OVIEDO, Fla. — Last summer, the Gardiner and McKay Scholarship Program, which is state money set aside for special-needs families to take part in a version of school choice, merged into the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program. This allows more Florida families the ability to take part in school choice no matter the special need or financial ability.
The program has become wildly popular, with 18,000 new families signing up for the program this school year. The scholarship for unique abilities enables families to personalize the education of their students by directing funds to where they’re needed most.
While this sounds great, many families say they are running into issues about actually receiving the money for their child’s education.
One parent, whose child has been a Gardiner Scholarship recipient for six years, said she thinks the state took on too many students at once. She’s hoping parents will become a part of the solution, so the program benefits everyone.
Barbara Beasley said figuring out how to teach her daughter Emily was a struggle until she found the Gardiner Scholarship Program. The program allowed her family to find what works for Emily’s education.
“My husband and I found that with our daughter, is that horses help us meet her where she is. Anytime we can wrap learning around something equine related, she’s going to learn more,” said Beasley. “From her going from telling me books are evil, to reading is her favorite subject. I literally have to leave the room and go cry because I’m so excited.”
Beasley said the fix was taking her out of the classroom and onto a farm. Now her daughter is on track to make a career in the equine field.
“It quite literally changed her life. She went from borderline non-verbal, to being chatty, and showing everybody her smarts again,” said Beasley.
After the Gardiner and McKay program merged into the Family Empowerment program under the Unique Abilities category, Beasley said families have been dealing with issues. The nonprofit Step Up for Students handles the program on behalf of the state.
“That unfortunately has led to is the dissolution of services provided and their ability to respond to the needs of the special-needs community,” said Beasley.
Beasley said three months into the school year, families are still having issues receiving the scholarship money, as well as a delay in reimbursement funds.
Spectrum News 13 asked Step Up for Students about the concerns and they said roughly 98% of the 85,000 students have been awarded their money. However, the remaining 1,700 students may have issues with their account information or the organization is researching the issue.
For Beasley, she sees how these families are hurting from the delayed payments and she says something has to be done about it.
“I see families that are still not funded. We’re (three) months into the school year and they still haven’t received their funds. This year it’s extended to the private schools. There’s probably at least 100 private schools in the State of Florida that haven’t received their funding,” said Beasley.
Just like she wouldn’t give up on finding a solution for her daughter’s education, she knows there’s a way to make this merger work and not affect families as it is now.
“I want the scholarship to be successful, but what it requires is for the stakeholders to have a seat at the table,” she said.
She hopes as this program continues, the people who benefit from the program can help continue making this option a success for other families who need it.
Step Up for Students told Spectrum News 13 there’s been a number of changes with the program this year. Learn more about the changes and nonprofit.