A new type of school has popped up in Utah over the past few years: microschools.
During the 2024 legislative session, Sen. Lincoln Fillmore sponsored a microschools bill that dealt with, what he called, groups of “essentially homeschoolers” – meaning the students are not enrolled in either a private or public school. He said they might gather in a co-op and could pay someone to teach or tutor the students.
Instead of focusing on education policy, Fillmore told the Senate Education Committee his bill was more about “land use,” in that it deals with zoning issues for microschools. Fillmore said the bill was needed because cities didn’t know how to treat microschools and whether they should be considered daycare centers or private schools.
“It's kind of its own little hybrid thing,” he said.
Among other things, Fillmore’s bill defines microschools in state code. It differentiates between a “home-based microschool,” which has up to 16 students who meet in someone’s home, and a “micro-education entity,” which can have up to 100 students that don’t meet in a residence. The bill only refers to schools that register as a business and receive compensation. And like charter schools, microschools can be allowed in every zoning district within a county.
Lawmakers who opposed the bill expressed concerns about disturbing residential neighborhoods and said the regulations on microschools were too loose.
What isn’t defined in the bill is what the day-to-day operations of a microschool look like. While Fillmore provided the example of a homeschool co-op where students occasionally meet together for certain lessons or activities, there are microschools in Utah that meet daily and are run more like a tiny private school. They also do not have to be run by a certified teacher.
Tulane University economics professor Douglas Harris thinks the COVID-19 pandemic broadened the definition of microschools.
“The ‘microschooling’ term definitely means different things to different people,” he said. “And it’s still evolving.”
The term now often refers to a “loose conglomeration” of homeschooling, virtual schooling and private schooling. There are a lot of different ways to mix those things into something that is “micro,” which is why he said “it’s really hard to pin down.”
Since it's “kind of an offshoot of homeschooling,” he said there’s little research or information about how the students perform and other trends in microschooling.
In an email, Fillmore told KUER that he doesn’t have any data on how many microschools currently exist in Utah. The Utah State Board of Education does not report how many students are homeschooled or how many microschools there are. Even so, more microschools could open once the state’s newest and largest voucher program kicks in.
After a recent boost from lawmakers, the Utah Fits All Scholarship now has $82.5 million to work with. That’s enough to give 10,312 students $8,000 scholarships. Homeschool students can use the voucher money for certain expenses. They can also be used for microschool tuition, as long as that school is set up as an official business.
However, not all microschools across the U.S. are being started independently. Some are run through for-profit companies.
This includes Prenda, an Arizona-based company that started in 2018. People can apply to run microschools and Prenda provides curriculum, training and guidance. Instead of “teachers,” Prenda calls the people leading the schools “guides.” There are no educational requirements for guides.
Families paid Prenda $2,199 for their child to attend during the 2023-2024 school year. The school guide can also charge additional fees. On their FAQ page, Prenda gives an example guide fee of $3,500 per student.
Founder and CEO Kelly Smith said his company has done some “piloting” in Utah. But they’re now looking to expand after lawmakers passed the Utah Fits All Scholarship.
“We tend to focus in areas where there's state dollars available for education so people can do these innovative models without coming out of pocket.”
Utah’s voucher program is also referred to as an education savings account and Smith said Prenda has been focusing on states with such programs.
In 2022, Arizona became the first state to make every student eligible for school voucher money. Prenda has almost 200 microschools in the state, Smith said. For Utah, he said, it’s too early to say how many could open in the fall.
