NC Education Savings Accounts Assist Students With Special Needs

Parents of children with special needs should be aware of a state-sponsored program that can help them pay for nonpublic school education (private schools or home schools) and for other education-related expenses for their children.

- Elizabeth Brignac

In 2017, the North Carolina General Assembly budgeted $3 million to fund an Education Savings Account program for the families of children with special needs. An ESA is like a school voucher because it offers eligible families state-funded access to private school tuition, but unlike a school voucher, the ESA deposits money into an account that families can use for other expenses besides school tuition — for transportation or education-related technology, for example.

Each participating student is eligible for up to $9,000 in assistance. The state administers the program through the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority, to which participating families submit expense reports documenting how they have used the money to support their students’ educations. The family accesses the funds through a debit card.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

Eligible students must be North Carolina residents with Individualized Education Plans. “Sometimes we get families who think that their child might need an IEP, but if they don’t have one [when they apply] this program isn’t going to work,” cautions Kathryn Marker, director of grants, training and outreach for the NCSEAA.