Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program; removing prior public school enrollment requirement. Effective date. Emergency.
SB 376 amends the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program, Oklahoma’s voucher-style scholarship program for students with disabilities who attend private school. The bill removes the requirement that a student must have spent the prior school year in an Oklahoma public school to qualify, while preserving existing exceptions for certain military, foster care, adoption, homelessness, SoonerStart transition, and juvenile justice situations. It also updates the application process by revising how parents or guardians obtain private school admission and notify the State Department of Education, and it makes related wording and procedural changes throughout the statute.
The bill keeps the core structure of the program in place: eligible students may receive scholarships to attend approved private schools, the Department calculates scholarship amounts based on state aid factors and disability weights, and private schools must meet accreditation, fiscal, health, safety, nondiscrimination, and accountability requirements. It also retains provisions on payment timing, annual compliance statements, reporting, and the Department’s authority to deny, suspend, or revoke a school’s participation for noncompliance. The bill takes effect July 1, 2025, and includes an emergency clause for immediate effectiveness upon passage and approval.
SB 376 would broaden eligibility for the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship Program by eliminating the general public-school prior-enrollment prerequisite, which could allow more students with disabilities to access scholarships for private school placement. In state law, the bill amends 70 O.S. Section 13-101.2 and adjusts related notice and admission language, but it does not fundamentally alter the program’s funding formula, oversight structure, or private-school participation requirements. The measure would likely affect the State Department of Education, participating private schools, public school districts that must provide notices, and families seeking scholarship access for students with disabilities.
The available context shows no recorded committee transcript or vote history, so there is no documented debate or roll-call sentiment to assess. Based on the bill’s content and caption, the measure appears to be a policy expansion of an existing school-choice program, which typically draws support from advocates of parental choice and special education flexibility. Because no committee discussion is provided, the overall sentiment cannot be characterized beyond the bill’s apparent intent to make the program more accessible.
The main point of contention is likely the removal of the prior public-school enrollment requirement, since that change expands access to the scholarship program and may be viewed by opponents as weakening the connection between public funding and prior public-school attendance. Supporters would likely argue that students with disabilities should not have to spend a year in public school before accessing a private placement that better meets their needs. Other potential areas of concern include the administrative burden on the Department of Education, the effect on public school enrollment and funding, and continued oversight of private schools participating in the program.