POCATELLO, Idaho — The 2023-24 school year is coming to a close, and some families are still waiting on grants appropriated by the Idaho State Legislature.
Idaho lawmakers established the Empowering Parents Grant in 2022 to award families $1,000 per K-12 student. The program caps each family at $3,000 and prioritizes grant rollouts based on annual income broken into three waves - Less than $60,000, less than $75,000, and anyone else left over.
"I don't even know what to call this mess. It's just a disaster," Pocatello mom Amy Newbold said. "I waited and waited and waited to be verified and approved and all this stuff... and I never saw the funding."
Newbold originally qualified for the highest level of need in wave one. Her application was duplicated with no explanation from the program contractor Odyssey; she even had to learn about the duplication issue on her own.
"Obviously, they're not going to fund me twice. But it's like, please communicate," Newbold said. "They just left it in this abyss. There was a woman under my [Facebook] comment was like, 'same thing happened to me!' And I'm like, 'what?'"
Every verified wave one and wave two application has been given funding, according to an Odyssey spokesperson. Only two applications are waiting approval by the state to sign off - a required part of the process.
"I'm very curious [if I am one of the two]. Maybe it's me and that girl?" Newbold said.
A Facebook page - Empowering Parents Grant Idaho - has grown to 4,500 members. It is littered with families looking for answers on application status, verification, and availability of funds.
A poll in the Facebook groups shows 38 families were approved for wave one but still have not received funding. As for those waiting in wave two, that number jumps to 245.
“With tens of thousands of applications processed resulting in tens of millions of dollars for Idaho families, we're proud of the work we're accomplishing in Idaho to empower families with education choice and the resources their children need to succeed," Odyssey wrote KTVB in a following email. "As parents ourselves, we believe families should have access to high-quality and customized education and are honored to work with the State of Idaho on this mission. We understand that parents may have challenges navigating the program and our support teams are available by phone, chat, and email to help resolve any issue that arises.“
Wave three funding opens May 15, according to Odyssey.
"I don't really have any faith that I will see that funding," Newbold said. "No, not at this point."
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