Kansas KEEP Spending Deadline Expiring Soon!
If you’re a resident of Kansas, and you have students in grades K-12, the State Finance Council has awarded $1,000 per child to be used to help children and families recovering from the impact of COVID-19 on learning. This money is available to homeschool families.
While the program is no longer accepting applicants, the Kansas Education Enrichment Program (KEEP) was funded by state tax dollars. Since homeschoolers in KS have been faithfully paying their taxes for many years, we see this as a way for KS families to receive some of their own tax dollars back to use in homeschooling.
If you have already been awarded KEEP funds, good news: Compass Classroom qualifies as an allowable expense. Your KEEP funds can be used to purchase our video courses, books, subscriptions, and online classes.
If, however, you aren’t sure how to access your funds, we will step you through the process. The following article explains:
- What is the Kansas KEEP program?
- How much money comes in a KEEP award?
- What can I pay for with KEEP funds?
- How do I sign up for KEEP?
- How do I use my KEEP funds?
- How do I purchase Compass Classroom products?
- Links and Contact Info for Kansas Keep
If you have already set up your Kansas KEEP award funds for your kids, scroll down to the bottom of this article to learn exactly how to use the funds with Compass Classroom.
We have tried to simplify and summarize the material available on the Kansas KEEP site, but if you’d like to consult the actual site for additional questions, you can do that here or access their FAQ pages.
What is the Kansas KEEP program?
The Kansas Education Enrichment Program (KEEP) was created by Kansas legislators to help students recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on their learning.
The Kansas KEEP’s website explains: “KEEP provides qualifying parents and guardians with a $1,000 award per child to pay for a variety of education goods and services that promote educational learning recovery and facilitate academic enrichment opportunities. Beneficiaries can spend their award funds in an online education marketplace that offers a variety of approved educational goods and services.”
How much money comes in a KEEP award?
KEEP awards were made available to all Kansas students between the ages of 5 and 18 who meet income eligibility requirements. Here is a helpful chart:
Furthermore, KEEP funds are not considered taxable income. This is important to remember when tax seasons comes around.
It’s important to realize however, that KEEP funds are not money that a parent can directly withdraw and use to pay for education. Instead, parents must create an account with Merit (a company contracted by the state of Kansas to oversee KEEP funds) and submit receipts to be reimbursed for qualifying expenses. There is also an online KEEP marketplace where parents can order materials and submit an invoice to pay for those goods.
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What can I pay for with KEEP funds?
There is wide latitude for using the funds placed in an ESA. Acceptable educational expenses include:
- Textbooks, curriculum,and instructional materials
- Tutoring
- Instrument and vocal lessons
- Camps, language classes, online classes
The good news is that everything Compass Classroom offers, from video courses to textbooks to subscriptions to live classes, are covered under the Kansas Keep Program.
How Do I Sign Up for Kansas KEEP?
Unfortunately, the Kansas KEEP funding deadline has expired and all available funds have already been awarded.
If you have already received a Kansas KEEP award, you have one full year from the award date to apply those funds to qualifying educational purchases. You should check your award letter for those specifics.
Once you have received your award email, you should follow the instructions within that email to set up an account with Merit on their app. This will include connecting your bank account to Merit for reimbursement. If you have multiple children with KEEP awards, each child will appear in your account with Merit, making it easy to toggle between children as you submit receipts and check remaining balances.
How Do I Use my Kansas KEEP funds
There are two ways to use KEEP funds via Merit’s app. Before making your first claim through Merit, you will have to connect your bank account to receive reimbursement. This prompt will appear:
Next you will see a dashboard for your of your children who have received KEEP awards:
Select the blue “New Claim” button under the child for whom you wish to make a claim. Their name will automatically appear as the student. You will then need to add a service provider number. If you do not know the service provider’s number, simply click on the “i” for information button. This will take you to the KEEP marketplace where you can search for the provider and find their provider number.
If you cannot find the service provider in the KEEP Marketplace, you can manually enter in their information by clicking on “Is the service provider not currently in the KEEP program?” This will take you to a pop-up where you can enter all of the required information.
After adding all required information, you will be asked to select where funds should be distributed (you) and submit a copy of your receipt showing proof of payment. Important: this cannot be a screen shot but must be a digital copy of the actual receipt. It is simple to save emailed receipts by printing the email to pdf and then saving that pdf to your computer. You can then attach that pdf file to your Merit claim.
The second way you can use your KEEP award funds is by purchasing directly from preferred vendors on the KEEP Marketplace. To do this, you will click on one of the preferred vendors and follow the link to their online platform. Each vendor will have slightly different process for purchasing products directly from them. Using this method allows you to have KEEP funds sent directly to the vendor rather than spending your own money and being reimbursed.
How do I purchase Compass Classroom products?
Compass Classroom is a preferred vendor with Kansas KEEP. You can order materials directly from our website without paying for them out of pocket. Click on this link to go directly to our Kansas KEEP order form. Once there, complete the form including:
- Name, address, and email
- Student’s name and KEEP ID number (Here is how to find your student’s KEEP number.)
- Product you would like to purchase from Compass Classroom and any relevant comments about your order
Once you have submitted your KEEP order with Compass Classroom, we will email you a detailed invoice which you will then submit through the Merit app. Once Merit approves the invoice and notifies us, your items will ship directly to you.
Here is a list of eligible goods and service through Kansas KEEP.
What Can I Buy from Compass Classroom?
Compass Classroom has been developing video courses and curriculum materials for homeschool families since 2010. We provide comprehensive, self-guided, flexible courses in multiple subjects. Our goal is to make homeschooling easy for parents, enjoyable to students, and effective for learning.
We specialize in self-paced, user-guided video courses with accompanying textbooks and materials, as well as online teacher guidance. We provide courses for upper elementary to high school, including the following subjects: History, Economics, Literature, Science, Latin, Vocabulary, Calculus, Philosophy, Music, Grammar, Writing.
To see everything we offer, you can click SHOP in the menu above, click the button either to see all our products, or to view our catalog.
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Links and Contact Info for the Kansas KEEP program:
Here are a list of useful links, email, and phone number for the Kansas KEEP program:
Help with Kansas KEEP: [email protected]
Contact Kansas KEEP: 785.294.3483
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