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Microschool & TEFA Strategy: My Game Plan

The Core Problem​

TEFA funding is a lottery. Can't market a microschool on money families may not get.

Tim's key insight: "You can't mark it based on that. You basically just have to find a real business model outside of the subsidy."

Who Actually Makes Sense to Target?​

Best Fit​

  • Existing homeschool parents wanting more social environment for kids
  • Church families already unhappy with public school AND have discretionary income
  • NOT families we'd need to convince to pull kids from public school contingent on lottery win

Why Churches Work​

  • Can scale guides based on actual demand (1 guide → multiple)
  • Built-in trust + community
  • Hundreds of families to survey before committing
  • Conditional enrollment model possible

The Conditional Enrollment Model​

Instead of gambling on TEFA:

  1. Survey congregation: "Who's interested?"
  2. Two buckets:
    • Bucket A: Will enroll regardless of TEFA
    • Bucket B: Will enroll only if TEFA approved
  3. Encourage everyone to apply for TEFA now
  4. Plan guide capacity based on Bucket A + approved Bucket B families

Key point: Once a family gets TEFA, they keep it for life (until kid ages out of K-12).

Year 1 Reality Check​

Tim: "Not enough people in Texas even know about it or will apply. So in the first year... anyone who applies basically will get it."

This is good news for 2026 but not something to build a business model around long-term.

What I Need to Figure Out​

Before Talking to Whitestone​

  1. What's the actual SOP for launching? Step-by-step.
  2. Partner with existing network (Prenda?) vs. build from scratch
  3. Curriculum/learning experience - what does a day look like?
  4. How to measure student progress?

Tim's Warning​

"Even if you figured out the school stuff, the real estate, the regulatory shit, what would you do for the actual learning experience? There's a million things to figure out when you start a school."

Timeline Pressure​

CRITICAL: TEFA application window opens February 4, 2026 and closes March 17, 2026.

  • If Whitestone wants families to apply, they need to announce to congregation by late January/early February
  • Working group needs to form NOW (first week of January)
  • February 4 - March 17: Families apply for TEFA
  • April/May: TEFA approvals come in, finalize enrollment numbers
  • August: Launch

Is Fall 2026 too rushed? It's tight but doable IF we move fast in January. The TEFA lock-in benefit (funding for life until kid ages out) makes it worth pushing.

My Next Steps​

  1. This week (Jan 2-4): Email Doug Jones/Kevin Hull - propose working group call
  2. Before that email: Talk to Ida to sanity check this whole approach
  3. Question for Ida: Does this conditional enrollment model make sense? What am I missing from the counselor/parent perspective?

Bigger Picture (Tim's Take)​

  • Schools are "incredibly tough" right now
  • Problem awareness hasn't hit critical mass yet
  • "It has to get even worse" before mass adoption
  • Joe Liemandt has money to wait and iterate; I don't
  • Ed-tech boom coming in 1-5 years - legitimate Timeback competitors will emerge

Questions for Ida​

  1. Does conditional enrollment model make sense to you?
  2. What would San Antonio church families actually respond to?
  3. Am I overcomplicating this or missing something obvious?
  4. Your read on TEFA - what are families in your network saying?
  5. Should I even be pushing Whitestone right now, or focus on San Antonio churches first where you have relationships?

Next action: Call Ida before emailing Whitestone team