I still haven't been awarded PEP even though I applied a long time ago/had priority. What can I do?

HEF is in regular contact with Step Up, and we do sometimes get "behind-the-scenes" updates directly from our contacts there, but we don't have direct info on what's going on with the processing/technical end of Step Up or with individual accounts/support issues.

We do know that Step Up has a ton of calls/emails/support requests to handle right now due to PEP (on top of their usual support requests for their other scholarships), and they are also dealing with all the technical processes of switching everything over to their new EMA system, setting up all the in-platform resources for PEP, etc... so wait times to hear back from support are high right now.

(We know even less about the AAA process, as we are not in communication with any direct contacts there.)

However, the concern from many parents seems to be whether the statutes are being upheld in how applications are being processed, and that is in our wheelhouse. So I just want to give a quick explanation:

The statutes for HB1/PEP require that the SFOs (scholarship funding organizations) give priority "in the following order":

• a. A student whose household income level does not exceed 185 percent of the federal poverty level or who is in foster care or out-of-home care.

• b. A student whose household income level exceeds 185 percent of the federal poverty level, but does not exceed 400 percent of the federal poverty level.

(This can be found in lines 1057-1063 of the HB1 Enrolled Doc, available on our Downloads page, or you can also view the updated Florida Tax Credit Scholarship statutes directly on the Florida Legislative website here.)

Once they've complied with income priority, they should be going in a first-come, first-served order, based on when the Student Learning Plan was submitted (but with priority given to renewals), according to another part of the statute (found in lines 1289-1291 of the HB1 Doc, and also in the statutes online here).

Step Up is aware of these statutes, but as I said, we don't have a window into exactly what's happening on the tech/processing side of things or with individual accounts.

We've been told Step Up is switching large batches over to PEP on a weekly basis, but I am still getting lots of reports from many of you who are worried you fell through the cracks.

If this applies to you, and you believe you may have been missed/skipped over even though you applied early and/or had income priority...

There are two things you can do: 1) Submit a "Known Challenges" form on Step Up's website (http://stepupforstudents.org/getsupport). This is the form our Step Up contact told us to have parents use if they believe there's been some kind of error/glitch/oversight with their application.

2) Contact your legislators if you believe Step Up has somehow violated the statutes in how they are processing applications.

(You can view the statutes in our HB1 doc on our Downloads/Helpful Docs page.) I also recently made a forum post about how to contact your legislators here. Other than that, it's just a matter of waiting for everything to process. According to our info, there are still scholarship slots available and Step Up is working to process applicants and award scholarships for those who have applied. They have also recently extended the deadline to September 15th for submitting your Student Learning Plan and terminating your home education/unenrolling from public/private school, to allow time for parents who have been waiting for award confirmation to complete those steps. We will continue to post updates as we know them, and will continue to do our Livestreams every Monday to distribute the latest information and answer questions.