Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities

This program gives vouchers to qualifying students with special needs. Students of any income level who have received (or qualify for) an IEP or Individualized Service Plan may participate. Other students also qualify if they: have been in out-of-home placement with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or were adopted while in the permanent custody of DHS, have been in out-of-home placement through the office of Juvenile Affairs, or are children of a military family with permanent change of station orders that has moved to Oklahoma. Legislation enacted in 2025 removed the requirement that participants first attend a public school. There is no enrollment cap. The voucher amount is capped at the lesser of two amounts: how much the state would have spent given the student’s grade level and special needs category or the amount of tuition and fees charged by the chosen private school.  

Funding Mechanism: Formula-based 

Universal Eligibility: ❌
Universal Usage: ❌
Universal Funding: ✅
Truly Universal: ❌

(Last updated December 16, 2025)

The State DOE interprets covered expenses to include enrollment, registration, or application fees, textbook fees, technology fees, activity fees, testing and assessment fees, and fees for school uniforms if paid directly to the school. Private tuition is also covered. Guidance from the department allows scholarships to pay for special education programs offered by the private school to students with disabilities and any therapies needed to address the educational needs resulting from a student’s disabilities, such as tutoring or a one-on-one student aide. Certain costs are not included beyond the voucher amount, such as extra costs of providing special education services, including the cost of teachers, equipment, material, and special costs associated with the special education class.  

(Last updated December 16, 2025)

View program requirements for parents, schools, and scholarship granting organizations by clicking on each hyperlink.

(Last updated December 16, 2025)

Okla. Stat. tit. 70 § 13-101.2 

(Last updated April 21, 2025)

On February 16, 2016, the Oklahoma Supreme Court in Oliver v. Hofmeister ruled that the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship is constitutional, in a 9-0 decision with one concurring opinion. Several factors were key to the court’s decision: 1) participation in the voucher program is voluntary; 2) a parent’s choice of school is strictly independent; 3) education funding flows from the state to the parent; 4) the program itself is neutral regarding religion; 5) any benefit to a private school is derived from the parent’s choice, not the state; 6) there is no adverse impact on the ability of religious schools to act independently of state control; 7) there is a substantial benefit to the state when a child uses a voucher—it is not a gift. Citing the landmark Zelman v. Simmons-Harris case (see Ohio | Cleveland Scholarship Program), the court said, “When the parents and not the government are the ones determining which private school offers the best learning environment for their child, the circuit between government and religion is broken.” Oliver v. Hofmeister, 368 P.3d 1270 (Okla. 2016).  

Litigation originally began a few years prior. On November 20, 2012, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma in Ind. Sch. Dist. No. 5 of Tulsa Co. v. Spry dismissed on procedural grounds the Jenks Public Schools system’s lawsuit against parents residing in their district using Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for their children with special needs to access private schools that meet their unique needs, stating the school districts do not have standing as Oklahoma taxpayers to sue under the state’s constitution and that parents were the wrong parties to sue. Ind. Sch. Dist. No. 5 of Tulsa Co. v. Spry, 2012 OK 98, 292 P.3d 19 (2012).  

Oliver v. Hofmeister began in October 2013, when twelve plaintiffs renewed the 2012 legal challenge, this time with proper litigants. The Oklahoma County District Court ruled that the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship for Students with Disabilities program violated Article 2, Section 5—the Oklahoma Constitution’s Blaine amendment—only insofar as the program allowed public funds to be used to pay tuition at private “sectarian” schools, described by the court to be like “Notre Dame . . . a Catholic institution through and through” where “religion influences every aspect.” Paying tuition at private “religious-affiliated” schools like “Southern Methodist University . . . Methodist in name only” was deemed permissible by this narrow ruling. Oliver v. Barresi, No. CV-2013-2072.

(September 10, 2014)