Florida families who teach at home fall under one of three sets of rules, and what one program requires does not carry over to another. Find yours below.
THREE RULEBOOKS
What you owe each year, and what you can buy, depends on how your child is registered. Start with the card that matches.
01
Personalized Education Program (PEP)
PEP is part of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship. It is for students who are not enrolled full time in a public or private school. A PEP student is registered with a scholarship organization such as Step Up For Students instead of the school district, so there is no letter of intent, and a child who was in a home education program has to end it with the district. Each year you submit a Student Learning Plan in EMA, and your child takes a nationally norm-referenced test or the statewide assessment. The results are due before the scholarship renews. PEP does not ask for a portfolio evaluation.
02
Unique Abilities (FES-UA)
FES-UA is for students age 3 through 21 who have an IEP or one of the qualifying diagnoses listed in the handbook. A school-age student is enrolled in an eligible private school, or in a home education program with a letter of intent on file. If you homeschool on FES-UA, you follow the home education law: keep a portfolio and have your child evaluated once a year. The scholarship can pay the evaluation fee.
03
Home education without a scholarship
You file a letter of intent with your district, keep a portfolio (a log of what you did, plus samples of work), and have your child evaluated once a year, counted from the date of your letter. The law gives five ways to do it. A portfolio review by a Florida-certified teacher is one, and a nationally normed test given by a certified teacher is another. You choose the method and send the result to the district.
Florida also pays private school tuition through the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship and FES-EO. I work with families who teach at home, so those are not covered here.
COMMON PITFALLS
Many parents assume that if an item is educational it will be approved. Each program has its own purchasing guide, and the two do not agree on everything.
Devices
FES-UA allows a digital device such as a tablet or laptop once every two years, or sooner with pre-authorization. PEP is different: the current PEP Purchasing Guide lists digital devices and printers as prohibited items. Read your own program's guide before you buy.
Balance limits
Unspent funds roll over, but deposits stop when a balance would pass $24,000 for PEP or $50,000 for FES-UA. In both programs an account with no spending for two fiscal years in a row is closed, and the money goes back to the state.
Yearly paperwork
PEP asks for a Student Learning Plan and a test. FES-UA at home asks for the annual evaluation, sent to your district. Doing the other program's paperwork does not count toward yours.
Sources: PEP Family Handbook, PEP Purchasing Guide, FES-UA Family Handbook, FES-UA Purchasing Guidelines and Florida Statute 1002.41.
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