FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
JIM HORNE
Commissioner of Education
F. PHILIP HANDY,
Chairman
T. WILLARD FAIR,
Vice Chairman
Members
LINDA J. EADS, ED.D.
CHARLES PATRICK GARCÍA
JULIA L. JOHNSON
CONTACT PERSON
WILLIAM L. PROCTOR, PH.D.
Name:
Monica Settles
LINDA K. TAYLOR
Phone:
(850) 245-0905
March 26, 2004
Suncom:
205-0905
Email:
Monica.Settles@fldoe.org
M E M O R A N D U M
TO:
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District School Superintendents
FROM:
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Theresa Klebacha, Executive Director
Independent Education and Parental Choice
Jim Warford, Chancellor
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K-12 Public Schools
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SUBJECT:
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Parent Notification of the McKay Scholarship Option
As you know, school districts are required by statute to inform parents of disabled students of their option to use a
McKay Scholarship for their child to attend a private school or another public school of choice in or outside of the
home district (s. 1002.39(3), Florida Statutes). When notifying parents, it is important to clarify that there are also
attendance requirements associated with a student’s eligibility to earn a McKay Scholarship.
Since school districts vary in notification approaches, we have attached a short form for you to complete to identify
your method(s) of notification, timeline of notification, and further efforts related to parental notification of options.
Some districts may have already acted on this requirement; however, we have attached a template letter that you
may consider using to notify your parents over the next few weeks. We expect the Legislature will be very
interested in the results of this survey as scholarship accountability is an important issue under consideration during
this Legislative Session.
There are nearly 400,000 students with disabilities that may be eligible to participate in the McKay Scholarship
Program. For that reason, we ask that you stagger your approach to parent notification so as to spread the
notification process out through mid May, 2004. This staggered approach will assist both your district choice
contacts and our state assistance efforts. The attached form allows you to identify for us your notification timeline
so that we can plan accordingly at the state level.
Please fax the completed District Parent Notification Report to our office no later than April 15, 2004. Thank you
for your attention to this important issue.
TK/JW/ar
Attachments
c:
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District McKay Scholarship Contacts
Assistant Superintendents for Instruction
325 W. GAINES STREET • SUITE 1514 • TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399-0400 • (850) 245-0505 • www.fldoe.org