(1) The program manager shall: (a) administer the program, including: (i) maintaining an application website that includes information on enrollment, relevant application dates, and dates for notification of acceptance; (ii) reviewing applications from and determining if a person is: (A) an eligible school under Section 53F-6-408; or (B) an eligible service provider under Section 53F-6-409; (iii) establishing an application process that: (A) opens March 1 of each year for existing scholarship students; (B) opens April 1 of each year for new scholarship students; (C) closes May 1 of each year; (D) aligns with the acceptance deadline established under Subsection 53F-6-402(11) that shall be prior to July 1 of each year; and (E) provides an eligible student with a decision regarding the eligible student's application within 30 days of the application deadline specified in this Subsection (1)(a); (iv) reviewing and granting or denying applications for a scholarship account; (v) determining the eligibility of scholarship expenses, including establishing necessary policies and procedures; (vi) approving qualifying providers in accordance with Section 53F-6-403; (vii) maintaining a list of approved qualifying providers; and (viii) coordinating with the Department of Operations on policy interpretations, compliance issues, and customer service standards; (b) direct the financial administrator to: (i) provide an online portal for the parent of a scholarship student to access the scholarship student's account; (ii) facilitate payments to a qualifying provider from the online portal; (iii) ensure that scholarship funds in a scholarship account are readily available to a scholarship student within five business days after receipt of funds from the state board; (iv) process scholarship payments in accordance with the payment schedule established in Section 53F-6-411, unless otherwise authorized; (v) in accordance with program administration when needed, develop and implement a commercially viable, cost-effective, and parent-friendly system that: (A) processes scholarship payments; (B) maximizes payment flexibility; (C) allows scholarship students and scholarship student's parents to publicly rate, review, and share information about qualifying providers; and (D) provides the program manager with continuous, real-time, view-only access to all scholarship account transactions and balances, payment processing status, provider payment history, reimbursement tracking, and account reconciliation data; (vi) upon receiving notification under Subsection (1)(c): (A) obtain reimbursement of scholarship funds from a qualifying provider that provides the services in which a scholarship student is no longer enrolled or with which the scholarship student is no longer engaged; and (B) expend all revenue from interest on scholarship funds or investments on scholarship expenses; and (vii) implement accounting procedures to track partial payments and remaining balances; (c) require a parent to notify the program manager if the parent's scholarship student is no longer enrolled in or engaging a service: (i) for which the scholarship student receives scholarship funds; and (ii) that is provided to the scholarship student for an entire school year; (d) each time the program manager makes an administrative decision that is adverse to a scholarship student or the scholarship student's parent, inform the scholarship student and the scholarship student's parent of the opportunity and process to appeal an administrative decision of the program manager in accordance with the process described in Section 53F-6-417; (e) maintain a protected internal waitlist of all eligible students who have applied to the program and are not yet scholarship students, including any student who removed the student's application from the waitlist; (f) provide aggregate data regarding the number of scholarship students and the number of eligible students on the waitlist described in Subsection (1)(e); (g) contract for annual and random audits on scholarship accounts conducted: (i) by a certified public accountant who is independent from: (A) the program manager; and (B) the financial administrator's accounts and records pertaining to scholarship funds; and (ii) in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards; (h) require the financial administrator to demonstrate financial accountability through annual reporting requirements described in Section 53F-6-405.5; (i) develop and implement an annual orientation for qualifying providers; (j) administer the appeals process described in Section 53F-6-417; (k) in accordance with Subsection 53F-6-411(4), manage scholarship rollovers; (l) track and ensure compliance of allowed scholarship expenses; (m) comply with enhanced accountability measures, including independent audits and public disclosure of third-party contracts and fees related to the administration of the program; and (n) process parent reimbursement requests within 10 business days after the program manager approves the expense and direct the financial administrator to process approved reimbursements within this time frame. (2) The program manager shall: (a) require the financial administrator to submit monthly financial reports including: (i) a statement of financial position; (ii) a statement of activities; (iii) account reconciliation statements; (iv) detailed transaction reports; and (v) exception reports highlighting any unusual activity; and (b) oversee the financial administrator's compliance with requirements regarding: (i) except for a reimbursement authorized under this part, the use of scholarship funds from the online portal directly to a qualifying provider to pay for scholarship expenses without the availability of withdrawal or other direct access to scholarship funds by an individual; and (ii) system compliance with industry standards for data privacy and cybersecurity, including ensuring compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 34 C.F.R. Part 99. (3) In advance of the program manager accepting applications in accordance with Section
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