STORAGE NAME: h0423.SAS
DATE: 3/7/2025
1
FLORIDA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
BILL ANALYSIS
This bill analysis was prepared by nonpartisan committee staff and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.
BILL #: HB 423
TITLE: Family Empowerment Scholarship Program
SPONSOR(S): Bartleman
COMPANION BILL: SB 508 (Jones)
LINKED BILLS: None
RELATED BILLS: None
Committee References
Student Academic Success
Education & Employment
SUMMARY
Effect of the Bill:
The bill requires that any private school participating in the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program notify
parents of any specialized services or therapies offered by the school. Such schools must also inform parents which,
if any, of a student’s accommodations, modifications, or therapies will be honored by the school.
Fiscal or Economic Impact:
None
JUMP TO SUMMARY ANALYSIS RELEVANT INFORMATION BILL HISTORY
ANALYSIS
EFFECT OF THE BILL:
The bill requires that any private school participating in the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program notify
parents, in writing, of any specialized services and therapies offered. Moreover, the bill requires that private
schools inform parents of students with Individualized Education Plans, Education Plans, English Language
Learner Plans, or 504 plans of what accommodations, modifications, and therapies included in their student’s plan
will be honored by the school. (Section 1)
The effective date of the bill is July 1, 2025. (Section 2).
RELEVANT INFORMATION
SUBJECT OVERVIEW:
The Family Empowerment Scholarship Program
The Family Empowerment Scholarship Program (FES) provides children of families in Florida with educational
options to achieve success in their education, including children of families with limited financial resources,
children of law enforcement and military families, and children with disabilities.
1 Florida’s scholarship programs
are administered by Scholarship-Funding Organizations approved by the Department of Education.
2 The FES
includes two types of scholarships: one assists eligible students to pay for the tuition and fees associated with
attendance at a private school (FES-EO) and the other provides access to additional education options for a student
with a disability by covering the cost of a variety of approved items, including: contracted services, curriculum,
instructional materials, tutoring, specified education programs, and specialized services (FES-UA).
3 Each
scholarship has unique student eligibility requirements, program requirements, award calculation methodologies,
and allowable expenditures.
4
1
Section 1002.394, F.S. See also Rule 6A-6.0952, F.A.C.
2
See Section 1002.394(11), F.S.; Section 1002.395(6), F.S.; Section 1002.394(15), F.S.
3
Section 1002.394(3)(a)-(b), F.S.
4
Section 1002.394, F.S. JUMP TO SUMMARY ANALYSIS RELEVANT INFORMATION BILL HISTORY
2
Under current law, any private school participating in a state funded scholarship program is required to publish on
their website, or provide in writing, information about the school, including programs, services, and the
qualifications of classroom teachers.
5 Additionally, in 2023 the legislature added a requirement that such schools
must publish on their website, or provide in writing, a statement that a parentally placed private school student
with a disability does not have an individual right to receive some or all of the special education and related
services the child would receive if they were enrolled in a public school.
6
RECENT LEGISLATION:
YEAR BILL # HOUSE SPONSOR(S) SENATE SPONSOR OTHER INFORMATION
2023 CS/CS/CS/CS/HB
1
Tuck, Plasencia Simon Became law on July 1, 2023.
BILL HISTORY
COMMITTEE REFERENCE ACTION DATE
STAFF
DIRECTOR/
POLICY CHIEF
ANALYSIS
PREPARED BY
Student Academic Success
Subcommittee
Sanchez Blank
Education & Employment
Committee
5
Section 1002.421(j), F.S.
6
Ch. 2023-16, L.O.F.