Iowa

Iowa auditor: School choice deal hiked cost without justification

Published

1 year ago

July 23, 2024

Iowa auditor: School choice deal hiked cost without justification

State Auditor Rob Sand discusses various topics Jun 14 during recording for his appearance on Iowa PBS’ “Iowa Press” at Iowa PBS Studios in Johnston. (Iowa PBS screen capture)

DES MOINES — The Iowa Department of Education did not follow proper procedures when amending a contract with the company that administers the private school choice program — a move that will increase costs significantly, State Auditor Rob Sand said Tuesday.

In response, the Education Department said that even with the increased costs, the contract represented the lowest bid for administering the program and was a significant savings compared with other competitors.

Sand, a Democrat, released a report detailing his office’s inquiry into the contract with Odyssey, a company that manages programs like Iowa’s that allow students to use public funds to pay for tuition at private schools.

Iowa’s education savings account program allows students to use the full per-pupil state funding that would go to their public school district to instead pay for private school tuition and other costs. More than 30,000 Iowa students have been approved for the coming school year.

According to Sand’s report, the amended contract, which previously was not disclosed publicly, is expected to more than double the original annual cost to the state for Odyssey to administer the program by fiscal 2026.

“The cost to Iowa taxpayers for the administration of the school vouchers program has doubled with no apparent justification for it whatsoever,” Sand told reporters. “This is a contract that was signed just a couple of months after the original contract was signed, and still today there has been no justification provided whatsoever.”

A spokesperson for Odyssey did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Iowa selected Odyssey in a competitive bidding process in April 2023 to administer the state’s ESA program. The initial contract was for three years, with three optional annual extensions, and totaled $4.3 million for the six-year period. The annual cost to administer the program initially was listed at $730,000 by year two of the contract.

The administration cost is a small piece of the overall cost of the ESA program, which cost the state $128 million in the last fiscal year and is expected to increase to at least $345 million by the 2026-27 school year.

Amendment ramped up costs

Sand’s report said the contract was amended in July 2023, three months after it was approved, to include new variable fees. One those fees calls for Odyssey to be paid 25 basis points — or 0.25 perecnt — of the total amount paid out as a “qualified education expense” that includes tuition and fees, textbooks, tutoring and certain supplies.

That payment, according to estimates by Sand’s office, will increase the cost to administer the ESA program by hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. It will likely double the annual cost of the contract by fiscal 2026, Sand said.

Sand said the Education Department did not follow proper policy to amend the contract.

According to the report, the department’s policy requires a document describing the need to modify the agreement and requires the Bureau of Accounting to review and approve any contract amendments. The report said the amendment was not formally approved by the Bureau of Accounting until July 12, the same day the department provided the documentation to Sand’s office and six months after Sand requested it.

The department also did not include an explanation of the need for the amendment, but did say it estimated the cost increase for years two and three to be $540,500.

The audit report also said Odyssey proposal to qualify for the contract said it planned to open an office in Des Moines. The company later said it had secured temporary accommodations and listed the address of the Iowa Capitol building.

“There does not appear to be any legitimate means to make this claim,” Sand’s report says. “However, based on documentation provided, this claim was not questioned by those reviewing the proposals.”

Department says Odyssey kept costs low

In a written statement, Iowa Department of Education spokesperson Heather Doe said the transaction fees added in the amendment are a necessary part of any e-commerce platform and were far lower than other competitors. She said the state “conducted a thorough evaluation” to determine whether the added costs would remain competitive.

Other vendors administering ESAs charge a 2.5 percent transaction fee compared to Odyssey’s 0.25 percent, Doe said. Doe said the department estimates the transaction fees in the first year would cost about $300,000, bringing the total to about $985,000.

“Even with the additional transaction fee costs, Odyssey’s costs were nearly four times lower than the next closest competitor,” Doe said.

The state received one other viable bid to administer the program from a company called Merit, Doe said. Merit would have charged $8 million over the first three years of the contract. The cost for Odyssey, including transaction fee estimates, is expected to be about $3.7 million over the first three years, Doe said.

Doe also said the department will ensure it has documentation of contract approvals going forward. “Processes can always be improved upon and the Department of Education notified the Office of the Auditor of State that it will have documentation of all relevant approvals at the time of execution moving forward, which was also accepted by the Auditor of State,” Doe said.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds greets school children Jan. 24 before signing a bill that creates education savings accounts at the Statehouse in Des Moines. A student who wants to attend a private school could use public money to pay for tuition or other expenses under the plan approved by the Iowa Legislature. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a statement that the transaction fees added to the contract should not be passed on to ESA families. She also pointed to the cost difference between Odyssey and Merit’s proposal.

“I’m proud of the work that Director (McKenzie) Snow and the department have done to establish one of the leading school choice programs in the country, and I look forward to the start of its second year,” Reynolds said.

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Iowa

Two Iowa tickets miss $1.2B Powerball jackpot by just one number

Published

9 hours ago

December 21, 2025

Press Room

Two Iowa tickets miss .2B Powerball jackpot by just one number

Nobody hit the estimated $1.2 billion Powerball jackpot in the Dec. 20 drawing — but the prize isn’t going anywhere. In fact, it’s climbing to an eye-popping $1.6 billion for Monday’s drawing, making it the fourth-largest jackpot in Powerball history and fifth-largest among U.S. lottery jackpots. The cash option? $735.3 million.

Two Iowa players came close to the big win. One ticket, sold at Kwik Star in Vinton, matched all five white balls and missed only the Powerball — good for a $1 million prize. It was one of eight tickets nationwide to hit that mark.

“A jackpot of this size naturally captures attention nationwide, but a $1 million win right here in Iowa shows there are plenty of chances to win along the way,” Iowa Lottery CEO Matt Strawn said in a news release.

Another ticket, sold at Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh in Johnston, matched four white balls plus the Powerball and added Power Play, turning a $50,000 prize into $150,000.

In all, Iowa players won 41,288 prizes Saturday, from $4 to $1 million.

Want in on Monday’s drawing? The ticket deadline is 8:59 p.m. Odds of hitting the jackpot remain 1 in 292.2 million — but someone will eventually get lucky.

Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor at the Des Moines Register.

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Iowa

Two Iowa National Guardsmen injured in Syria attack return to the US

Published

21 hours ago

December 21, 2025

Press Room

Two Iowa National Guardsmen injured in Syria attack return to the US

Two soldiers injured in an attack by ISIS gunmen in Palmyra, Syria, returned to the United States, according to the Iowa National Guard.

The National Guardsmen were part of a unit based in Syria that was attacked on Dec. 13. Two Iowa soldiers — Sgt. William Nathaniel “Nate” Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, and Sgt. Edgar Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines — along with civilian interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat, of Michigan, were killed last weekend in an attack in Syria. Five Iowa National Guard soldiers in all were attacked.

The two wounded soldiers arrived on Dec. 20 and are currently in stable condition, a spokesperson for the Iowa National Guard said in a news release. “Their families are with them while they begin the next phase of their recovery,” she said.

The National Guard declined to reveal the identities of the two soldiers, who are receiving medical treatment at a dedicated military facility.

A third Iowa National Guardsman injured in the attack returned to duty after receiving treatment in Syria.

“Caring for our impacted families and the safe return of our service members is our highest priority,” said Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn, the adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard, in a news release. “We are incredibly proud of their courage and sacrifice, and our focus is now on providing them and their families with the comprehensive support they need during this time. We ask that all Iowans keep them in their thoughts and prayers as they recover.”

What happened in Syria?

The Associated Press reported the gunman stormed a meeting between U.S. and Syrian security officials and opened fire after clashing with Syrian guards. Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba told the Associated Press it was “a major security breach.”

President Donald Trump helped escort the bodies of Howard and Torres-Tova in a dignified transfer on Dec. 17 at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. The soldiers eventually will return home to Iowa, where information on arrival and funeral services had not yet been released by Saturday evening.

All three were killed Saturday, Dec. 13, by an attacker who targeted a convoy of American and Syrian forces in Palmyra, Syria, before being shot dead. The Syrian Interior Ministry has described the attacker as a member of the Syrian security forces suspected of sympathizing with Islamic State.

Three other Iowa National Guard soldiers, whose names were not released, were injured. All were assigned to the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, which is part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division. The brigade began deploying to the Middle East in late May 2025 for Operation Inherent Resolve to advise and assist forces tasked with “defeat(ing) ISIS.”

A dignified transfer is held to receive remains of fallen soldiers killed overseas “to honor those who have given their lives in the service of our country,” according to Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations.

On Wednesday, the caskets, draped with American flags, were transferred from the plane to an awaiting vehicle and taken to the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations building at the Dover base “for positive identification by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System and preparation for their final resting place.”

On Dec. 16, Syria arrested five people suspected of having links to the shooting of five Iowa National Guard members and Syrian troops in Palmyra. Syria’s Interior Ministry said its units in Palmyra carried out an operation in coordination with “international coalition forces” that resulted in the arrest of five suspects, “who were immediately referred for questioning.”

On Dec. 19, the U.S. military launched airstrikes against dozens of Islamic State targets in Syria on Friday in retaliation for a deadly attack on two Iowa National Guard soldiers.

President Donald Trump had vowed to retaliate. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the strikes targeted “ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites” and said the operation was “OPERATION HAWKEYE STRIKE.”

“This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” Hegseth said. “Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue,” he added.

Kim Norvell and Reuters contributed to this article.

Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor at the Des Moines Register.

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Iowa

Arrests made in SD in Iowa courthouse incident

Published

1 day ago

December 20, 2025

Press Room

Arrests made in SD in Iowa courthouse incident

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Two suspects in the incident at the Lyon County, Iowa, courthouse were arrested in Spearfish, the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post earlier Saturday.

The sheriff’s office identified two suspects as Brandon Lyle High Pipe, 39, and Luciano Eliseo Sanchez, 18, in a social media post on Thursday. Nationwide warrants were issued for the two suspects.

The sheriff’s office said on Tuesday the courthouse had burglarized overnight. The damage inside includes writing on walls, broken glass, tipped-over Christmas trees and other items tossed around.

The incident caused the courthouse to be closed for at least one day.

The sheriff’s office said on Saturday morning that more information should be released later.

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