Dallas has long had an unusual number of private schools built for children who learn differently. Shelton School, The Winston School Dallas, Fairhill School, Oak Hill Academy, Vanguard Preparatory School and Notre Dame School of Dallas all sit within a short drive of each other in north and central Dallas. Texas Education Freedom Accounts, especially with the IEP add-on, have made those schools reachable for more families. But year one also showed how large the remaining gap can be. This is what a Dallas family should know before counting on the account.
Who is in the program
Every school named above was in the Comptroller's TEFA finder when we checked on October 12, 2026. Shelton is the largest, reporting more than 1,000 students to the federal Private School Survey. Several schools that serve students with learning differences were not listed, including Dallas Academy and The Hillier School. Our special education and learning differences directory shows the TEFA status of each school we track, along with schools that report special-education services in their finder profiles.
Participation can change. Schools apply on a rolling basis, and a school that wasn't listed this fall may join before the next window. Ask directly.
What an IEP adds in Dallas-area districts
A student with a current IEP on file with the Texas Education Agency receives the $10,474 base plus an add-on that depends on the home district and the instructional setting in the IEP, up to $30,000. Using the Comptroller's 2026-27 table, a student in a mainstream setting (code 40) is funded at:
- $16,757 in Dallas ISD
- $16,893 in Richardson ISD
- $16,941 in Garland ISD
- $17,051 in Plano ISD
- $17,144 in Highland Park ISD
- $17,204 in Frisco ISD
Resource and self-contained settings are funded a little lower, $15,681 in Dallas ISD, and the residential-facility codes are much higher, $25,500 in Dallas ISD. A speech-only IEP adds the least, $911 in Dallas ISD. Our district-by-district table covers every district in our six counties.
Two rules catch families off guard. First, a private diagnosis doesn't raise the amount. TEA has to have an IEP from 2023-24 or later on file, which means going through a public school district's evaluation. Second, the add-on only applies at a participating private school or pre-K/K provider. A homeschooled child with an IEP gets $2,000.
The tuition gap is real
Specialized schools have small classes, trained staff and therapy built into the day, and they price accordingly. In August, D Magazine summarized a Dallas Morning News report on families trying to make their accounts work. One mother received $15,720 in TEFA funding for her daughter, who has been diagnosed with autism, ADHD and dysgraphia, to attend Vanguard Prep. The school's annual tuition was $33,375, with a $4,850 enrollment fee, and it doesn't offer financial aid to first-year students. Even with the IEP add-on, that left a gap of more than $17,000 on tuition alone.
That isn't unusual for the category. Treat the account as a large down payment rather than a full ride, and ask every school three questions: what tuition and fees are, whether it offers aid to new families, and whether therapies are included in tuition or billed separately.
Transportation and distance
The same report followed a family from Hurst that drives 26 miles each way to Notre Dame School of Dallas, a Catholic school for students with special needs. Their accounts cover tuition, but one parent took a part-time job to help pay for a car for the commute. Private schools in Dallas generally don't run buses. TEFA can pay an approved transportation provider, and our guide to what TEFA pays for lists how many are approved in the area, but options are thin. Factor the drive into your choice.
Therapies and tutoring outside school
Not every child needs a specialized school. Many Dallas families keep a child at a parish or Christian school and use the account for services around it. Speech, occupational, behavioral and dyslexia therapy can be paid from the account when insurance or Medicaid isn't covering them, and tutoring is covered when the provider meets the Comptroller's credential policy. Our dyslexia and dysgraphia page lists approved Dallas-area providers who name that specialty.
Several mainstream schools in our directory also report special-education services, reading specialists or counseling in their finder profiles. A school like that, combined with outside therapy, can cost much less than a specialized campus.
A checklist for next year
- Request a full individual evaluation from your home district now if your child doesn't have a current IEP. Evaluations take time, and the IEP has to be on file before the application window closes.
- Find your child's instructional code. Most students in general classes with support are code 40; speech-only is code 00.
- Shortlist two or three schools, and get tuition, fees and aid policies in writing.
- Map the commute, and ask whether the school knows of families who carpool.
- Use our calculator to see the gap for your district and tuition.
The Dallas learning-differences guide brings the schools and funding together on one page. If you'd like an advisor to estimate your child's account and look at schools and therapists with you, start with the funding check.