Hello, everyone!
This morning I attended a private-invite "Listening Session" with Step Up for Students. There were only a few other parents on the call (most also seemed to be leaders of home ed communities or in some way at the helm of receiving parent questions/communicating with other families about PEP). The majority of the people on the call were Step Up people---all higher-ups in various departments related to/involved in different aspects of the PEP program.
They were very helpful and open to discussion, and answered a lot of questions from us.
They also took feedback from us on today's call, and the discussion leader made notes to follow-up with us (the meeting attendees) about issues for which they didn't immediately have answers.
So, I have a lot of information to share today! Some is new, but most is just confirmation/clarification about issues we've already been discussing.
Let's dive in!
About PEP Status/Award Status/PEP Switchovers
There are still slots available, and they are still actively processing applications and switching people over. They are working to get the right people switched over (meaning, they're looking at applications carefully) and awarded/funded as soon as possible. They could not give an exact timeline on this, because it's an ongoing process, but they are working on it.
Big highlights from this particular topic of discussion:
If you were awarded PEP but then made any changes to your application (including adding another student, or anything), your entire application had to go back through the whole process. This might be the reason some people saw their status flip from FTCPEP to something else. This is a system glitch, but they can still see the initial date you applied. They are actively awarding PEP, still, and working their way through all the applications to hunt down any glitches.
I specifically asked about this status-flip issue (people who were PEP/received PEP award emails but are no longer showing PEP in EMA) on the call, and they assured me that if you were awarded and flipped back to something else in EMA, they will catch those applications and get it fixed, and they will get those people switched over and awarded.
I specifically asked about families who had some of their kids awarded PEP and others either not awarded PEP or awarded then switched back. They assured me this will be fixed, as well. They said they are going by application when they award PEP. So if one of your children was awarded, and they were on the same application as your other children, they will find those glitches and correct that.
About the Purchasing Guide/Reimbursements/What's Covered
There is a new Purchasing Guide, released yesterday. (I also posted about this in our forums yesterday). There are no major changes to categories/approved items, but they did add clarification to some sections, including requirements for Electives instructors, details about Field Trips/Theme Park passes, etc. (You can find this new Purchasing Guide in our Helpful Docs/Downloads page!)
Here are some of the specifics of what was asked re: the Purchasing Guide/Reimbursements and what info was provided:
One of the parents on the call asked about clarification on "Sports Lessons" and what's included in that. The discussion leader made notes and is going to follow up/get back with clarification.
I asked about Dance and Martial Arts, and for clarification on whether those are considered Sports Lessons or Electives. The discussion leader made notes and is going to follow up/get back with clarification.
Online courses not from a Florida institution: most likely will not be covered as a Virtual Program, unless that institution has been approved by the Florida DOE. Step Up has to go by the DOE's approved Virtual Provider list for this. However, you may be able to get individual courses approved as private tutoring, if the instructor for the course meets the tutoring qualifications.
A specific note about this regarding Teachable/Outschool and similiar online LIVE courses: They have been actively looking into Outschool and figuring out logistics for how to categorize things like this for reimbursement/approval purposes. Basically, if the Outschool class is a core subject, the teacher would have to have a degree in the subject area (the generic "3 years of experience" would not apply for core subjects). But if it is an elective, the teacher can have one of any from the list of elective qualifications, which would include 3 years of experience. (Pre-recorded courses fall under a different category, so this is just for live classes).
For elective instructors qualifying based on 3 years of experience, a LinkedIn profile can be used as verification.
Reimbursements for Home Education Instructional Programs: I pointed out that their reimbursement system currently requires parents to choose a Home Education Instructional Program from a drop-down list in order to submit a reimbursement, but the list is limited---so parents are unable to submit reimbursement requests for Home Education Instructional Programs unless they're using one of those few programs. A person directly involved with EMA/the reimbursement processes told me they were just made aware of this glitch yesterday--for the Home Education programs and also for some other categories of reimbursements--and they are working on it. It's a coding issue with the EMA system itself, but they want parents to be able to submit reimbursements for any qualified program, so they are working to fix it to allow for a type-in option for programs not on the list.
Approved Providers/Direct-Pay Providers: The person involved with Provider onboarding was on the call. They said they are approving Providers daily and working to get everyone who's applied as a Provider vetted and to get all qualified Providers approved and onboarded.
Curriculum: They confirmed that the criteria for curriculum are very generic, and they are basically only denying things that are violent or deemed harmful to students. They said it is very rare for any curriculum to be denied. They want to keep the criteria as broad as possible to allow parents freedom to use whatever best fits their child's educational needs and the parents' desired approach to educating their child.
About End-of-Year Testing:
Step Up confirmed, yet again, that the DOE is allowing tests to be administered according to the manufacturer's recommendations. (Meaning, if the test itself says it can be proctored at home by a parent, or taken virtually, then that is allowed.)
One parent asked for clarification on how the test scores will be used (particularly regarding the fear of future regulations/risks to homeschooling freedoms), and the Step Up reps had some interesting details in their response I want to note. They said that:
Because the test scores submitted between now and 2027-2028 are not being reported publicly, Step Up is literally planning not to even look at submitted scores. They said they likely won't even look at them after 2027-2028, either, other than what's needed to compile them and send them to the university for the composite scores to be processed. Statutes dictate Step Up must collect test results from a parent in order to renew the scholarship, but they have no intention of checking the scores for individual students or tracking that.
In 2027-2028 and onward, the scores will be used to evaluate the PEP program as a whole--individual student scores will not be released. (We've discussed this in other posts, but it was reiterated.)
Step Up plans to abide strictly by the statutes--whatever the law says they must do, they will do that. Right now, the law says simply that parents must submit a test score in order to renew--so it's as simple as that. They will set up something in their system to allow that submission process. Part of your renewal approval process will be to upload documentation of your end-of-year testing. They'll check to ensure it was submitted, as they're required to do, before they process your application for renewal. But that's it.
You must use a test from the DOE's approved list. (Which we've linked in other places in this forum.) Step Up has no control over what's on this list; that's handled by the DOE. But they cannot accept tests that aren't approved on the list.
They don't care how many times your student takes a test, only that you submit a testing score. If your student is a nervous test-taker, or you're worried about results for whatever reason (even though Step Up isn't really looking at scores), you do not have to submit their first test result. You can have them take it as many times as you want--Step Up is only checking that a testing score is submitted before renewal. That's it.
Similar testing requirement has been in place for other scholarship programs for years (meaning plenty of time for regulations to be added in the process), and they have never had an instance of the test scores being used to call into question a parents' rights to home educate or attempts to control how the parents educate their children.
MyScholarShop
They confirmed that the MyScholarShop should be available for PEP parents (those who have been approved and funded) by end of next week! (The week of October 2, 2023.)
About Customer Support/Chat Support giving conflicting or untrustworthy info
I brought this up on the call, and the discussion leader made notes about it. I believe she's going to look into it. They want parents to be able to trust the information they're getting when they call Support. They understand that parents are frustrated about this.
PEP Open Houses
They asked us for feedback on the PEP Open House that occurred yesterday, whether it was helpful, etc. All parents on the call had the same input--it would be helpful to someone just learning about the scholarship, but we'd all been hoping for more detailed info. They are planning to do the Open Houses monthly, and they assured us that future Open Houses will include more in-depth info, especially as features like MyScholarShop roll out, all the reimbursement/direct-pay features roll out, etc. They want those sessions to be helpful to parents, especially since the parents and the Step Up people are all investing time in those sessions.
About "Growing Pains"
They acknowledged that this has been a massive undertaking to roll out (especially since PEP is not the only program they're handling) and that, like with any new roll-out, they've run into glitches and issues along the way. They are actively working on those and trying to get everything sorted out. However, this is Quarter 1. Once everything is rolled out and fully functional, the process should be a lot smoother for future quarters, and definitely for next year. They do not anticipate gaps/delays in access to reimbursements, MyScholarShop, etc., in future years---these are just all initial setup/rollout issues. But that's part of why they were asking for feedback---they want to prioritize the improvements that matter most to parents!
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I think that pretty much covers the call... I hope this info is helpful and encouraging to all of you! We were told they plan to contact us again for future "Listening Sessions" later in the year, because they're wanting to stay informed about parent questions/concerns--they want to continue to improve their processes to make the experience of using PEP better and better for everyone.
We applied 9/26 and on 9/27 were told we were awarded a scholarship and I went into the complete the surveys for PEP. Days later the amount shown was now at $0. I haven't heard anything back. I called and they said they have no way of seeing who filled out a survey or to tell what the status is. Should I re-do the survey? The agent said I could but if I know I did it correctly I don't have to. She said anyone who entered anything incorrectly or didn't supply all of the information, their application would now just be sitting and they wouldn't be notified. By re-submitting the survey would I be messing myself up and getting further back in line?