We were told that at one point as well.

Please reach out to your local representatives and senators! Representatives hearing from the constituents in their districts is the best way to bring this topic to the forefront of discussion. It helps so much, when we go to discuss things with legislators, if they've already heard the same concerns from their constituents. We have some posts here in the forum on how to find your local representatives and there's also a post with some tips on how to reach out to them on this specific issue. I'll link it here for easy access! https://www.flhef.org/forum/pep-faq/tips-for-contacting-legislators-re-adding-digital-devices-for-pep Once legislative season starts, we will also post here in the forum whenever there's a need for parents to come speak at specific committee meetings!

I'm not 100% sure, but I suspect this is a carryover/accidentally copy/pasted from the UA guide? We've been told the need to complete an application for graduated students ONLY applies to the Legacy system. I'll see what I can find out.

Legislative sessions start in the spring (March/April). However, PLEASE reach out to your representatives now to communicate your concerns, as knowing this is something their constituents care about will help escalate this issue to a higher priority for their discussions. We have a post with some tips on doing that here: https://www.flhef.org/forum/pep-faq/tips-for-contacting-legislators-re-adding-digital-devices-for-pep

Hi! I believe I responded to this via email or message, as I remember this question but there's no response here! But for the sake of others who may have similar questions, I'll also reply here... The norm-referenced test is part of the requirements parents agree to when they accept PEP, and is considered necessary to "complete" your school year with PEP (similar to how an evaluation is required to be submitted to the county when you complete a school year for home education). It is part of how they verify "attendance" for the year since PEP was your attendance track. So even if you are not renewing, you are still expected to submit the end-of-year evaluation. It is also how you remain eligible for future scholarship use (not just for PEP, but for ANY scholarship), since if you do not submit it, you have not complied with the requirements of the affidavit you signed when you applied. Step Up did eventually send out some clarifications on this which state basically the same thing I've just explained--we have another post in the forum about this, and someone actually posted a screenshot of this clarification (which Step Up released via their PEP Open House and also on their social media) in the comments of that post. You can find that here: https://www.flhef.org/forum/pep-faq/must-standardized-test-results-for-this-school-year-be-submitted-for-pep-students-even-if-not-renewing-pep-for-the-next-year-6-19-24 So in this case, because you did not submit the end-of-year testing, they are considering your student ineligible to continue accessing the scholarship funds. Since they are asking you to submit the test results, it seems they have not completely closed the door on that eligibility---they are just asking you to complete that step of the requirements in order for him to continue to access funds. I would suggest administering one of the approved norm-referenced tests and submitting the test results as soon as possible, to complete those compliance requirements. That should fix the problem.

Hi! "Camps" tend to be a sticky term because many processors assume that includes lodging and food (like sleepover camps would), which are ineligible expenses. You could try resubmitting the reimbursement with a clear explanation that even though it was called a camp, it included ONLY basketball training and did not include the cost of lodging or meals. Or if the reimbursement has already been appealed and denied, you could try reaching out to Step Up with that exact information/proof (documentation that shows it was in fact only basketball training, not lodging or meals) to see if you can get the issue escalated and make progress that way.

Hi! We found some pending posts that never went live for some reason, and this was one of them! I know we have already answered your question via private message, but for the sake of others who might have the same question, I'll post here a summary of what we'd sent to you. :) Private school 5 days a week is not an eligible expense for PEP, particularly if the school is reporting your student as enrolled as a private school student. Given that they are only meeting 3 hours per day, they are probably claiming it is "part-time," but how they are reporting enrollment still matters. Also... Private virtual school is not an eligible expense at all--virtual private schools are not currently covered by the scholarship. Part -time tutoring that is actually full-time live instruction via a virtual private school is not what the "part-time tutoring" category is meant to cover, and if this school is encouraging parents to submit full-time virtual instruction under that label for reimbursement, that is likely to get exposed eventually. As the parent, it is your right to direct your child however you see fit. However, based on there being several issues here that could conflict with the scholarship requirements and possibly also attendance requirements, I would suspect that this program will run into issues in the near future and will either need to change its services to be in alignment with Florida statute, or they may get shut down. Or the parents could even possibly lose their scholarships, if they are found to have been submitting reimbursements as one thing when really they are something else. Many things here to be considered.

Hi! We found some pending posts that never went live. I'm not sure how long ago this question was submitted. Are you still waiting for her funding?

Yes, we found a backlog of a few pending posts that got overlooked somehow! I'm glad you have your answer.

You will need to have some sort of proof that Florida is your home of record or state of legal residence. Your military orders might contain the information you need.

Step Up for Students has a Purchasing Guide Feedback Form on the PEP page on their website. You could submit your feedback there. For this particular instance, you could also try submitting proof that the teacher who taught that specific class has been working with the company and/or in the field for at least 3 years. This can be done through a LinkedIn profile, if they have one and you can look them up.

You're welcome!

I don't believe so, no. We have reason to anticipate we will be facing a heavy battle this next legislative season, as well. Or in Jason's words just now: "It means buckle up and get ready, because stuff is about to get weird." 😅

You're welcome!

SLP is optional for UA, just available as a tool for parents to use if they wish. It is required for PEP.

You're welcome!

We have had it confirmed by Step Up higher-ups multiple times that if you are awarded (meaning you have received the official email saying your child is awarded PEP for the 2024-2025 school year, and are showing FTCPEP in EMA), the only reason you wouldn't get funded is if you fail to complete the Student Learning Plan (for new AND renewals) and standardized test result (for renewals) requirements by the July 31st deadline.

Yes. We have a recent blog post related to this here: https://www.flhef.org/post/bright-futures-fixed-for-pep-students-official-doe-memo The memo that was sent out was specifically related to Bright Futures issues, but the DOE did address extracurriculars on the call we mentioned in that post. The districts are in the process of implementing the DOE's instructions to serve PEP students at the district level. If you run into ongoing issues with your county, the School Choice office of the DOE should be able to help you sort it out!

On the template here, we've included PEP as one of the options.

Hi! There are some things to consider here. PEP students still have full access to Bright Futures scholarships, as well as dual enrollment. However, with early admission, the student is technically considered a college student rather than a high school student for that year, even though they haven't yet completed high school requirements. For that reason, the student will no longer be eligible for college freshman scholarships the following school year. The nuances of how early admission students would be treated for PEP purposes would be something to be worked out between the particular college and Step Up, as this isn't an issue we've seen very often at all so I'm not sure how they will handle it. Remaining funds in a student's PEP account can be used for qualifying post secondary expenses, but whether the college considers the student as a form of dual enrollment or as an enrolled college student will impact whether the books and tuition are still covered under dual enrollment or or would need to be paid for. It also could impact whether the student can stay on as an active PEP student or considered graduated with access only to remaining funds.