Call/Meeting Summary: Microschool Support Strategy

Overview

Strategic phone call after Gary's 4-hour drive back from Liberty, TX discussing the emerging microschool ecosystem in Texas, TEFA funding mechanics, and how to position a support organization to help Christian microschools succeed. Ida shared insights on Odyssey (the Texas-contracted fund manager), the special ed landscape, and articulated a vision for partnering with the lieutenant governor's office.

Key Topics Discussed

TEFA Funding Mechanics

• Odyssey: Texas contracted company managing TEFA applications and fund disbursement
• Class Wallet: Parent-facing app where families see their funds and can send payments to approved vendors
• Homeschool Exception: Only homeschool families receive $2,000 directly to their account
• Existing Grant: Separate $1,500 special ed grant already exists with vendor directory of 1,000+ supports (therapists, dyslexia specialists, etc.)
• Gap Identified: No equivalent vendor/support directory specifically for microschools using the $30,000 TEFA funds

Public School Crisis Context

• Enrollment Loss: Public schools already feeling extreme loss of money as enrollment drops; schools closing and scheduled to continue closing
• Core Failures: Reading/math scores, bullying, mental health, violence - "kids are afraid to go to school"
• Teacher Reality: 210 students per middle school teacher, 30-35 kids per class, half special ed, half traumatized/undiagnosed mental health
• Ripple Effect: Teachers mistreated by admin, underpaid, leads to poor treatment of students

Why Microschools Can Be Different

• Small Scale: Only 10-15 kids - "everybody will know their name"
• Church Context: Loving environment won't expel difficult kids - "they're gonna be like, okay, what's going on?"
• Dual Support: Spiritual support from church + trained professionals for clinical needs
• Kid Reality: "Half the kids anywhere - restaurant, school, church - need special ed or mental health support"

Support Infrastructure Gap

Ida's Core Question: "What is the plan to help these micro schools be successful? Who can they call?"

Identified Needs:

• Tech support beyond just calling Prenda
• Substitute teacher network/directory when guides are sick
• Special ed language translation (IEP, 504, accommodations)
• Social media help
• Website development
• Training on working with trauma, ADHD, different learning styles

Risk: "In one second, you can lose that family back to public school if they don't think you know what you're doing."

Marketing Strategy

• Existing Schools: Ida sent list of 67-167 existing Christian private schools that could use support services
• Florida Example: Ida shared a Florida microschool's documentation on supporting ADHD, IEP students - "really good"
• Gary's Observation: Ida needs to become a social media presence - her experience and ability to explain Christian teaching/counseling would attract teachers and pastors nationwide

Ida's Social Media Potential

Gary: "I really do think that you need to be, like, a social media star somehow... When you start having a following and go viral, it increases the number of people that can help."

Ida's Qualifications:

• Decades of experience across all grade levels
• Can explain how to be a Christian teacher/counselor
• Thousands of stories
• Very insightful, able to explain complex issues simply

Vision for Lieutenant Governor Partnership

Ida's Pitch Framework:

1. Alignment: "Us wanting what Texas wants and what the governor wants regarding micro schools and Christian micro schools"

2. Mission: "Help promote the Christian value system... kids seem to have a lawless environment since there's no real moral compass"

3. Role: "Being a supportive entity, an organization that just evolves with this microschool shift... moving at the same speed, filling in the gaps and holes"

4. Services:

   • Training pastoral teams on parent language (IEP, accommodations, etc.)
   • Preventing family loss back to public school
   • Identifying and harnessing kids' differences as strengths
   • Speaking life into children labeled as "menace" or "disruptive"

5. Differentiator: "Not only do we value your kid's differences, but we're going to promote and harness those differences and help your kid identify what his strengths are"

6. Trust Building: "Transparency comes when a parent can see that you know what they're talking about... validating what they are saying"

Kids Today - Reality Check

• Physiological Change: "Their brains are literally physiologically different - not just because of the food but also social media"
• Universal Struggle: "The littlest kid is not okay. The pre-K kids are not okay. If you got in a room with 50 educators, everybody would tell you the kids are not okay."
• Teacher Fear: "The only reason educators wouldn't tell you the truth is because they're afraid to lose their job"

Side Observations

• Brother's Website Pricing: Ida's brother charged her sister $30,000 for website + social media; Ida mentioned Gary built her site "in 30 seconds" (exaggeration but made a point)
• Pastor Delmar: Gary noted he doesn't have kids, which allowed him to "make other people his kids" - Ida related, having only Carlos but mentoring many
• Secular School Staff: Many are atheists or claim no religion - "where would those morals be coming from?"
• Tech Concerns: Advised son-in-law not to give daughters iPhones until 18 - "you're connecting them to hell"

Key Quotes

Ida on the support gap:

"What is the plan to help these micro schools be successful? Who can they call? If they have a tech [problem]... But for all the other questions, there will be lots of questions."

Ida on losing families:

"In one second, you can lose that family back to public school if they don't think you know what you're doing for their kid."

Ida on the Christian differentiator:

"What we want to say as a Christian organization is not only do we value your kid's differences, but we're going to promote and harness those differences."

Ida on speaking life:

"Whatever they've told you in the past in school - that he's a menace, that he's disruptive, all the negative things they say - we're going to speak life into those things. Because that's not who God created him to be."

Ida on kids today:

"The kids aren't the same as 10 years ago, 20 years ago, for sure 50 years ago. They're not the same. Their brains are literally physiologically different."

Ida on parenting:

"If you're going to have a kid, you have to know that your life is the kid. Your life is not yours. If you don't want that, don't do it."

Action Items / Takeaways

• Gary to draft lieutenant governor pitch based on Ida's riff for her review
• Ida to send articles on children's brain changes from social media
• Consider marketing support services to existing 67-167 Christian private schools
• Explore Ida's social media presence with Tamara's help
• Build out "help desk" concept for microschool support
• Research substitute teacher directory/network model