A student is eligible for a scholarship if he or she has been subjected to an incident of battery; harassment; hazing; bullying; kidnapping; physical attack; robbery; sexual offenses, harassment, assault, or battery; threat or intimidation; or fighting at the public school and reported the incident to the public school. The public school must then investigate the incident and upon conclusion of the incident or within 15 days after the incident was reported, whichever occurs first, shall notify the parent of the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program and the available educational options.

Educational Options under the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program

• Transfer to another public school – The parent has the option of enrolling his or her student in another public school that has capacity. If a parent chooses to enroll his or her student in a public school located outside the district in which the student resides, the parent shall be eligible for a scholarship to transport the student. To transfer to another public school, please contact your school district office. To apply for transportation funding, please contact the eligible scholarship funding organizations.
• Transfer to an approved private school – A parent may choose to enroll his or her student in an approved private school. The parent must notify the district of his or her intent to withdraw the student from the public school and place the student in private school. To apply for scholarship funding, please contact the eligible scholarship funding organizations.

For a list of approved private schools, please visit: http://www.floridaschoolchoice.org/information/privateschooldirectory

To learn more about private school requirements in Florida, please review our Private School Information for Parents page at: http://www.fldoe.org/schools/school-choice/private-schools/parent-info.stml

For more information, visit the Florida Department of Education Family Empowerment Scholarship Program FAQs.