The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has released correspondence providing updated guidance on Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) and Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).
The letter updates and supersedes the correspondence published on January 15, 2026, about education savings accounts (ESAs) for children who are eligible for special education and related services. Bolded text in the document reflects new guidance not reflected in the correspondence published on January 15.
The Comptroller of Public Accounts expects applications for the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program to open on February 4, 2026.
As noted in the November 20, 2025, To the Administrator Addressed (TAA) correspondence, if a child was in public school immediately preceding their acceptance into the TEFA program and was receiving special education and related services through the public school, the child’s prior IEP will suffice.
If a child does not attend public school at the time they apply for a TEFA account but that child has been previously enrolled in public school as a child with a disability and received special education and related services within the three years prior to their application (current school year plus two school years prior) to the TEFA program, the IEP in effect during the most recent school year in which the child was enrolled in public school will suffice, unless the child was exited from special education by an admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee because the child was no longer considered a child with a disability (i.e., no longer eligible for special education services) prior to their withdrawal from the public school. Parents still have the right to request a current IEP, but this three-year allowable use window should help both parents and districts reduce administrative burdens related to obtaining IEPs.
If a child does not attend public school at the time they apply for an EFA, and the child has not been enrolled previously in a public school as a child with a disability and received special education and related services within the three years prior to their application to the TEFA program, an IEP will be needed if the child is determined eligible for special education and related services. That IEP could be all parts of an IEP that would be governed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or could be an EFA IEP. An EFA IEP must contain some, but not all, parts of an IEP that would be governed by IDEA.
TEA will report evidence of IEPs to the Comptroller of Public Accounts in the following ways:
- If the child is/was enrolled in public school and reported as a child with a disability with an instructional arrangement code reported as of the fall snapshot date (October 31, 2025), TEA will have the necessary information through the Texas Student Data System/Public Education Information Management System (TSDS/PEIMS) to send to the CPA about the student’s funding entitlement.
- If the child is/was enrolled in public school and is identified as a child with a disability but was not reflected in the data reported as of the October 2025 fall snapshot date and a parent has communicated they are seeking an EFA, a school system must upload the child’s IEP in the APEX-ESA system.
- If the child is not enrolled in public school but was enrolled in public school within the three years prior to the child’s application to the TEFA program, was identified as a child with a disability and was receiving special education and related services while enrolled in public school, was not exited from special education by an ARD committee because the child was no longer considered a child with a disability (i.e., no longer eligible for special education services) prior to their withdrawal from public school, and a parent has communicated they are seeking an EFA, a school system must upload the child’s most recent IEP in the APEX-ESA system.
- If the child is enrolled in a private school and has come to the district requesting an evaluation, is evaluated, and is determined eligible and an IEP has been developed, a school system must upload the child’s IEP in the APEX-ESA system.
The full letter from TEA can be found here.
