The Arkansas Department of Education has received $300,000 in damages from Student First Technologies, a company contracted to assist Arkansas in overseeing its school voucher program. The payment is the result of a now-canceled agreement to supply internet services for the Arkansas LEARNS Act voucher program.
According to state education department spokesperson Kimberly Mundell, we got the settlement agreement’s last payment in July. The issue has been resolved, and the department and Student First Technologies won’t need to take any further action.
In April 2024, ADE engaged Student First Technologies to oversee the web platform for its Education Freedom Accounts school vouchers. The lowest bidder, Student First Technologies, offered $15.17 million spread over seven years.
The state-funded voucher program, which pays around $7,000 in tuition and other fees for students attending private schools, church schools, and homeschools, was set to begin its second year at the time, and eligibility rules had been relaxed. In the first two years, only a select few were eligible for vouchers; however, starting with the 2025–2026 academic year, all students in the state are able to apply.
Arkansas’ online voucher platform was handled by Florida-based ClassWallet in its first year, but the firm was legally compelled to go through a bidding process for its second year, which Student First Technologies won. ClassWallet made the highest bid of the five companies vying for the contract, coming in at about $18.5 million.
However, the partnership with Student First Technologies rapidly deteriorated. After six months, the contract was terminated by the Arkansas Department of Education. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported in October that Education Secretary Jacob Oliva wrote to Student First Technologies CEO Mark Duran, requesting that the company pay $563,000 in damages for not meeting the contract’s deadlines for a number of deliverables.
According to Oliva, there were major issues and delays with the components that Student First Technologies did supply, which delayed the processing of payments for families and suppliers.
ADE conducted a second round of bidding because their agreement with Student First Technologies was about to expire on December 31, 2024. ClassWallet won this time with a bid of $14 million. The amount is much less than the $18.5 million ClassWallet first offered for the deal, and it is less than the contract given to Student First Technologies earlier that year.
According to letters between Student First Technologies and the education department that the Arkansas Times was able to obtain, the Indiana-based company acknowledged its mistakes and offered $300,000, which would be paid in installments of $10,000 starting in December 2024 and $180,000 in December 2025. In November, the sides signed a settlement agreement after the agency gave its approval. In addition to paying the damages, Student First Technologies also promised to reimburse all unused money and payments made using program monies associated with the Education Freedom Account program.
In West Virginia, where families and vendors taking part in the state’s voucher program—officially known as the Hope Scholarship—have experienced major delays and unfulfilled orders for school supplies, Student First Technologies has come under fire for implementing school voucher management software. Additionally, Student First Technologies oversees the educational voucher program in the state of Tennessee.
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