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FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
John L. Winn
F. PHILIP HANDY,
Chairman
Commissioner of Education
T. WILLARD FAIR,
Vice Chairman
Members
DONNA G. CALLAWAY
ROBERTO MARTÍNEZ
PHOEBE RAULERSON
KATHLEEN SHANAHAN
LINDA K. TAYLOR
INCREASING THE QUANTITY AND IMPROVING THE
March 7, 2006
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QUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL OPTIONS
M E M O R A N D U M
TO:
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District Superintendents
FROM:
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Lavan Dukes, Chief
Bureau of Education Information and Accountability Services
Virginia Gentles, Executive Director
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Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice
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SUBJECT:
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Enrollment Verification of McKay and Opportunity Scholarship Students – April 2006
Payment
Thank you for working with us to improve the accountability measures within the scholarship programs
in support of our mission to increase the quantity and improve the quality of educational options for
Florida’s parents. The following verification process was introduced in April 2005 to ensure that
scholarship payments were issued only to students participating in eligible private schools. This process
will occur for each scholarship payment in the McKay and Opportunity Scholarship Programs, and your
assistance is needed to make this happen.
Prior to each payment period, a file is posted at the Northwest Regional Data Center (NWRDC)
identifying the students in your district for whom scholarship payments will be issued. Each district must
compare this file to the district’s student enrollment and attendance records and indicate whether or not
each student is enrolled in a public school in the district.
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If the student is currently enrolled in a public school in your district, provide the date the student
was enrolled or re-enrolled in your school district.
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If the student is not currently enrolled in a public school in your district but was enrolled in the
past, provide the student’s withdrawal date from your school district.
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If the student was never enrolled in your school district, place all nines in both the
Enrollment/Re-enrollment Date and Withdrawal Date fields.
VIRGINIA GENTLES
Executive Director
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Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice
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325 W. GAINES STREET • SUITE 522 • TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399-0400 • (850) 245-0502 • Fax (850) 245-0875
Enrollment Verification
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The file for April 1 scholarship payments is currently available at NWRDC
.
This file must be
completed and returned to NWRDC no later than 4:00 p.m., Friday, March 17, 2006.
The dataset name for this prepayment verification file is
DPSxx.GQ.F70562.Y05063
(where xx is your
district number) and the file format is attached. Students participating in the McKay Scholarship Program
have a School Code of 3518 and students participating in the Opportunity Scholarship Program have a
School Code of 3818.
Dates should be entered as MMDDYYYY. Each student record should have either an enrollment/re-
enrollment date or a withdrawal date unless the student was never enrolled in your school district. After
all dates have been entered, submit the file to NWRDC under the filename
DPSxx.GQ.F70572.Y05063
(where xx is your district number).
The attached form letter, which certifies the attendance/nonattendance information contained in
the submitted file, must be signed by the superintendent or designee and submitted no later than
5:00 p.m., March 17, 2006.
Any students identified as being enrolled in public school will be removed from the payment file.
The April scholarship payment period covers March 14 – June 30, 2006.
If you have any questions regarding the file, please contact Harold McLeod, Education
Information Services, at (850) 245-0400 or harold.mcleod@fldoe.org. If you have questions
regarding scholarship payments or payment periods, please contact the information hotline at 1-
800-447-1636.
After all students are verified, the superintendent signs the attached certification letter. Thank you for
your continued support in improving the accountability of the scholarship programs.
LD/VG/ca
District MIS Directors
