four-hour-a-day basis away from the home of the child's parent or parents.
   2. (B) The care may be by a relative of the child, by a nonrelated individual, by a group home, by a residential facility, or by any other entity, and for whom the child welfare agency has placement and care;
8. (8) “Home school” means a school provided by a parent or legal guardian, who has filed a notice of intent to home school, for his or her own child;
9. (9) “Individualized education program (IEP)” means a written plan for each student with a disability identified pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), that is developed, reviewed, and revised in accordance with IDEA and 34 C.F.R. §§ 300.320 – 300.324;

10. (10)

    1. (A) “Learning pod” means a community of home school students, such as a home school co-op or support group, created by a voluntary association of parents, taught by instructors or facilitators, that provides part-time or full-time academic services, including without limitation core academic subjects of:

       1. (i) Mathematics;
       2. (ii) English language arts;
       3. (iii) Social studies; and
       4. (iv) Science.

    2. (B) A learning pod is not a:

       1. (i) Micro-school;
       2. (ii) Daycare facility; or
       3. (iii) Private school;

11. (11)

    1. (A) “Micro-school” means a tuition-based organization that serves a community of home school students simultaneously in the same space, and that maintains responsibility for employing instructors or facilitators to provide part-time or full-time academic services, including without limitation core academic subjects of:

       1. (i) Mathematics;
       2. (ii) English language arts;
       3. (iii) Social studies; and
       4. (iv) Science.

    2. (B) A micro-school is not a:

       1. (i) Learning pod;
       2. (ii) Daycare facility; or
       3. (iii) Private school;
12. (12) “Nationally recognized norm-referenced test” means a standardized test designed to compare and rank test takers in relation to one another as determined by comparing scores against the performance results of a statistically selected group of test takers, typically of the same age or grade level, who have already taken the exam;

13. (13) “Parent” means any one (1) of the following:

    1. (A) A biological or adoptive parent;
    2. (B) A legal guardian or custodian;
    3. (C) A person standing in loco parentis to a participating student; or
    4. (D) Another person with legal authority to act on behalf of a participating student;

14. (14) “Participating school” means a private elementary school or private secondary school that:

    1. (A) Offers enrolled students a full academic curriculum and full academic year experience; and
    2. (B) Receives payments from EFA accounts to provide goods and services that are covered as qualifying expenses under subdivision (16) of this section;
15. (15) “Participating student” means an eligible student approved to participate in the Arkansas Children’s Educational Freedom Account Program;

16. (16) “Qualifying expenses” means all expenses that an account holder can pay from an EFA on behalf of the participating student who is enrolled in private school or a home school under Arkansas Code § 6-15-501 et seq., including without limitation:

    1. (A) Tuition;
    2. (B) Fees;
    3. (C) Testing costs;
    4. (D) Costs associated with required school uniforms;

    5. (E) Expenses determined to be necessary for the education of the child, including without limitation:

       1. (i) Supplies;
       2. (ii) Equipment;
       3. (iii) Access to technology; and
       4. (iv) Services provided by or at the participating school, when a student is enrolled in a private school;
    6. (F) Instructional materials required for in-person or virtual instruction provided by a participating service provider or participating school;
    7. (G) Instructional services;
    8. (H) Tutoring services;
    9. (I) Curricula;
    10. (J) Supplemental materials or supplies required by a course of study for a particular content area;

    11. (K)

        1. (i) Fees for courses and associated assessments for college credit.
        2. (ii) A participating student who enrolls in a concurrent enrollment course in their resident school district shall not be charged for the concurrent enrollment course unless the public school district also charges public school students or open-enrollment public charter school students for the concurrent enrollment course;
    12. (L) Fees for assessments related to admission to postsecondary educational institutions;
    13. (M) Fees for courses and assessments for participation in career and technical education, including without limitation career training;
    14. (N) Fees for assessments to obtain industry-based credentials;
    15. (O) Fees for educational services provided by a licensed or accredited practitioner or participating service provider to a student with a disability;
    16. (P) Fees for account management by participating service providers;

    17. (Q)

        1. (i) Costs for technological devices used to meet educational needs.

        2. (ii) Technological devices do not include:

           1. (a) (a) Televisions;
           2. (b) (b) Video game consoles or accessories;
        3. (c) (c) Home theater equipment; or
        4. (d) (d) Audio equipment.
        5. (iii) Technological devices must be approved by the Department of Education or a licensed physician in the State of Arkansas to be a qualifying expense.

        6. (iv)

           1. (a) (a) All technology purchases will be reviewed by the Department of Education for appropriateness and need.
           2. (b) (b) Personal devices including without limitation laptops, Chromebooks, or iPads with a cost of more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) will not be allowed unless the participating student can demonstrate to the Department of Education’s satisfaction that there is a specific school requirement or that the technology is deemed necessary for the participating student by a qualified professional;
    18. (R) Transportation costs from an approved service provider to and from a participating school or provider, not to exceed the reimbursement rate adopted by the state for state employees; and

    19. (S)

        1. (i) Fees for academic courses a participating student enrolls in at a public school or open-enrollment public charter school.
        2. (ii) A public school or an open-enrollment public charter school that enrolls a participating student in an academic course is eligible to receive an amount equal to one-sixth (1/6) of the state foundation funding amount for each academic course in which the student is enrolled in the public school or open enrollment public charter school, pursuant to Arkansas Code § 6-18-232;
17. (17) “Resident” means an individual physically residing in the State of Arkansas, including uniformed service members stationed and living in Arkansas who keep property outside of the State of Arkansas;
18. (18) “Standard application form” means the form used by the Department of Education for applicants seeking to establish an EFA on behalf of a participating student;
19. (19) “Student-facing” means a service provider in which the proprietor or other personnel directly interface with a participating student, either in-person or virtually, in the course of delivering an eligible good or service, e.g., tutors, transportation providers, and instructors; and

20. (20) “Student with a disability” means a student who has been identified as having a disability consistent with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. § 1401 et seq., as it existed on January 1, 2023, as evidenced by:

    1. (A) An individualized education program developed by a public school within three (3) years prior to the date the student applies for an EFA;
    2. (B) Evaluation results from a public school district that indicate a disability, conducted within three (3) years prior to the date the student applies for an EFA; or
    3. (C) Diagnosis of a disability under IDEA as determined by a qualified licensed provider specific to the student’s disability type.