We hope you are having a great New Year so far!
This is a New Year update on the status of Missouri's new Empowerment Scholarship Account program.
There have been no actionable updates to share yet, but we didn't want to wait any longer to share an update as we know parents are interested in hearing about the progress of the new ESA.
Before the ESA law can begin, the State Treasurer's Office has to draft and publish rules for implementing the program. That is what they are doing now. According to the Treasurer's office, they plan to file the rules by the end of January or the beginning of February. At that point there will be a public comment period.
Once the rules are published, we expect things to begin moving faster. CEAM will keep you posted, so we encourage you to add our email address to your contacts so that ESA information will go directly to your inbox.
Once the rules are published, it will be a key time for the public to comment on the program and make suggestions for how it can be improved before it goes into effect. We will let you know as soon as the rules are published and open for comment.
Even though we are waiting on the rules, the program is still scheduled for scholarships to be utilized for the '22/'23 school year, with applications being accepted this summer for the start of school in the fall.
If you require any special assistance or would like to schedule a call with someone on staff please email Cici Tompkins at cici.ceamteam.org.
If you, or someone you know, would like to learn more about the ESA program while we wait for applications to open, please join us for one of our upcoming information sessions: