The largest LA GATOR award, up to $15,253 a year, is reserved for students with a disability under the federal IDEA law. In greater New Orleans two archdiocesan schools serve exactly those students and are on the state's approval list, which makes them the clearest use of that award in the metro. Here is how the money works at them, and what to know about the programs the account can't pay tuition at.
The two approved schools
St. Michael Special School, on Chippewa Street in the Lower Garden District, has served students with intellectual and developmental disabilities for decades. The state lists it as a BESE-approved nonpublic school serving pre-K through grade 12, and it was on the 2024-25 Tuition Donation Credit participating list, so STO scholarships can be used there too. The federal survey counted about 150 students.
St. Thérèse Academy for Exceptional Learners opened in 2019 as the archdiocese's second school for students with learning and developmental differences, serving pre-K through grade 12 in Metairie. It is BESE-approved and was also on the 2024-25 STO list. The state reported about 160 K-12 students in 2025-26.
Both are Catholic schools of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, and both have long experience with state-funded students from the Louisiana Scholarship Program years. Our special-needs page has the data table for each.
How the IDEA award is set
LA GATOR's special education award isn't a single number. It is tiered by the level of support in the student's evaluation and increased for households at or below 250% of the federal poverty level. The ceiling for 2026-27 is $15,253. A student with an IEP from a public school, or an evaluation that establishes an IDEA disability, qualifies; the application asks for that documentation. Students with an IDEA disability are also in the second priority group for funding, right behind returning participants, which this year was the difference between being funded and being waitlisted.
Tuition at a specialized school typically runs higher than at a parish school, and even the top tier may not cover it. The STO scholarship helps for qualifying families, and both schools have their own tuition assistance. Ask each school for a written estimate at your child's tier.
Therapy from the account
Beyond tuition, LA GATOR pays licensed providers for speech-language, occupational, physical and behavioral therapy, audiology, counseling and related services, as long as the purchase goes through the Odyssey marketplace. That matters in two situations. First, a child at a mainstream parish school with outside therapy can pay the therapist from the account. Second, a home-based plan can be built mostly around therapy and tutoring. Ask any school whether therapy is included in tuition or billed separately; separately billed services can be paid from the account on their own line.
The programs the account can't pay tuition at
New Orleans has several well-regarded programs for students with autism and related needs that are not on the BESE approval list: the Chartwell Center, Raphael Academy and ABA Healing Academy among them. LA GATOR can't pay their tuition. It can pay for services they provide, such as ABA therapy, if the provider registers in the marketplace. If your child is at one of these programs, ask whether the program has registered as a LA GATOR service provider; some have, and the account can cover a meaningful share of the bill that way.
One scholarship you can't hold at the same time
Louisiana's older School Choice Program for Certain Students with Exceptionalities pays tuition at participating nonpublic schools for students with specific diagnoses. It can't be combined with LA GATOR. If your child already has it, compare the two amounts and the school's preference before you switch; a few schools are set up for one and not the other.
Getting the documentation right
The IDEA tier is only as good as the paperwork behind it. A current IEP from a public school district, including NOLA Public Schools, Jefferson Parish or St. Tammany, is the cleanest evidence. A private evaluation can also establish an IDEA disability, but the application has to show it clearly, so ask the evaluator to use the federal disability categories by name. Families whose child has only a 504 plan, which covers accommodations rather than special education services, generally do not qualify for the IDEA tier and receive the standard or income-based amount instead. If an evaluation is out of date, the public school district is obliged to evaluate a parentally placed private school student on request, and that evaluation is free.
Questions to bring to a visit
- Which diagnoses and support levels do you serve, and is there a seat in my child's grade?
- Is therapy part of tuition or billed separately, and can the separate charges go through Odyssey?
- How do you assess progress for students who don't sit the state test, and what does LA GATOR's testing requirement look like here?
- What did last year's families at my child's tier owe after the account and aid?
An advisor can walk through the tiers and the two schools with you; start with the funding check.
Sources
- LDOE: LA GATOR Families (amounts and special education tiers)
- LDOE: LA GATOR Scholarship Program
- LDOE: 2025-2026 BESE-Approved Nonpublic Schools Academic Classification List
- Odyssey: What Schools and Programs are Eligible Through the LA GATOR Scholarship Program?
- NCES Private School Survey (public-use data)