State records show that the Texas Comptroller's office approved NFC Academy — North Forest Baptist Church Academy based in Tallahassee — to participate in the voucher program on March 13. The school, which teaches a biblical worldview to students in grades K-12, had been "pursuing approval" for the Texas program, according to its website.
Texas vouchers can go to different providers, including private and virtual schools, pre-K programs, homeschool materials and other vendors, like therapists or tutors.
Vendors and private schools have different eligibility requirements. But NFC Academy appears to have entered the program through a potential loophole between how the two categories are defined — allowing out-of-state schools to receive state funds if they are "acting as a vendor."
The school was only allowed on the program as a vendor — not as a virtual school — and therefore is not eligible for the full funding amount of $10,500 for private schools, according to the Texas Comptroller's office. However, it is still listed as an online school on the state's map.
Dee Carney, director of the Texas Center for Voucher Transparency, said the Florida school's approval goes back to a key question she has been asking about the voucher program: "Who's benefiting: private entities or the Texas public?"
SCHOOLS AND VENDORS
Vendors are allowed to sign up for the Texas Education Freedom Accounts if they are based out-of-state and have a license to do business in Texas, such as a curriculum provider. Private schools must have a business location in Texas, according to state law.
Virtual schools have to be licensed to do business in Texas and have an office that employs at least one Texas resident, according to Travis Pillow, communications director for the program.
"We want Texas students to have access to a diverse range of learning opportunities that meet their educational needs and comply with the requirements in state law," Pillow said.
In this case, NFC Academy signed up not as a virtual school, but as a vendor, and state data lists the academy as a "private school acting as a vendor of educational products or services."
State data lists three other vendors with the same classification: "private school acting as a vendor." However, all of those schools provide Texas addresses.
The Florida academy joins more than 2,300 private schools — all in Texas — that have been approved to receive state-funded vouchers, which will be disbursed in July.
More than half of those private schools appear to be child care providers that end at pre-K or kindergarten. Just under 620 curriculum, tutors, therapy providers, and enrichment vendors have signed onto the program, according to data from the comptroller's office, which was updated March 29.
IS THIS ALLOWED?
Experts say the law leaves a gray area for out-of-state schools that join Texas' program as online vendors.
Carney also said approving an out-of-state school "doesn't seem to follow legislative intent that it needs to be located in the state."
The Texas Education Code under Section 29.358 states that the comptroller may only approve an education service provider located in Texas or "a vendor of educational products registered to do business in this state."
NFC Academy is not technically a vendor of educational products, but it applied to the Texas Education Freedom Accounts as a vendor and was approved as a "private school acting as a vendor of educational products or services," according to state data. The school is registered to do business in Texas, according to the school's director, Rick Fielding.
Pillow with the comptroller's office said that while NFC Academy is listed as an online school on the state's school map, they are only authorized to provide services that a vendor could provide, such as online courses or tutoring. He said all private schools need to follow the rules established by the comptroller's office, which require schools to have "a physical location in the state of Texas."
For virtual schools, "they need to be registered to do business in the state and, at a minimum, have an administration office that employs at least one Texas resident and attends to their business with the TEFA program," the rules say. "They also need to show that their accreditation and other qualifications to participate in the program cover their Texas operations."
NFC Academy is also approved for voucher programs in Florida and Arkansas for next school year, according to its website, although the school does not appear to have been added to the list of approved providers in Arkansas yet. The school is working to "gain approval wherever out-of-state providers are allowed," according to its website.
"NFC Academy serves families across the United States and internationally. While we have a significant number of students in Florida, our programs are available globally, and we have enrolled students from Texas for many years," Fielding said. "Our mission is to provide our students and families with a Christ-centered education."
He said that he followed the same application process for the Texas program as any other state. The academy submitted the required documentation and application materials, followed the state's established procedures and awaited the state's determination, he said.
"To my knowledge, no state — including Texas — has made any exceptions for NFC Academy. We have neither requested nor received special consideration," Fielding said in an email.
While NFC Academy is licensed to do business as a vendor in Texa, it's unclear whether they have an office that employs a Texas resident. The school does appear to be accredited by Cognia, which would meet the state's accreditation requirement for private schools.
DOES THIS MATCH THE INTENT OF SB 2?
When state senators debated the voucher program in April 2025, the participation of out-of-state schools came up.
State Sen. José Menéndez, D-San Antonio, was discussing a proposed amendment to clarify that schools could not be located outside of Texas. Former state Sen. Brandon Creighton — a Republican from Conroe and the primary author of Senate Bill 2, also known as the Texas Education Freedom Act — ensured that the amendment stayed in the next version of the bill, saying that the bill's intent was not to allow schools from other states to "siphon funds" from the program.
"The bill still requires all participating schools to be physically based in Texas so out-of-state virtual chains cannot come in and siphon funds," Creighton told Menéndez.
Creighton is now chancellor of the Texas Tech University System. A representative from his office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Josh Cowen, a professor of education policy at Michigan State University who researches private school voucher programs, said he has seen dollars for these programs go out of state before.
He said there have been instances where funding from New Hampshire and Arizona have gone to out-of-state vendors, including summer camps, boarding schools, ski resorts and even trips to Europe.
"Other states have also approved out-of-state spending for voucher payments. The question would be is it a good use of state taxpayer funds to give to out of state operators — virtual or not," he said.
Cowen said he opposes private school voucher programs. However, once they pass, he said he would argue that "taxpayer dollars should stay with in-state schools, public or private."
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