Updates regarding Bright Futures Scholarship students expected to graduate in the spring of 2021.
FLDOE recently released an Executive Order regarding Bright Futures. This order includes changes to service hour acceptance and submission as well as a deadline change to earn a qualifying test score for students expected to graduate in the spring of 2021.
The Deadline to earn a qualifying test score (on SAT or ACT for Florida Academic and Medallion awards or PERT for Gold Seal awards) has been extended from June 31st to December 1, 2021. Sections of the SAT or ACT from different test dates may continue to be used to meet the test criteria through December 1, 2021, but test types cannot be mixed.
Completion of required service hours may include:
Completed service hours
Service hours that were planned/intended but were unable to be completed because the pandemic created a lack of access to volunteer opportunities
Health concerns prohibited the student from complete service hours
All hours must be submitted by graduation. The student must include a description of the volunteer services and total of hours they had planned to complete by graduation. This must be documented on the Leon County Schools Volunteer Service hour forms and signed by a parent to verify. An email from a parent will suffice for a signature. Forms must be submitted to the student’s high school.
Earning a Bright Futures award requires minimum GPA, specific curriculum, test score (SAT/ACT or PERT for Gold Seal), specific minimum number of service hours and application. The recent Executive Order did not make changes in qualifying scores or GPA. For more information on how to qualify and apply, please view the Bright Futures home page: https://www.floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/SAPBFMAIN/SAPBFMAIN