Arkansas approved 156 more microschools this year. What to ask before you enroll in one.

The River Valley has a seat problem. Most of the private schools in Sebastian and Crawford counties are parish or church schools that stop before high school, and the ones that are open are largely full of families already paying with an Education Freedom Account. So when a small new program opens in a church wing or a storefront and says it takes the EFA, it gets attention fast.

Those programs have a name in state reporting now. The Education Department counted microschools separately for the first time this year, and the numbers are striking. They are also the part of the program with the least oversight, which makes the questions you ask before enrolling more important here than almost anywhere else.

What the state actually counted

In 2025-26 Arkansas had 157 participating private schools and 108 microschools taking EFA students. Together they served families in 55 of the state's 75 counties, and the Education Department estimates about 69% of Arkansas residents now live within 15 miles of a participating school.

Growth is continuing. For the current year the state approved 167 private schools and 156 microschools. The microschool count, in other words, grew faster than the private school count several times over. Some of those are established co-ops formalizing themselves. Some opened this fall.

Microschools clear a lower bar than private schools

This is the fact most parents have not been told, and it is worth stating plainly. A private school that wants EFA money has to meet a short list of requirements: hold or be actively seeking accreditation, have operated for at least a year, run background checks and fingerprinting on all employees, teach English, math, science and social studies, and give one standardized test of the school's own choosing each year.

Microschools do not have to meet the accreditation requirement or the one-year operating history. That is the gap. Reporting published in July found the state's oversight of participating schools is mainly financial, through random audits, required tuition and fee reporting and achievement testing, and that the Education Department has declined to monitor school quality. In the program's first three years the state intervened at only two schools and has never permanently blocked one from receiving funds.

None of that makes microschools a bad choice. Plenty are run by experienced teachers and are exactly what a particular child needs. It does mean the vetting that a diocese or an accrediting body would normally do is, in this case, yours to do.

Why this lands harder in Fort Smith

Local supply is the reason. Christ the King serves pre-K through grade 5 and Trinity Catholic serves grades 6 through 8, so the two largest Catholic campuses here hand students off before high school. Union Christian Academy is the one school in our directory that runs all the way through grade 12. After eighth grade the realistic options narrow to Union Christian, an accredited online program paid from the account, or a homeschool path.

That gap is precisely where new microschools are opening, and it is where a family is most likely to be choosing quickly, under time pressure, from a program that has existed for one semester. Our Fort Smith and Van Buren school list shows which campuses took EFA students and at what scale, which is a useful baseline for comparison.

The questions to ask

How long has the program operated, and is it accredited or seeking accreditation? A microschool is not required to be either.
Who owns and runs it, and how were staff qualifications verified? The state does not review operators' backgrounds or qualifications.
Can you see proof that background checks and fingerprinting were done? Note that no rule requires employees to have a clean record.
Which standardized test does the program use, and will you get your own child's results? Schools are not required to report individual scores to parents.
Can you have the discipline and supervision policies in writing?
Has the program ever had EFA funding suspended, and what is the complaint process?
Is it registered as an approved provider in ClassWallet, and does it invoice ClassWallet directly or expect you to pay and seek reimbursement?

That last question is not a formality. A program that is not registered cannot be paid from your account at all.

How the payment actually works

Before any funds move, you link your student to the school or provider inside ClassWallet. The provider then sends a payment request through the platform, you accept it, and the money goes directly to them. It typically happens each quarter as new funds land. The 2026-27 award of $7,208 arrives in four quarterly deposits of about $1,802; the prior year's handbook shows deposits in August, October, February and April.

Ask the program how it handles the timing, because a small operation that needs tuition in August may not be set up to wait for a February deposit.

What the account covers, and what it will not

Tuition and mandatory fees, curriculum and instructional materials, educational software, tutoring and academic classes from approved providers, standardized test fees, required uniforms, educational technology and dual enrollment fees are all allowable. Extracurriculars, physical education, field trips, transportation, instruments, sports equipment and membership dues are capped together at 25% of the student's annual funds, as an aggregate limit.

Not allowed: entertainment electronics and content, smartphones and smartwatches, medical and health costs, home internet and phone plans, non-uniform clothing, recreational travel, late fees and donations. Cash withdrawals are never permitted. Keep every receipt and invoice; the Education Department audits accounts and reviews ClassWallet transactions.

Testing becomes your job

At a private school, the school administers the required annual test in math and reading and reports scores to the state. At a microschool or in a homeschool, the family arranges the test and submits the results, generally by June 30. Skipping it, or failing to submit results, can put continued eligibility at risk. Ask a microschool whether it coordinates testing for its families or leaves it to each household.

If your church is the one being asked

A fair number of these programs start because a congregation with an empty weekday wing gets asked. If that is your situation, our page for churches considering a school covers what participation requires. And for families who would rather have an accredited program with a transcript behind it, an online option is worth comparing; confirm its current Arkansas EFA approval in ClassWallet before paying from the account.

Sources

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