Navigating Home Education Requirements in Hillsborough County

Homeschooling in Hillsborough County, Florida, involves understanding specific regulations and available resources. This article aims to provide a comprehensive guide for parents considering or currently engaged in home education within the county. It covers essential aspects such as registration, curriculum, testing, and scholarship opportunities like the Personalized Education Program (PEP).

Initial Steps for Homeschooling

Florida Statute 232.02 mandates that parents notify the District Superintendent of Schools in writing of their intent to initiate a home education program.

Notification of Intent

The first step in establishing a home education program in Hillsborough County is to send a written notification to the District Superintendent of Schools. This notification signifies your intent to homeschool your child and officially registers your program with the county.

Setting Goals and Understanding Learning Styles

Before acquiring any educational materials, it's crucial to define your homeschooling goals and understand your child's preferred learning styles. Identifying your priorities and your child's learning preferences will guide you in selecting the most suitable homeschool curriculum.

Curriculum and Instruction

Parents have considerable flexibility in choosing the curriculum and instructional methods for their home education program.

Student Learning Plan (SLP)

PEP families must submit and maintain a Student Learning Plan (SLP) annually. Parents develop this customized learning plan to guide instruction for their students and address the services needed to fulfill their child’s academic needs. It does not determine what a parent can purchase with scholarship funds.

Curriculum Choices

In Tampa, Time4Learning has become one of the most popular programs for homeschoolers because of its ease and flexibility. It offers access to lessons 24/7 from anywhere and includes Time4MathFacts for elementary school students.

Evaluation and Testing

Florida law requires home education students to undergo an annual evaluation to demonstrate academic progress.

Annual Evaluation

Your child could be found truant if you do not complete an evaluation and do not receive a funded PEP scholarship. New PEP students should complete the home education evaluation as a precaution.

Norm-Referenced Tests

Students who were awarded and funded with a PEP scholarship in the previous school year must take a Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) approved norm-referenced test during the year they use PEP. Parents/Guardians of PEP students may choose from the same list of assessments that are approved for other scholarship students attending participating private schools. Alternatively, parents/guardians may arrange with their school district of residence to have their student take Florida's statewide assessments given to public school students. These assessments must be taken at a scheduled date and time and at a school site designated by the district. These results are required for grades K-12 and will need to be submitted to Step Up before funding is distributed. You must contact your school district’s assessment office by their local deadline to register for statewide testing.

Scholarship Opportunities: The Personalized Education Program (PEP)

Florida students who are not full-time private or public school students can access the Personalized Education Program (PEP) through the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program. This scholarship provides an education savings account (ESA) to fund the educational needs of eligible students.

PEP Overview

PEP, funded through the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, is an education savings account program that allows parents to customize the education of students who are not attending public or private schools full-time. PEP will allow parents to purchase instructional materials, pay for part-time tuition at public or private schools and even tuition and fees in home education instructional programs.

Eligibility Requirements

Scholarships are open to any K-12 Florida residents not enrolled in full-time private or public school regardless of household income. Students must be at least age 5 by September 1st of the school year they wish to enroll.

First priority is given to families with a household income of 185% of poverty or below as outlined in the income priority guidelines, renewing students of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship and/or Family Empowerment Scholarship, and children in foster care or out-of-home care.

Second priority is extended to families with a household income of 400% of poverty or below. Parents who want their students to receive priority funding because of household income must submit their income tax return to apply for a PEP Scholarship.

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Funding and Allowable Expenses

PEP Scholarships provide access to an education savings account (ESA) that functions like a bank account. Tuition and fees for private tutoring programs, tuition as a private pay student at Florida Virtual School, education at an eligible postsecondary educational institution or approved apprenticeship program, and digital materials exclusive of digital devices such as a laptop are covered. Cameras are eligible for reimbursement under all scholarships (PEP, Unique Abilities, and Private School) as equipment for an elective course within the Instructional Material category.

PEP Requirements

PEP families must declare a grade level, which is used to determine student eligibility and scholarship values. They must also take a norm-referenced test annually, and submit the results to Step Up. Parents/Guardians of PEP students may choose from the same list of assessments that are approved for other scholarship students attending participating private schools. Alternatively, parents/guardians may arrange with their school district of residence to have their student take Florida's statewide assessments given to public school students. These assessments must be taken at a scheduled date and time and at a school site designated by the district. These results are required for grades K-12 and will need to be submitted to Step Up before funding is distributed.

Applying for PEP

Parents apply for the scholarship through a scholarship-funding organization like Step Up For Students. To apply for a PEP scholarship, parents must apply through the Income-based scholarships (Florida Tax Credit Scholarship/FTC) to apply for PEP because HB1 requires PEP students to be funded through the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC). FTC and PEP students are both using the same funding source.

Coordinating PEP with Home Education

You should end your Home Education program once your child’s PEP Scholarship is funded. A student cannot be both registered in the PEP program and as a home education program student with the district. You will need to notify your school district of your intention to terminate your home education program and enroll as a PEP student through an SFO.

Dual Enrollment Opportunities

Home education students in Hillsborough County have the opportunity to participate in dual enrollment programs, allowing them to earn college credits while still in high school.

Dual Enrollment Program Overview

The Dual Enrollment Program is an acceleration program that allows for the enrollment of eligible secondary students in a postsecondary course creditable toward a high school diploma and an associate or baccalaureate degree or a career and technical education certificate. The purpose of this program is to shorten the time necessary for a student to complete the requirements associated with the conference of a degree, broaden the scope of curricular options available to students, and increase the depth of study available for a particular subject.

Eligibility for Dual Enrollment

To participate in dual enrollment, students must provide proof of enrollment in a Hillsborough County Home Education Program, pursuant to F.S.

Course Selection and Credit

Students shall be permitted to enroll in classes which appear on the regular HC schedule of credit classes and will be applied toward a high school diploma and the associate degree. The current Dual Enrollment Course Equivalency List identifies courses meeting high school graduation requirements. Any course not on this list is considered an elective course. These courses may include all courses offered by HC with the exception of physical education, college preparatory courses and courses less than three credit hours unless they are co-requisites for other courses, the IDS 2891 Connections course, two-credit hour music or dance courses, or one-credit hour courses that are part of an Associate in Science (A.S.) Degree Program. Dual enrollment students may enroll in up to 10 credit hours of instruction per term. Early admission students attend classes on the college campus on a full time basis.

Maintaining Eligibility

To maintain eligibly in the Dual Enrollment Program, students must maintain a cumulative 2.0 grade point average for courses taken at HC, which will be recorded on the student’s permanent record.

Responsibilities

The Home School Official will be responsible for obtaining dual enrollment or early admission applications and forms and submitting the completed forms to the HC District Dual Enrollment Office by the established deadline each term.

Benefits and Considerations

The dual enrollment program is an opportunity to take challenging courses and accelerate education opportunities. With hundreds of dual enrollment courses available, there is great potential to further engage and motivate students to pursue academically rigorous courses that capture their interests. Dual enrollment courses will receive the same weighting for the high school grade point average as Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) courses. Students should understand, however, that dual enrollment courses are college‐level courses, and the amount of work and rigor of content in dual enrollment courses may be much greater than in high school courses. In addition, dual enrollment course grades become a part of a student’s permanent college transcript and are calculated into the student’s permanent postsecondary grade point average. Poor performance in dual enrollment courses may affect university admissions and financial aid.

Graduation and Diplomas

PEP students are treated the same as home education students in Florida for the purposes of graduating and earning a diploma. There is no diploma issued by the public school system or SFO in Florida for the completion of a home education program. A signed affidavit of completion (notarized letter) submitted by the student’s parent attesting that the student has completed a home education program, pursuant to the requirements of s.1002.41, F.S. is the legal document of completion. As stated in s.1007 263(2)(a), F.S. it is equivalent to a high school diploma and is regularly accepted by state colleges and universities as proof of high school completion. This statement can be included on a student’s academic transcript or parent-issued diploma.

Additional Resources and Support

When you begin the journey of homeschooling your child(ren) in the Tampa Bay area, you are definitely not going it alone. Thousands of families are successfully homeschooling in Hillsborough County. The Florida Parent Educators Association provides home school information for parents living in Florida.

Choice Navigators

A School Choice Navigator is an optional service provider intended to help guide parents through the myriad of choices that will become available to them through an ESA. A Choice Navigator is a educational professional who holds a valid Florida teacher certification, adjunct teacher certification, a bachelor or graduate degree in the subject area where any instruction is given, demonstrated mastery of subject area knowledge, or is certified through training from an internationally recognized research-based training program approved by the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE). Choice Navigators will sign up and be listed in EMA as service providers, like part-time tutors.

Support for Students with Disabilities

Hillsborough College enjoys a very diverse student population which includes students with disabilities. A student or prospective student requesting academic accommodations must self-identify and provide appropriate documentation of their disability to the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities. Some of the academic accommodations that the College provides to students with disabilities may include but are not limited to the following: Accessible furniture, Testing Accommodations, Note takers, Assistive equipment, Assistive technology software, Alternate format materials, Scribes and readers, Sign language interpreters/captionist.

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