§4037.5. Program creation and administration; powers and duties of the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the state Department of Education; rules; implementation

            A. The Louisiana Giving All True Opportunity to Rise (LA GATOR) Scholarship Program, a universal education scholarship account program, is hereby created. The department or a program manager selected by the department as provided in this Section shall administer the program in accordance with state board rules. The state board shall adopt rules for program administration that shall, at minimum, provide for the following:

            (1) Determination of the eligibility of students, participating schools, and service providers.

            (2) Financial audits of the program and accounts to ensure that expenditures are made in accordance with this Chapter, including, at minimum, an annual random audit.

            (3) The authority of the department to deem any participating student ineligible for the program and to refer a case involving the misuse of account funds to the attorney general for recovery of misused funds.

            (4) The establishment of an online anonymous fraud reporting service.

            (5) Requiring a surety bond or a letter of credit for participating schools or service providers that have been operating for fewer than three years and that will receive more than one hundred thousand dollars in account funds in a school year.

            (6) The establishment of a standardized appeals process for students, schools, or service providers removed from the program.

            (7) A rolling enrollment process adhering to the phases and student priority provided in R.S. 17:4037.6 that shall be used in the event that there are insufficient funds to fund all students whose parents apply for program participation.

            B. The department may enter into any contract for the administration and management of the program or parts of the program subject to the approval of the state board and the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.

            C.(1) The department shall inform parents of a participating student, at the time of his initial entry into the program and at the beginning of the student's school year in grades eight through twelve, of the eligibility requirements for the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students for participating students as provided in R.S. 17:5029(F).

            (2) The department shall begin enrolling participating students not later than March 1, 2025, for the 2025-2026 school year; however, for students for whom account funds shall be used to pay more than one participating school or service provider, the department shall have until March 1, 2026, to begin enrolling students for the 2026-2027 school year.

            D. The provisions of this Chapter shall be subject to specific appropriation of funds by the legislature each year for this purpose.

            E. No locally levied school district tax revenues shall be transferred to any participating school located outside of the school district where the tax is levied or any participating nonpublic school within the district.

            Acts 2024, No. 1, §1, eff. July 1, 2024.