Homeschooling in Florida offers unique learning opportunities. You might catch home educators touring the Everglades, taking fishing or surfing lessons, or working Disney into every unit study. The state of Florida has a robust public library system and a National Register of Historic Places that includes over 1,700 properties and districts. There is no shortage of inspiration for education in the Sunshine State!
Florida is also fertile ground in another way for families seeking an alternative education lifestyle. It provides three options for homeschoolers to meet legal requirements plus many other benefits. Comparing and contrasting the different options takes a minute, but it’s well worth your time! More choices mean more ability to pick the homeschool experience that works best for your family.
This guide breaks down the nitty-gritty details of each option, so you understand the duties and entitlements of both parents and the school district.
Option 1:
Option 1 is for those looking to “homeschool” in the most traditional sense of the word—i.e. Mom or Dad teaches, reporting is done directly to the state. Seems simple enough, but let’s dive into the details.
First, the sweet stuff! Homeschooling under Option 1 means there is no benchmark number of school days or hours per year that you must meet. No parent qualifications are required, meaning any level of parental education will do. There are also no specific subjects that you must teach.
So, if you’re thinking, “Wow, how easy!” don’t worry. There are a few parental requirements under Option 1 to make sure that parents are doing their due diligence in educating their children.
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Also, you don’t need to file your notice of intent to homeschool every year. One time will suffice. (Although, you may need to amend it to add more children or transfer it if you move between districts.) The school district assumes that you continue to run your “home education program” until you tell them you don’t.
Here is where the leniency of Option 1 becomes balanced by parental duties. Parents are required to maintain an educational portfolio.
Parents selecting Option 1 must have their children evaluated annually. (Remember that anniversary date we mentioned?) This evaluation must document, “the student’s demonstration of educational progress at a level commensurate with her or his ability.”
“Ability” is a key word here. Note that it doesn’t say “age” or “grade level.” This gives room for children to be evaluated based on their individual abilities.
This is the check and balance to the freedom of not meeting school day quotas or teaching a required subject list. When you file your annual evaluation of choice with the district superintendent, Florida law says they, “shall accept the results.” BUT, “If the student does not demonstrate educational progress at a level commensurate with her or his ability, the district school superintendent shall notify the parent, in writing, that such progress has not been achieved.”
Parents then have 1 year from receiving this notice to provide remedial instruction to the student. This is essentially a homeschool probationary period. At the end of that year, the child will receive another evaluation (per the norm) and, “[c]ontinuation in a home education program shall be contingent upon the student demonstrating educational progress commensurate with her or his ability at the end of the probationary period.”
When you stop homeschooling, for any reason, you must file a written Notice of Termination with the same, friendly district school superintendent who has been receiving your annual evaluations all this time. Oh, and don’t forget to include that year’s annual evaluation along with your notice and do so within 30 days of termination.
The compulsory age of attendance in Florida is 6, or children who will turn 6 by February 1 of any given school year. Children between this age and 16 are required to be enrolled in school (public, private, or otherwise) during the entire school year. Parents may view this as either a freedom or a duty.
On one hand, it means that there is no obligation to give notice, keep records, or assess children above or below this age bracket. In fact, some homeschool legal advocacy groups suggest not registering young children before it is required to do so, as that may impose additional obligations on parents.
However, parents may want to keep following these requirements for students over 16 until they finish high school, even though the law does not require it. Why? Because other agencies or companies may want the documentation. Getting a summer job, applying for a driver’s license or college, even registering for the military—you never know when a situation may arise. So, best practices suggest continuing to follow the requirements until graduation.
Other perks under Option 1:
Florida does provide a robust list of benefits for parents running a “home education program.” By statute, home education students . . .
Option 2:
But what if all the responsibilities of notice-giving, record-keeping, and evaluating aren’t for you? Well, in Florida, you have another option. Beware, though. It may not get you out of all of these responsibilities.
Option 2 is to homeschool under a private school “umbrella” program. Think of this like a literal umbrella. They’ve got you covered! And they provide a barrier—or maybe intermediary is a better word—between you and the state.
Under Option 2, you, the parent, choose a private school that meets Florida requirements under which you want to homeschool. (Check out the list of eligible private schools here.) Then, you teach your child at home, much like you would under Option 1, except the private school is responsible for guaranteeing their educational progress.
What this means in practice is that the private school may impose its own requirements on things like days/hours of attendance (180 days are required in Florida), curriculum choices, evaluation or testing, and more. The school may also provide other perks and benefits much like public schools do. So, it is worth doing your homework and finding an umbrella school that is a good match for your family.
In fact, under Option 2, children are considered to be private school students rather than “homeschoolers,” even though, on the day-to-day, their lives may look very similar.
We can get you started with a homeschool program and teacher
We can get you started with a homeschool program and teacher
Option 3:
If neither Option 1 nor Option 2 fits your fancy, there is another way to homeschool in Florida—hire a private tutor.
What do your responsibilities look like here (other than paying your tutor)? Much like choosing a state-sanctioned umbrella school, parents are responsible for choosing a tutor who meets the following requirements:
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The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship
This fund provides several awards for postsecondary education that reward students for GPAs, volunteer hours, work hours, and other merit-based achievements.
The Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options (FES-EO)
This program provides scholarships to cover the cost of attending a full-time private school (about $8,000) to Florida residents who are eligible to attend a K-12 public school. Priority is given to low-income households. “Eligible” is the important word here. Homeschooled children are, technically, eligible. But in order to meet the attendance requirements of the program, students who are not enrolled in a full-time public school (i.e. homeschoolers) must access this program by foregoing their “home education program” and opting for a Personalized Education Program (PEP) through the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program (see below).
The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC) Programs
This law gives families state tax credits for contributions to Scholarship Funding Organizations. In 2023, access was expanded to include 20,000 students “not enrolled full time in a public or private school [homeschoolers] to participate in the scholarship through a parent-directed Personalized Education Program (PEP).” The law says that a PEP “means the sequentially progressive instruction of a student directed by his or her parent to satisfy [legal] attendance requirements.” What does this mean? Essentially, under Option 1, a parent agrees to the additional requirements of abiding by a “sequentially progressive” educational plan. In other words, they take on more parental responsibilities in exchange for greater benefits.
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