Update 9/7/2023: About FLVS, classes at public schools, etc.

MAJOR UPDATE to this update! As of 9/11/2023. Please see my updated post here: https://www.flhef.org/forum/pep-faq/important-update-9-11-23-extracurriculars **** Original post from 9/7/23 below: ****

I just got off the phone with Brenda, who spoke to FLVS, as well as Alachua County, about some issues we've had reported by parents.

Here's the latest update:

Currently, Alachua County is not allowing PEP students to participate in classes at the district schools. Because of this, students who want to take an elective which requires a class component (like ROTC, band, etc.) are not currently able to do so in that county.

Why?

According to Brenda's conversation with Alachua County, they are not participating in PEP this year because they did not have enough time before the start of this school year to get all the logistics set up to input the students in the system and to allow the money to flow into the program (this money comes from a different pot than the money for home education students and for FES-UA).

The district can't report PEP students as home ed because they aren't registered that way in statute, and the schools also have no metrics for what to charge for these classes or how to access the funds from the SFOs.

Getting put into Step Up's system as a direct pay vendor is an option, but that takes time on Step Up's end, and a whole bunch of logistics on the district side, and they simply didn't have time to get it all lined up before the school year began. The schools have limited class sizes, and even if they manage to get PEP processes set up in their system later in the year, they wouldn't be able to guarantee to PEP parents that their desired classes would still have space for PEP students at that point.

(After-school extracurriculars that don't have a connected class should be less of a logistical issue for the school districts.)

In order for a school district to participate in PEP, they need to have a contract with Step Up/AAA for how everything is going to work, and then that contract needs to be approved by the school board.

Currently, that contract is not in place for Alachua County.

So, in Alachua's case, they don't quite know what to do. They want to serve PEP students, but they have to work within the system that's set up for onboarding students, reporting class numbers, and collecting funds, and they have no process in place for how to actually do that for PEP students.

Other counties/school districts might be in the same situation, but we know for sure that's the case with Alachua County.

Some counties and districts were able to get things figured out and set up in time for this school year, while others were not.

FLVS is having a similar issue. Current legislation requires FLVS to ask for funding when a student successfully completes the course. In the case of PEP, this means there's a risk that by the time FLVS submits to Step Up for payment for a course taken by a PEP student, there's no guarantee that student will still have the remaining funds their account. So FLVS is trying to figure out the logistics of how all of this will work, too.

The bill which enacted PEP was pushed through quickly, and unfortunately, there were a lot of details and logistics that were not figured out ahead of time--this being one of them.

Obviously, this is a problem.

Committee Sessions are beginning this month, and there is another Legislative Session coming up in January. Brenda is certain there will be "glitch bills" introduced, which are exactly what they sound like--bills which address glitches, logistics, or other unforeseen issues.

We will be actively lobbying for glitch bills to address some of the issues we're seeing.

In the meantime, Brenda's advice is this:

NOTE: Brenda's advice has now changed, as of 9/11/2023. She now advises you remain PEP, if you would like to take the scholarship, and wait... more details are in our update here: https://www.flhef.org/forum/pep-faq/important-update-9-11-23-extracurriculars.

[Previous advice prior to 9/11/2023 was: If you have a student who is highly engaged in or dependent on an extracurricular with a class component at a public school (ROTC, band, etc.), and your county does not already have a confirmed process in place for onboarding PEP students and collecting funds for classes, you may want to decline the PEP award and remain as a home education student with your county for this year. ]

It's not that these school districts don't want to serve the students. They just don't have the logistics worked out for how to record them in the system, process them, receive the funds, etc.

All these issues will be discussed in the upcoming sessions, and we will be lobbying for the needed changes to get all of these details and logistics figured out.

One other thing you can do:

If you are encountering logistical issues, onboarding issues, or other issues like these for your PEP students with your county/school district, please message us through our contact form on this website and tell us. (You can find the contact form at the bottom of every page of our website.)

We are collecting a list of known issues, and will be lobbying to try to get them addressed in the upcoming session.

You can also reach out to your local legislators... but keep in mind that your given representatives may or may not be on the particular committees addressing these issues. So the best way to ensure these particular things are addressed is to communicate them to us, so we can advocate for them in the Capitol.

Thank you!