Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed the Students First Act (“SFA”) into law. By 2025, the SFA will give parents $7,598 annually per child to enroll their children in private school through an educational savings account (“ESA”). Families can use the ESAs on qualified educational expenses which includes tuition and fees at nonpublic schools, textbooks, and other education materials.

For divorced or separated parents, the SFA prompts questions about how parents determine where their child goes to school. Most Iowa parents enjoy joint legal custody wherein both parents share equal legal rights and responsibilities. This means both parents participate equally in decisions affecting their child’s education and where their child goes to school.

When parents divorce or separate they will need to decide if the child goes to public or nonpublic schools. If the parents mutually decide nonpublic schools, the parents then have to decide which parent, or both, will pay anything the ESA funds do not cover. If the parents are unable to decide where their child will attend school, they will then go to court, and the judge will decide.

For example, if one parent wants the child to attend a nonpublic school and the second parent agrees but does not want to pay the tuition and fees, the first parent must pay the remaining balance the ESA does not cover. Otherwise, the child would, by default, go to public school.

Decisions pertaining to K-12 education already affect families, but with the SFA, families now face new questions in divorce and child custody cases. Luckily, skilled attorneys can navigate the SFA and work toward resolution for the parents and their children.