Katy ISD families holding state voucher accounts can now spend those funds on public-school courses. The district listed itself as a vendor on the Odyssey marketplace, the platform that administers the Texas Education Freedom Account (TEFA) program, as first reported by Covering Katy.

Parents with TEFA accounts can use the money to buy supplemental courses through Legacy Virtual High School, the accredited online school Katy ISD launched for the 2026-27 school year. Legacy Virtual serves students in grades nine through 11.

Deputy Superintendent Leslie Haack outlined the plan to trustees Tuesday, Sept. 22, saying Superintendent Ken Gregorski pushed the district to become an Odyssey vendor. Haack described the effort as a way to stay competitive and open a new revenue stream as Legacy Virtual expands beyond Katy ISD's boundaries.

"A lot of things we didn't think we'd ever be doing as a public school district, but we certainly are now," Haack told the board.

The move is a sharp turn. During a Sept. 22, 2025, board discussion about Legacy Virtual, a trustee asked whether outside students could use state education-savings funds to purchase supplemental courses from Katy ISD. An administrator said the district did not expect to be able to access those funds.

More than 5,000 Katy ISD families applied for TEFA

Some 5,108 students living within Katy ISD boundaries applied for TEFA accounts for the 2026-27 school year, the eighth-highest total in Texas, Community Impact reported in August. Of those, 1,622 received awards as of June 2026, according to a KPRC 2 analysis of state data. More than 60 Katy and Fulshear-area private schools have also been approved to accept TEFA funding, according to Community Impact.

Statewide, Texas Comptroller Don Huffines has asked legislators to double the program's funding to $2 billion, citing a waitlist of more than 100,000 students, Houston Public Media reported Sept. 9.

Beyond vouchers, Katy ISD already works with two public school districts whose students needed courses their home districts did not offer. The district also partners with a private school where about 12 to 15 students take Katy ISD virtual courses during the regular school day. Haack said the district is pursuing partnerships with two additional districts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Key data still missing

Katy ISD had not provided data on how many students are enrolled full time in Legacy Virtual, the school's operating cost, revenue generated or projected, or how many students have signed up to use TEFA funds for Legacy courses. Covering Katy reported the district was asked to provide that information by Friday, Sept. 25.