SB 1280 Summary

• Expands eligibility for Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts to include children of parents who are legally blind, deaf, or hard of hearing, and clarifies sibling eligibility to include siblings of eligible qualified students who enroll in the program.

• Adds new allowable uses of scholarship account funds for students with disabilities, including vocational and life skills education, assistive technology rentals, braille translation services, and educational/psychological evaluations approved by the department.

• Allows qualified students to use scholarship funds to purchase uniforms from a qualified school and removes insurance/surety bond payment restrictions.

• Changes application acceptance period to run continuously between July 1 and June 30 each year, requiring the department to enroll eligible applicants and issue award letters within 45 days of receiving completed applications.

• Clarifies that previous scholarship recipients remain eligible for renewal unless their parent was removed from the program for non-compliance, and requires the department to contract with independent third parties to determine student eligibility for certain services.