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This is good news for high school seniors who did not have the opportunity to qualify for Bright Futures Scholarships due to the Cornavirus. View the pdf here Bright Futures Gov. Ex Order See the Executive Orders page here https://www.flgov.com/2020-executive-orders/

By Dear Home Educators, Leaders, and Friends: What a year this has been! I missed seeing you at the FPEA Conference in May, and I regret not being able to visit your groups during late summer and fall. My work in Tallahassee often prevents me from meeting your children and hearing the wonderful things happening in the home school world, but like all of you, I have been isolating since March. Despite my isolation, some very important work on your behalf has still been going on. Covid created situations like we have never seen before in our State, so I’ve had to look at new ways to deal with issues affecting home education students. I am providing a summary of some of the issues I’ve needed to address this year. Despite the present conditions in the State of Florida, much has been accomplished during an otherwise very difficult year. Bright Futures Florida School Music Association Gardiner Scholarships In 2019, several schools and programs serving home education students asked to be added to the list of approved Gardiner Scholarship providers.  That list, however, is only updated in the summer when the entire Handbook is being revised. Step Up For Students (SUFS) and the Department of Education depend on my recommendations to make decisions as to which home education programs should qualify.  I reached out to all the programs and schools that contacted me, and I researched their programs to ensure quality before making my recommendations. This step is vital for parents wishing to use an approved school or program for their children, so parents don’t need to pay out-of-pocket for tuition. Insuring qualified providers get on the list means that providers are able to invoice SUFS directly, getting these services into the hands of students who need them. Department of Education FAQs Ultimately, the FAQ document was finalized and appears online in its newly revised form (http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/7709/urlt/Home-Ed-FAQs.pdf). Perhaps the most significant change is the way districts shall now handle students who move from one Florida county to another. The DOE is now advising districts to handle homeschoolers who move to another Florida county as “transfers,” meaning their documentation will simply be transferred from one Florida county to another, rather than requiring a Letter of Termination in the old district and a Letter of Intent in the new one. This protocol provides a more seamless way for families to transfer, and it eliminates the need to submit an evaluation when terminating from the old county. Further, it avoids the issue of having to create a new anniversary date when submitting a letter of intent in the new county. Here is the new wording: 3.g. “Should there be a change of residence, but do not wish to terminate the home education program, the parent should notify the new district to which the child is moving to that they are transferring their home education program to the new district, and the new district home education contact must request the records from the previous district, notifying the old district that the student no longer resides in the previous district. Records are transferred and the previous district shall simply close out the student’s files. A home education transfer between districts does not require the parent to terminate the home education program (as they are not terminating; simply moving) and the parent does not need to provide an annual evaluation to the previous district.” New Legislation Currently, I am working with other school choice advocates on a draft bill which, if passed, will make some improvements to the several scholarship programs in Florida.  As soon as the bill is filed, I will let you know so you can follow it through the Session. Lastly Thank you so much for your continued support of the work of HEF on your behalf. Having a full-time lobbyist in Florida is of upmost importance in protecting your freedom to home educate.

2021 was my 37th year lobbying for home school families in Florida; it was also the most unique and maybe the most difficult in some ways too. We were able to hold on to so much of the progress we have gained over the last few decades, but every year is a struggle.  I have listed below descriptions of some of the laws that were affected. Having a voice in Tallahassee to both safeguard families’ rights and work to improve education choice should be vitally important to every homeschooling family in Florida. HEF has been that voice for you. Please spread the word about HEF and consider supporting HEF as we begin to look towards the future. Help Me Homeschool Academy is offering small, (6-8 students) live, interactive, weekly classes for home school students. A portion of their tuition will be paid directly to HEF as a donation to our cause. Check out www.helpmehomeschoolacademy.com Today! Classes start this August. The 2021 Legislative Session was both unusual and difficult.  Covid made it difficult to connect with Legislators.  The Senate would not allow entrance into the Senate Building and testimony had to be given from the Civic Center.  The House allowed people into the Capitol only if they had an appointment and could prove it to security at the front door. However, difficult it was there were 2 bills passed that affected home education students. CS/HB 7045  School Choice was signed into law on May 11, 2021.  https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=_h7045er.docx&DocumentType=Bill&BillNumber=7045&Session=2021  The Department of Education is currently writing Rules to implement this program. The new law moves the McKay and Gardiner Scholarships for students with unique abilities into the Family Empowerment Scholarship (FES). The Gardiner Scholarship will become part of the FES for the 2021-2022 school year.  The McKay Scholarship will be repealed July 1, 2022 and will become part of the FES for the 2022-2023 school year. The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship for students from low-income families will remain a separate program. Points of interest in HB 7045 for home education families and private schools that serve home education families are as follows. There are 2 parts to the new FES scholarship program.  Part A is for students from low-income families and Part B is for students with unique abilities. Part A Part A allows a student from a family with an income of 375% of poverty to qualify for a FES. Under Part A a student can ONLY attend an approved private school. An approved private school is one that complies with s.1002.421 F.S. and where the student attends in-person 5 days a week. So, parents who want to continue home educating their child will not be eligible for this scholarship. The prior public school attendance requirement was removed making children already enrolled in an approved private school eligible for the income-based scholarship. The eligible income levels for the FTC and FES will be increased on July 1, 2021, up to 375% of the federal poverty line, which allows a child from a family of 4 with an income just below $100,000 to qualify. A child from a family income of up to 185% of poverty will be given priority. The chart below gives poverty guidelines based on the number in the household. 2021 POVERTY GUIDELINES FOR THE 48 CONTIGUOUS STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. chart below was taken from https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelinesPersons in Family HouseholdPoverty Guideline 1 $12,880 2 $17,420 3 $21,960 4 $26,500 5 $31,040 6 $35,580 7 $40,120 8 $ 44,660 Step Up For Students and AAA Scholarships both offer scholarships.  So, if one is full or the deadline has passed, try the other scholarship funding organization. On July 1, 2021, siblings of a student who already has a scholarship, including a special needs scholarship, will automatically be eligible for an income-based scholarship to attend a private school which meets the requirements of s.1002.421 F.S. without having to prove family income. The scholarship for an income-based student remains in effect until the student reaches the age of 21, returns to a public school or graduates from high school. Step Up for Students and AAA currently is providing more information to private schools on the implementation of this new law. Part B for students with unique abilities. The Gardiner Scholarship which was working so well for home education students as such will be repealed on July 1, 2021.  The McKay Scholarship will be repealed on July 1, 2022. The new FES combines the disabilities listed in the McKay and Gardiner into one program. In 2021-2022 all scholarships, including the scholarships for students with unique abilities, will be paid on a quarterly basis. The payments will be made to the Scholarship Funding Organization (SUFS or AAA) prior to the distribution to the student’s account on Sept. 1, November 1, February 1 and April 1. Prior to this bill the McKay students were required to have an IEP to be eligible for the program, however, the Gardiner students could quality with a diagnosis from a physician or a psychologist.  Those students without an IEP for funding purposes were given the same level of funding as those students with an IEP matrix of 253. Under this new law the McKay or Gardiner Scholarship students who have an IEP will receive more funding. Only those Gardiner Scholarship students who only have a doctor’s diagnosis will receive less funding.  Under the new funding formula, the amount of the scholarship is tied to the school district funding for students in the district which have IEPs Levels 251, 252 and 253 matrixes. The funding assigned to those students will be averaged together and divided by the number of students with those matrixes to come up with an average per student amount. Averaging lower levels of funding with the Level 253 will bring down the Level 253 funding. Previously, the Gardiner students without an IEP were funded at a straight 253 matrix level. Current Gardiner students will be “grandfathered in” so that they retain the 253 matrix level funding so their funding will remain approximately the same. However, new students coming into the FES with unique abilities will have their funding averaged and it will be a lesser amount. The parent of a student with a disability who does not have an IEP or who may need a re-evaluation may request an IEP meeting from their school district. Under this new law, the district must complete the IEP matrix of services within 30 days and provide the Matrix level to the parent and the DOE within 10 days after the completion of the IEP. There are several problems with this section of the law. 1. The District receives no funding to perform this service for students who are not enrolled in the district. 2. There is no penalty if the district does not comply. 3. The district will perceive that the funds for the scholarship are coming directly out of the school district funding. 4. It will be difficult, if not impossible, to provide an accurate IEP for students who have not been in a classroom since the student’s teacher is supposed to be a member of the IEP team. 5.  Pressure may be put on a parent to enroll the child in the public school for guaranteed services.  However, if the parent chooses that option for a school year the parent is considered not to have renewed the scholarship and then would have to reapply for the following school year and would go to the back of the waiting line. The scholarship for a student with unique abilities remains in effect until the parent does not renew the scholarship, fails to comply with the terms of the scholarship, returns to a public school, graduates from high school or turns 22. In 2022-2023, the McKay Scholarship students will no longer be required to attend a private school, but will be eligible for an Education Savings Account, just as the Gardiner Scholarship students have been. The language from the McKay Scholarship was moved into the new FES program which requires the scholarship student to have regular and direct contact with the student’s teacher if the child is enrolled in a private school. “Umbrella Schools” are private schools, but they would not be an option for students to use unless the school becomes approved by complying with s.1002.421 F.S. and the child attends in person 5 days a week. Students may take classes and pay the tuition and fees at an “umbrella school” if the program is classified as a home education program listed on the Step Up For Students list of approved programs. New authorized uses of the program funds allow a parent to hire a tutor who is certified by a nationally or internationally recognized research-based training program as approved by the DOE.  This would expand the definition of tutors to include those certified by the Barton System and other programs that do not require that the certification include a Florida teaching certificate. Additionally, the new law allows the scholarship to pay the fees for services of a therapist certified by the Certification Board for Music Therapists or credentialed by the Art Therapy Credentials Board. Positive Changes for Parents: Former McKay Students will receive more funding under this new law. Funding for former Gardiner students is more secure for future years. 2022 Upcoming Session HEF is beginning to meet with legislative staff mid-July to try to work on issues in the new FES program for parents of students previously on the Gardiner Scholarship. If you have specific issues which will negatively affect your Gardiner student, please contact Brenda Dickinson through the HEF website.  She wants to make sure that all the issues needing to be changed are addressed during the upcoming Session. Issues that HEF hopes to address in the 2022 Session. Finding a way to obtain a matrix of services without having to go through the IEP process at a public school. Restructuring the funding from a quarterly payment to a monthly cycle. Removing the requirement that students on a special needs scholarship will have to pay for dual enrollment classes out of their FES scholarship. Helpful Information for Parents of Children with unique abilities. Here is a link to a resource for parents of students with unique abilities.  While this is written for students in public schools, some of this information may be helpful to parents who home educate their special needs child. http://project10.info/Documents/Secondary_Transition_Roadmap_Updated.pdf Depending on a child’s disability there may be resources available through the following agencies. The school district’s high school-level transition services, career and technical education, and collegiate programs. Florida’s Center for Students with Unique Abilities. The Florida Centers for Independent Living. Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. The Agency for Persons with Disabilities. The Division of Blind Services. CS/CS/SB 52 created the Dual Enrollment Scholarship Program This bill restores dual enrollment access to private school students. Beginning in the 2021 Fall term the scholarship program will reimburse eligible postsecondary institutions for tuition and related instructional materials costs for dual enrollment courses taken by private school or home education students during the fall and spring terms. Beginning in the 2022 summer term, the scholarship program will reimburse eligible postsecondary institutions for tuition and related instructional material costs for dual enrollment courses taken by public school, private school, or home education students during the summer term. This scholarship will not only create access for private school students but should change the way colleges and universities serve these students since they will be reimbursed for their tuition. However, reimbursement for dual enrollment courses is contingent upon an appropriation in the General Appropriations Act each year. Learning Pods was a concept proposed in HB 1325 and SB 1614.  However, HEF asked the sponsors not to push for the passage of these bills.  The bill would have placed into statute something similar to co-ops which are already allowed under the Home Education Law.  The concern of HEF is that if it is in statute, it can be regulated in the future.  Since parents in Florida under the Home Education Law have the freedom to educate their children in any way they choose, this law would have been redundant in the least and possibly restrictive in the future.  The sponsors agreed. Parent’s Bill of Rights was lobbied by other organizations. HB 241 was sponsored by Rep. Grall and CS/CS/CS 582 by Sen. Rodriguez.  HB 241 created.s.1014 F.S., a separate section in the education laws which codifies parental rights.  It will now be easy to check your rights as a parent in Florida, especially if your child is in a public school. You can read HB 241 at: https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=_h0241er.docx&DocumentType=Bill&BillNumber=0241&Session=2021

The Home Education Foundation Legislative Summary has been long in coming because we have been waiting for the Governor’s action on all the bills affecting home educators passed in the 2022 Legislative Session before reporting the final summary. Remember a bill requires action by the Governor.  It can become a law with or without the Governor’s signature or it can be vetoed and fails to become law. On June 2, the Governor received and signed SB 2524, the big education bill.  This bill included a few changes which are of interest to home educators. Family Empowerment Scholarship for Student with Unique Disabilities (FES-UA) The number of students who could receive the FES-UA was increased by 6,500 students for the 2022-23.  So, in the 2022-2023 school year 26,500 students will be able to benefit from the FES-UA.This Scholarship which was former the Gardiner Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities has been so popular that the Legislature has had to increase the funding every year since its creation in 2014.  Parents are thrilled with this scholarship because it puts them in charge of their student’s education.  It allows the parent to customize their child’s education and therapies in order to give the child the tools they need to reach their full potential. The requirement for the Department of Education (DOE) to cross-check the list of scholarship students against the list of students in the school district prior to the release of the funds was removed.  The cross-check is required to make sure the state is not funding the same student in two systems.  The DOE is still required to cross-check the two lists but will be able to release funding prior to the cross-check and will adjust the payment to the school districts if the scholarship recipient is shown to still be enrolled in a public school. This change would release the state funding to the Scholarship Funding Organization (SFO), like Step Up For Students or AAA Scholarships, sooner and each quarterly payment will be made to the scholarship funding organization no later than September 1, November 1, February 1, and April 1 in 4 equal payments. This change would prevent the delayed payments which many parents experienced in the 2021-2022 school year. More information on the Family Empowerment Scholarships can be found on the Step Up For Students website: https://www.stepupforstudents.org/ or AAA Scholarship website: https://www.aaascholarships.org/ For basic scholarship amounts for student’s receiving the FES-UA scholarship in 2022-2023 click here:  https://www.stepupforstudents.org/wp-content/uploads/Step-Up-For-Students_FES-Unique-Abilities-Scholarship-Amounts.pdf One of the problems created by the merging of the Gardiner Scholarship into FES-UA and stabilizing the funding through the school district funding is that some of the new FES-UA students without an IEP in the 2021-2022 school year will received about $2000 less than the Gardiner students who qualified in previous school years.  The funding for the Gardiner Scholarship was vulnerable since it was a line item in the budget and could be adjusted or eliminated any year. A Gardiner Scholarship student was assigned a straight 253 Matrix regardless of their need for services and was funded at approximately $10,000 depending on the school district in which the student lived and the grade level of the student. Under the FES-UA, the new students would be funded the same as the public school students with an IEP in the school district.  School districts receive an average of all students in Matrix Levels 251, 252, and 253 which results in about $2000 less than the Gardiner students that were grandfathered in at their previous level. The Home Education Foundation has been raising awareness that students who do not have an IEP cannot get an accurate IEP through the school district, even though the FES-UA law requires the school district to provide one. The districts are in a Catch 22 because the federal law requires a “Response to Intervention” (RTI) as part of the IEP.  The RTI requires the student to be in a public school classroom for a period of time in order for the teacher to provide prescribed interventions to measure the child’s response. Without that portion of the IEP, a home educated student can only receive a partial IEP, and, therefore, regardless of the level of services needed, the student cannot receive a higher Matrix level. If a child could get an accurate IEP and would qualify for a 254 Matrix, according to the chart, that child could receive approximately twice as much funding. Without an IEP, the FES-UA is discriminatory to students who have never been in a public school who may have a greater need for services. Currently, the Home Education Foundation is working with other groups to find a way to provide an accurate IEP for home educated students who currently do not have an IEP.  We may need your help in the upcoming Session, if you have a FES-UA student to explain the issue to YOUR Florida Representative and Senator. Dual Enrollment Scholarship Program SB 2524 states that the Dual Enrollment Scholarship will cover instructional materials and tuition for private school and home education students for the fall, spring and summer terms and the cost to the will be reimbursed by the Department of Education. The Dual Enrollment Scholarships will be available to public school students for the summer term only and will cover tuition and instructional materials. The instructional materials and tuition for public school students for the fall and spring terms will be reimbursed to the postsecondary institution under the articulation agreement for public school students. There have been a few postsecondary institutions that did not allow home education students to take classes during the summer of 2022.  However, the scholarship would have covered the cost to the institution.  If you run into this situation in the future, refer the postsecondary institution to s.1009.30 Fl. St. and make them aware that they will be reimbursed by the DOE.  You may need to refer to SB 2524 until the revised statutes signed by the Governor are available online Bright Futures Scholarships Governor signed HB 461 on June 27, 2022.  This bill amends the Bright Futures Scholarship to allow students to count paid work for service hours beginning in the 2022-23 school year. The number of hours for both paid work and volunteer service remains at 100 hours for the Academic Scholars Award.  However, the number of hours for paid work increases to 100 hrs. for the Medallion Scholars Award and the Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars Award.  The volunteer service hours (unpaid) for the Medallion Scholars Award remains the same at 75 hours and 30 hours for the Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars Award. The hours must be documented in writing, and the document must be signed by the student, the student’s parent and the representative of the organization for which the student performed the service or work. The student must, through papers or other presentations, evaluate and reflect on his or her volunteer or paid work experience which may include, but is not limited to, a business or governmental internship, work for a nonprofit community service organization, or activities on behalf of a candidate for public office. This summer and fall would be a great time to work in a political campaign for the candidate of your choice and earn volunteer hours.  Home education students can educate the candidate about the home education laws and how important it is to protect those laws.  This is the best way to safeguard the Florida home education laws. Florida Law Enforcement Academy Scholarship Program HB 3 created a new scholarship in s.1009.896 Fl. St. for students enrolled in a basic recruit training program at a Florida College System Institution or a school district technical center for the purpose of meeting the minimum qualifications for employment or appointment as a law enforcement officer. The purpose of the scholarship is to assist in the recruitment of law enforcement officers within the state. The State Board of Education will develop Rules to administer this section of law.  Watch for details from the Florida Office of Student Financial Assistance. https://www.floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/SAPHome/SAPHome?url=home Work with School districts Transfer of a Home Education Program During the summer and fall of 2021, it was brought to the attention of HEF that in some districts parents were being required to terminate the child’s home education program in the district from which the family moved and submit a Letter of Intent in the county to which the family moved.  The terms transfer and terminate were being used interchangeably but they did not mean the same thing.  The law requires a parent to terminate the program when the student completes a home education program or returns to a public or private school but is silent on transfer. HEF could see a potential problem for students in the 11th or 12th grade qualifying for Bright Futures when the new district could not verify that the student had been enrolled for those two years. Also, it would establish a new anniversary date and, in some cases, may require a parent to submit two evaluations in one year. HEF contacted the Home Education Office in Broward and Palm Beach counties to discuss this issue and explain the difference.  After several conversations with the districts and with the Florida Department of Education, we agreed to establish a policy for transferring a home education program.  Brenda Dickinson then contacted the home education leaders who had brought this problem to her and worked with Marie-Claire Moreau and Cheryl Trzasko to develop a form to be used by parents to transfer the home education program.  These forms are now on Broward and Palm Beach County websites. DOE agreed to send them out to the other school districts to be placed on their websites. Home Education Transfer Request sample form Affidavit of Completion While we were working on the Transfer Form, we discovered that some school districts had an Affidavit Form on their site for parents to fill out to document completion of a home education program.  However, the forms had several mistakes that included out of date laws and statements that the student had completed the requirements for a public school diploma.  We brought this to the attention of the counties and the DOE and worked together to create a new form with accurate information. HEF appreciates the time Marie-Claire and Cheryl spent helping to get these forms corrected and for creating a policy for transferring a home education program. Affidavit of Home School Completion sample form

Parents and Friends, I want you to know that The Home Education Foundation (HEF) is working hard to find ways to amend HB 1 to protect the interest of home education students and the home education law. Brenda Dickinson has been in touch with TJ Schmidt Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), and Suzanne Nunn, Florida parent Educators Association (FPEA) and Marie-Claire Moreau, Florida Home School Association (FLHSA) and other leaders in the state to discuss our concerns about this bill. Both (HSLDA) and HEF have drafted new language for the bill, but the concept in the bill is so complicated that I am not sure our suggested language will work. Historically, our organizations have opposed any money going to home schooling families because we believe that with government funding comes more control. The Home Education Foundation has worked very hard over the last 30 years to create laws that assure home education students have the same right to dual enrollment, Bright Futures, FLVS, and other programs as public and private school students. The accountability for those opportunities rests with the state because the funds did not go to the family or student. The laws only allowed their participation. The only exception has been the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities (FES-UA). These students may use any evaluation method in the home education law. They are not required to take a nationally norm-referenced test and turn the test scores over to the state university. HB 1 sets a different standard for home education students and their parents than the requirements of s.1002.395(9(f) for private schools. For example, the performance of individual private schools in the Florida Tax Credit scholarship is only reported to the public if there are at least 30 scholarship students in the school taking the assessment while HB 1 requires the test score for each individual home education student in the “school” to be reported. This requirement will evaluate the effectiveness of individual parent-teachers and individual students as opposed to private schools which have more teachers and students. Also, in HB 1, only 20,000 students with the lowest socioeconomic background will be award a scholarship in the first year. The cohort of home education students is too small to get an accurate comparison to public school students with similar socioeconomic backgrounds. Additionally, it also may be the first year a parent has home educated the child and the child may have never been tested. However, in a private school many of the students have experienced testing and not all teachers are first year teachers. It appears that there is a national movement designed to give all parents the opportunity to customize their child’s education through an ESA. Florida is on the forefront of school choice. The Home Education Foundation is trying to ensure that HB 1 does not affect current home school laws for those home education parents who prefer not to take state funding and as free as possible for those who do. I am working with staff in the House and Senate to bring our concerns to their attention, so that we don’t infringe on the rights of parents who do not want to take state funding. We are trying to answer questions and work with individual home educators while we are trying to meet with legislators in both chambers to let them know our concerns. I have brought some of the technical issues in this bill to the attention of Step Up For Students and AAA, the scholarship funding organizations, that will have to administer this new Educational Savings Account (ESA). I am trying to find solutions and help create something new that does not negatively affect other laws, which is always challenging. There are just so many hours in a day and I must focus on addressing the issues with the Legislature. You may not get many communications from me, but I will do my very best to keep you informed. Things move so fast that today’s update will be out of date by the time you get it. Here are the concerns that The Home Education Foundation has and what I am trying to address My biggest concern is how to distinguish the home education students with ESAs from those that do not have ESAs. The recipients of the ESA will have to pay for their classes out of the scholarship and those without an ESA under current law get theirs for free. How will the state colleges, FLVS and the school districts know which home schoolers are supposed to pay for their classes out of the scholarship and which one currently have the right to take classes free of charge? How will colleges know which students to report for the Dual Enrollment Scholarship and which ones are to be self-paying? Who are the Choice Navigators and what will their role be? Will they have knowledge of the options that home education parents currently have? Who will pay them? Who will they report to? How will SUFS and AAA know which parents reported test scores and which did not in order to renew the scholarship? Will the child lose their ESA if the parents do not report? What if a parent is rewarded an ESA and then decides that home education is not for them? Can they put the child back in public school? What happens to the funding? How will parents obtain nationally norm-referenced testing for their child? What if parents do not have their child tested and the test scores are not submitted to the university? Who will track that? If only the students from the lowest income families are eligible for an ESA to home educate and the performance report is not satisfactory, will all home education students be judged by how these students perform and will this affect the home education laws s.1002.41 FS in the future? Will the choice navigators be responsible for making sure the parents have a place for their students to be tested? Will parents who apply for this scholarship have to send their Income Tax report to Step Up or AAA so they can determine which parents qualify? The bill states that those whose household income is at or below 185% of the federal poverty level are to be served first. How will that work? This requirement may go away if the cap on the number of students is removed and this becomes a universal ESA. Which students will be eligible for the scholarship in year 2 and 3 as the cap on the number of scholarships increases? Reporting of the test results for such a small sampling of students when even private school student performance are not reported if there is less than 30 in a school. There will never be over 30 students in an individual home education program. This is an unfair sampling. These are a few of our concerns. I am trying to help find solutions to these problems. If you have other concerns, I would like to hear them. On a positive note: HB 1 does not change the FES-UA portion of the law and it does not change the home education law. I can report that I think we have found a way for FES-UA students to get a complete IEP from the school districts. I have been working on that for over 2 years I think the Seminole School District has developed a process to do that. These things take time to address, and it wasn’t that the districts were opposed to evaluating these children who need the most services to get a higher matrix level, it was just that the process was governed by federal law and the districts did not know how to do an evaluation for non-public school students. It is my hope that students that are awarded a FES-UA Scholarship will be able to go through a more friendly process and get an IEP that addresses the needs of the child. The legislature didn’t know how to fix this issue; now we may have a solution that can be incorporated into this bill. I have also spent some time over the summer trying to figure out the language in the FES-UA which addresses the out of state colleges that offer dual enrollment courses for FES-UA students. I think I found language to amend into this bill which will allow parents of students on an FES-UA to purchase courses from out of state colleges with their scholarship funds. I welcome any ideas that you have to address any of these issues. I can tell you the Choice and Innovation Committee members and staff are trying to get this bill right. HB 1 was their first draft. The Senate will also have a bill, and we may be able to get language in that bill that will address our concerns. It is a process, and we have to express our concerns, work with our legislators and end up with a bill that works for everyone. Please email me with any recommendations that you have. I may not reply personally, but will take the time to read as many emails as I can. Please be sure to read the bill carefully and try to only discuss the most factual information possible, so as not to spread false rumors. If you want to listen to the Choice and Innovation Committee meeting on Thursday at 9:00, you can find it live online at www.leg.state.fl.us. Please be patient! If you come to Tallahassee to speak to legislators or in the Committee meetings, please be respectful, state your concerns and appeal to them to make this bill work for everyone. In Your Service, Brenda Dickinson President of The Home Education Foundation

The Governor has released his Budget and the Budget Recommended Conforming Bill for Scholarships on February 1.  You can read the bill at: http://frameworkforfreedombudget.com/content/Current/reports/Scholarship%20Programs.pdf Family Empowerment Scholarship-Educational Options in the Governor’s bill is very different from HB 1.  The Governor’s bill is more favorable for home education families for the following reasons. It has no testing requirement or reporting of test results to a designated state university. It allows the parent to choose the same methods of evaluation which are in the home education law. It does not require a Choice Navigator. Home Education parents would use the scholarship to pay for the list of items on lines 75-115 in the bill.  The list includes paying for a certified teacher or nationally norm-referenced test. In addition, the scholarship will pay for instructional materials, curriculum, tuition or fees associated with full-time or part-time enrollment in a home education program, eligible private school tuition and classes, eligible classes at a post-secondary educational institution or a program offered by a post-secondary institution, FLVS or public school classes. Eligibility for the Family Empowerment Scholarship-Educational Options includes any student, if the income for a family of 4 is less than 400% of the Federal Poverty Level which in 2023 would be $120,000. It prioritizes: Students whose family income does not exceed 185% of poverty. Students already on scholarship. Siblings of current students on scholarship. Students in foster care or out-of-home care. Dependent child of a member of the US Armed Forces or Dependent child of a law enforcement officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician, paramedic, and all public safety telecommunicators. There is a cap on the number of scholarships. The actual number of scholarships is hard to determine because it varies each year based on 1% of the state’s total full-time equivalent student membership and how many students are already on scholarship.  The bill raises the cap to 3%.  Parents who want to home educate are eligible for the scholarship if they meet the eligibility criteria and there are available scholarships. In summary this bill eliminates a lot of extra work for the SFOs and the restrictions on the home education program in HB 1. Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities (FES-UA) is being renamed in this bill to the Family Empowerment Scholarship- Gardiner-McKay which will make many recipients of those former scholarships very happy. The cap on the FES-UA is being increased annually from 1% to 3% of the state’s total exceptional student education full-time equivalent student membership.  This is huge because it will cover the waitlist for the 2022-23 school year and the increase will help keep pace with the demand. These are the highlights of the Governor’s bill, but he cannot file a bill.  So, it is our hope that the Senate will take up the Governor’s bill. The Home Education Foundation (HEF) is still trying to find the right language to amend onto the scholarship bill to make sure school districts know how to evaluate non-public school students with disabilities who have not been able to get an IEP.  There are also a couple of other smaller amendments to the bill that HEF parents have asked HEF to get into the bill to expand the authorized uses of the scholarship funds.

When it comes to homeschool legislation in Florida, HEF works diligently to protect our long standing, strong home school law.  This has always been our number ONE priority. Additionally we have added numerous opportunities for home schoolers through the years including extra curricular activities, FLVS participation, free dual enrollment and more.  A full time lobbyist in Tallahassee is vital for all of our protection. This was never more apparent than in the last few weeks. HB 1 was introduced and could have completely changed home education law as we know it. HEF has worked with both the House and Senate over the past month offering proposed language and different perspectives. We are happy to report that “God has made a way when there seemed to be no way.”  The House has rewritten HB 1 separating the two groups of parents teaching their children at home while offering a new opportunity to parents. The Propose Committee Bill (See the Bill Here) keeps all of our current homeschool laws separate and secure, but also opens the door for parents to chose access to a universal education savings account (ESAs ). Taking government funds, sooner or later, will bring more oversight and loss of personal freedoms.  Our compromise gives parents a choice to continue home schooling as usual or take funding and be limited in the methods of evaluation. It may seem like a slight difference, however, looking ahead it is a major victory not to give up or compromise any of our current homeschool laws.  The Personalized Education Program is the new option for parents who want to teach or direct their child’s education at home. The new option for parents who choose government funds will be available to 20,000 families the first year and increase annually. It will provide about $8,000 per student in funds to be used for educational purposes. Initially the scholarships will go to the lowest income families, which means anyone who applies will have to submit their most recent income tax forms to the SFO of their choice. The parent will be required to use a nationally norm-referenced test for the annual evaluation and submit it to the SFO which in turn will submit the scores to a state university for compiling the scores and reporting on the progress of the students in the program. SB202 will be heard in committee on Tuesday, February 21, and the House bill PCB  on Thursday, February 23. There are a couple of things we hope to get into the final language, but we are very pleased that almost all of our suggestions have been taken. Thank you for the prayers; keep them up. We do not need any further action or calls at this time. Blessings, Brenda Dickinson and HEF

HB 1 is Headed for the House Floor HB 1, the “School Choice Bill”, will be heard on Thursday, March 16, 2023, when the House goes into Session. The hearing will be live streamed at https://myfloridahouse.gov/ and maybe on the Florida Channel in your area. The Session begins at Noon. The Home Education Foundation (HEF) has worked hard to make this bill as good as it is. The first draft was a threat to current home education law, and we worked tirelessly to make sure our concerns were heard and current home education law was preserved. Over the last weeks, Brenda Dickinson, President and Lobbyist for HEF, contacted the bill sponsor, the Speaker, the Governor’s office, and many other members of the Legislature. She asked that the proposed scholarship for parents who wished to direct the education of their children on a state scholarship be separated from the home education program. She asked to call that program something other than home education. It was HEF’s desire to preserve the current home education law for parents who choose not to apply for funding, and for those who did not receive a scholarship either because of their level of personal income or a lack of funding. These concerns were heard, and the new Personalized Education Program (PEP) was created. The PEP exists in a completely different statute, separate from home education, with its own specific criteria. The Personalized Education Program (PEP) A parent who chooses to apply for a scholarship under the PEP will have all the same rights as those who home educate under the current home education law. There are, however, some differences in requirements for PEP students that do not apply to home education students. Under the Personalized Education Program (PEP): Parents will be required to have the student take a nationally norm-referenced test and submit the student’s test scores to the Scholarship Funding Organization (SFO) that awarded the scholarship. The SFO, in turn, will submit the test scores to a state university contracted by the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) to compile the scores and compare the performance of the PEP students to the performance of public school students with similar socioeconomic backgrounds. Beginning with the 2027-2028 school year, an annual report containing this information will be published on the FLDOE website. Test scores for PEP students will automatically serve as their annual evaluation. PEP parents will register with the SFO, not the Superintendent, for attendance purposes. PEP parents are prohibited from registering in a home education program, and will register for a PEP with a SFO instead. PEP students will not be required to keep attendance records. PEP parents have a list of ways they can spend the scholarship funds. From the scholarship funds, they will have to pay for classes taken at a public school, classes from an FLDOE-approved virtual school, classes using FLVS, and for classes at postsecondary educational institutions. Parents will also pay for all private options, including tutors and private school classes, from the scholarship funds. Parents will be required to submit a student learning plan to the SFO prior to the scholarship award. The SFO will provide parents with information, guidance and support to create the plan; however, the SFO may not further regulate, exercise control over or require documentation beyond the requirements in the law. Parents will have to sign an agreement with the SFO that they will only use the program funds for the student’s educational needs. Funding Information Any student is eligible to apply for the PEP; however, priority will be given to those families whose income is 185% of the federal poverty level first, and then to those families whose income is between 185% and 400% of poverty.  For reference, for a family of 4, 185% of the federal poverty level is $51,337.50 while 400% is $111,000. In the first year, the SFOs are only allowed to award scholarships to 20,000 students. A total of 40,000 scholarships will be awarded each subsequent year. SFOs may require parents to purchase certain items – for instance, curriculum or academic programs – directly from an online platform, however, the SFO cannot limit the parent’s choice of curriculum or academic programs. Parents may have to pay out of pocket and submit an invoice for reimbursement. Parents may use the scholarship funds for a home education instructional program, but the student may not be registered in a home education program for attendance purposes (students must be registered in a PEP). Funds will be available to parents on a quarterly basis. Parents will have to plan their expenditures carefully, or pay out of pocket at the beginning of the year and wait for reimbursement in the following quarter(s). Clarifying the different scholarships The Family Empowerment Scholarship in s.1002.394 F.S. has 2 parts (a) and (b). These are both funded from the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) which is the funding mechanism for the public schools. The two scholarships are:(a) The Family Empowerment Scholarship for Education Options (FES-EO). This allows a student to use the funds to attend a private school and if any funds remain after the tuition and fees are paid, the parent may use the funds for certain items listed in CS/CS/CS/CS/HB (b) The Family Empowerment Scholarship for Unique Abilities (FES-UA). This is for students with unique abilities, and was formerly known as McKay and Gardiner Scholarships. The PEP scholarship is funded from the Florida Tax Credit program s.1002.395 F.S. This program raises funds from corporations that donate a portion of the corporate tax owed to the state to a Scholarship Funding Organization (SFO) established in Florida law to accept and disburse education scholarships for K-12 students. What is to come The plan at this point is that the House bill (HB 1) will be sent to the Senate, and the Senate will replace its bill (SB 202) with the House bill (HB 1) instead. The House bill (HB 1) will then pass, and be sent to the Governor. Some issues yet to be worked out HEF is pleased with this outcome, but some questions still remain unanswered. In the coming months, we hope to be able to clarify the following: To whom should parents submit volunteer hours needed for students to apply for the Bright Futures’ Scholarship? Do PEP students have to be registered in a PEP program for the 11th and 12th grades to be eligible for Bright Futures? What happens if a student doesn’t have a PEP scholarship for either the 11th grade or 12th grade year? For purposes of athletics and dual enrollment, will SFOs be responsible for verifying registration in a PEP program? Will there be a certain date by which parents are required to submit the student’s test score to a SFO? Will this testing and date follow the public school calendar?

HB 1, the School Choice bill, passed today in the Senate Today, the Senate took up House Bill 1 and passed it on the Senate Floor.  The bill will now go to the Governor for his signature. HB 1 creates a new option for parents to educate their children at home: the “Personalized Education Program” or “PEP”. The PEP allows parents to use the scholarship funds to purchase curriculum, instructional materials, internet resources, nationally norm-referenced tests and other assessments, classes in a home education instructional program, classes or enrollment in a private school, tutoring services, dual enrollment and more.  Note that if a PEP parent chooses to enroll a student in a publicly funded institution, like FLVS or a district virtual school or public school classes, however, they will have to pay for those classes or services out of the PEP funding, too. The students who receive the PEP scholarship are not home education students. Whereas home education students register with the Superintendent, PEP students are prohibited from registering in a home education program with the Superintendent. Instead, PEP students must register with a scholarship funding organization (SFO). Specifics of the PEP program The key points about the PEP program are as follows: PEP students register with the SFO from which they receive the PEP scholarship. PEP students do not report any information to the Superintendent and report only to the SFO. PEP students must take a nationally norm-referenced test and report it to the SFO to be eligible for scholarship renewal. The nationally norm-referenced test is required for PEP students. PEP students will have to pay for publicly funded classes and services from PEP scholarship funds, even if those services are free to other students. PEP students may have to follow a school calendar (to be determined). Parents of PEP students will have to submit a student learning plan annually to the SFO that issues the funding. Details about the learning plan will come from the SFOs themselves. Priority funding is given to PEP students whose household income does not exceed 185% of the federal poverty level, thus parents may have to submit an Income Tax Return to determine their eligibility for the PEP. After families whose incomes are less than 185% are served, then students whose household income does not exceed 400% of the poverty level will be served. In the first year, beginning on July 1, 2023, the SFOs are authorized to award 20,000 scholarships for the 2023-2024 school year.  In each subsequent school year, the number of scholarships may increase by 40,000 students. Applications for the scholarships will open by the end of May, if not sooner.  More information will follow as those details unfold. HEF was an integral part of the creation of HB 1 HEF has been working endlessly on your behalf to implement the changes you now see in this bill. We reworked the first version of HB 1 and were instrumental in getting this crucial language woven into the final version: Separation of the programs for parents who want to direct the education of their child Registration with the SFO instead of the Superintendent Prohibited from registering in a home education program Inclusion of out of state postsecondary institutions with reciprocal agreements Language to permit school districts to use private licensed professionals’ evaluation reports and plans of care for completing the matrix for a non-public school student without an the IEP Language to delay the public reporting of the composite nationally norm-referenced test scores for PEP students until 2027-2028. Made sure the choice navigator is an option and not a requirement. Language to ensure that a choice navigator cannot oversee or exercise control over the curricula or academic program. Made sure the parents’ choices of curricula are not limited to only those on an online platform created by the SFO. Made sure the SFO cannot regulate, exercise control over or require documentation not in statute. To continue receiving valuable information about these issues and more, please follow and support the work of HEF. We encourage all families to subscribe to our free newsletter at www.flhef.org and to encourage their friends and groups to subscribe to our newsletter, too. View the Bill here https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=_h0001c4.docx&DocumentType=Bill&BillNumber=0001&Session=2023

Brenda Dickinson President Guy Coburn, Esq. St. Petersburg Sue Puchferran Boca Raton Chris Taylor, Esq. Vero Beach Lynn Fisher Coconut Creek