Arkansas EFA: Shop With Your Education Freedom Account
Taking Ground is an approved Direct Pay vendor for the Arkansas Education Freedom Account (EFA) program. If your student has an EFA, you can use those funds through ClassWallet to buy books, Bibles, curriculum, and study materials from us — with nothing out of pocket.
The short version
- You send us your list. We email you an invoice.
- You upload that invoice in ClassWallet → Direct Pay.
- The state approves it and pays us from your student's EFA.
- We ship. You never enter a card.
Because we're a Direct Pay vendor (not a ClassWallet Marketplace store), you don't check out on our website. The steps below take about five minutes on your end.
How to order with your EFA
1. Build your list
Browse the EFA-eligible collection (or anywhere on the site) and add items to your cart. Then do one of these:
- Screenshot your cart. Start checkout and enter your shipping address so shipping and sales tax show up, then screenshot the full summary. Don't finish the purchase. ClassWallet needs shipping and tax visible.
- Or just email us a list. Product names and quantities are enough — we'll price it for you.
2. Email it to us
Send your screenshot or list to contact@takingground.com with:
- Your student's full name, exactly as it appears in ClassWallet
- The email address for the invoice
- Your shipping address
- A phone number, in case we have a question
One student per email. Each student has their own EFA, so ordering for two kids means two lists and two invoices.
3. We send your invoice
Within 1–2 business days you'll get a PDF invoice with everything the program requires: our vendor details, the date, each item and its price, shipping, tax, the total, and your student's name.
4. Submit it in ClassWallet
Log in to ClassWallet → Direct Pay → search for Taking Ground → upload the invoice PDF → pick the expense category → submit.
5. The state approves and pays
Once approved, ClassWallet pays us straight from your student's EFA funds. Review time is set by the Arkansas Department of Education and ClassWallet, not by us, and varies with how busy the program is.
6. We ship
We start packing as soon as payment arrives. Nothing else is needed from you (though feel free to forward your approval notice).
Shipping timeline
The clock starts after your request is approved and paid.
- In-stock items ship within a few business days of payment.
- Items we need to reorder take longer. Approval can take a while, so a title that was in stock when we quoted it may need to be restocked once funds arrive.
Plan on up to two weeks from approval to shipment. We ship complete unless you ask us to split it, and we'll email you if anything runs late.
Will my purchase be approved?
We can help you find the right resources and tell you what a product is and how families use it. But we can't tell you whether an item will be approved, and being on our invoice isn't a guarantee.
The Arkansas Department of Education decides every case using its "ordinary and necessary" standard — roughly, is this a normal, reasonable, useful part of a K–12 education? Curriculum, textbooks, workbooks, and instructional materials are commonly approved. Items that read as devotional, recreational, or general-household are less likely to be.
- Some categories (extracurricular, PE, field trips) are capped at 25% of the student's annual EFA funds.
- EFA purchases are for the participating student's educational use.
Not sure? Ask ADE before you submit — they'd rather answer a question up front.
Prices, availability, and changes
- Invoices are good for 30 days. We hold the invoiced prices for that window even if a price changes on the site.
- If an item sells out or goes out of print before funds arrive, we'll email you. Swap it or drop it — either way we'll send a revised invoice for you to resubmit.
- We can't add items to an approved request. More items means a new list and a new invoice.
- Sale prices and promo codes are applied when we build the invoice, not after it's been approved and paid.
Returns and refunds
EFA funds are public dollars, so refunds work a little differently:
- Refunds go back to your student's EFA account through ClassWallet — no cash, card refund, or store credit on EFA orders.
- Damaged or defective? Contact us and we'll replace it.
- Our standard return window and condition rules otherwise apply.
What the program doesn't allow
- Gift cards can't be bought with EFA funds.
- No cash back, rebates, or store credit for using EFA funds with us. (If any vendor offers that, the state asks you to report it.)
- We can't ship before payment or extend credit against a pending approval.
- We can't invoice something you already paid for yourself — that's a reimbursement you file directly in ClassWallet.
- We can't put multiple students on one invoice.
Questions
About an order, invoice, or product: contact@takingground.com
About the EFA program (eligibility, your balance, ClassWallet, whether something qualifies): Arkansas Department of Education, Office of School Choice and Parent Empowerment — ade.efa@ade.arkansas.gov · 501-683-1876 · dese.link/efa
Taking Ground is an independent retailer participating in the Arkansas EFA program as a Direct Pay vendor. We are not affiliated with, employed by, or speaking for the Arkansas Department of Education or ClassWallet, and we cannot make eligibility decisions. Program rules are set by the state and can change; this page describes our process and is not a substitute for the official EFA Family Handbook. Student names are used only to prepare your invoice and meet EFA documentation requirements.