August has arrived and school is getting back in session! In Florida, many educational institutions are scrambling to keep pace with the flood of payments arriving from the state’s school voucher program, following the governor’s recent expansion of Florida’s School Choice Program.
The School Choice program provides the opportunity to qualify for a scholarship to all Florida resident students eligible to enroll in a public K-12 school. Applications and funding are administered by a state-approved, nonprofit scholarship funding organization called Step Up for Students. Priority is given to students whose household income does not exceed 185% of the federal poverty level, as well as children in foster care.
The goal is to empower parents to pursue and engage with the most appropriate learning options for their children. To accomplish this, Florida offers four private school choice programs, an education savings account, one voucher and two tax-credit scholarships, including:
- Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Opportunities (FES-EO)
- Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities (FES-UA)
- Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program (FTC)
- Hope Scholarship for students who are bullied or are victims of violence in a public school
- New Worlds Scholarship Program for public school students in kindergarten through fifth grades who struggle with math and/or reading.
- Personalized Education Program for K-12 students not enrolled in full-time private or public school regardless of household income
How School Choice Program Payments Work in 2024
Families must apply to the program for consideration. Funds awarded may be used toward private school tuition, instructional materials, virtual education courses, tutoring and contracted services at public schools, and more. Students who receive a coveted scholarship will receive funds into their student account on a quarterly basis.
To use the funds, parents and students must submit reimbursement requests for school items or services to be paid from the student’s account. This requires parents and their child’s chosen school to agree on tuition and fee rates in advance. Once approved, reimbursement funds are deposited into the student’s account by Step Up for Students. Families are notified of the payments by email.
There’s no doubt that the School Choice program offers many positives for Florida families. However, for educational institutions, this quarterly disbursement of funds has created a stressful back-to-school bottleneck. As students move between schools, educational institutions are left juggling parental confusion, increased compliance scrutiny and an influx of incoming payments and associated paperwork.
PEO Services Help When School Choice Program Payments Arrive
The reimbursement process may be enough to overwhelm a school’s existing resources. Especially during such a critical time in the school year, it can be helpful to have a capable team of accounting experts on speed dial – like those at Integrity Employee Leasing.
Integrity’s PEO services are designed to help companies of all sizes! As one of the nation’s leading professional employer organizations (PEOs), Integrity regularly manages bookkeeping, workers’ compensation, payroll and reporting, HR, and much more. By alleviating the administrative burdens associated with these back-office tasks, it frees a school administrator’s valuable time and attention. While Integrity takes care of the busy work, they remain available to manage whatever comes up – both challenges and opportunities. Our clients include several private schools and daycares throughout the state of Florida, in addition to other industries.
Most importantly, Integrity’s bookkeeping systems are structured so that onboarding a new client is quick and easy. Our team will handle the heavy lifting required to get our systems hooked up to yours. Then, we’ll jump into action to prioritize and resolve your most urgent needs first, keeping you informed as we make progress.
Interested in exploring how Integrity Employee Leasing can help you handle the headache that comes with School Choice payment disbursement? All you have to do is call 941.625.0623 to schedule a free consultation, and we’ll hit the books from there!
