Florida Administrative Code › 6 - DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION › 6A - State Board of Education › Chapter 6A-6 - SPECIAL PROGRAMS I › Section 6A-6.0960 - Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program will be
				  implemented as required by Section
				  1002.395, F.S., to allow
				  nonprofit scholarship-funding organizations to provide scholarships from
				  eligible contributions to qualified students attending eligible private schools
				  or public schools outside the school district in which the student resides or
				  in a laboratory school; or students participating in personalized education
				  programs as defined in Section
				  1002.01(2),
				  F.S.
(1) Eligibility of nonprofit
				scholarship-funding organizations.
(a) A
				nonprofit organization may apply or register to be a scholarship-funding
				organization by having its principal officer or legal representative submit
				documentation to the Department of Education as specified in Form IEPC SFO-1,
				Nonprofit Scholarship-Funding Organization Participation Application for New
				Scholarship Funding Organization (
http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-15719
),
				effective August 2023, Form IEPC SFO-2, Nonprofit Scholarship-Funding
				Organization Participation Renewal for Scholarship Funding Organization (
http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-04662
),
				effective November 2014, or Form IEPC SFO-3, Nonprofit Scholarship-Funding
				Organization Participation Application for State Universities and Independent
				Colleges or Universities (
http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-13502
),
				effective September 2021, which are hereby incorporated by reference to become
				a part of this rule. The appropriate Nonprofit Scholarship-Funding Organization
				Form must be signed by the owner or operator, submitted annually, and be
				postmarked no later than September 1 for participation in the following school
				year. The Nonprofit Scholarship Funding Organization Participation Application
				for New Scholarship Funding Organizations may be submitted by November 1, and
				upon receipt by the Department of Education will be evaluated pursuant to
				Section 1002.395(c),
				F.S. and requirements in this rule.. Forms may be obtained through Florida
				Department of Education, Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice,
				325 West Gaines Street, Suite 1044, Tallahassee, Florida 32399 or
https://www.fldoe.org/schools/school-choice/k-12-scholarship-programs/sfo/applications.stml
.
(b) By July 1 of each year, the Department of
				Education shall make available the forms for organizations to use pursuant to
				paragraph (1)(a) of this rule.
(c)
				Each application submitted shall be reviewed by the Department in consultation
				with the Department of Revenue, and the Chief Financial Officer, to determine
				compliance with Section
				1002.395, F.S., and requirements
				in this rule.
(d) Within thirty
				(30) days of each application deadline, the Department shall send to each
				nonprofit scholarship-funding organization applicant, at the address listed on
				the Nonprofit Scholarship-Funding Organization Form, a written notice of any
				deficiencies in the application.
(e) Upon notification by the Department, each
				nonprofit scholarship-funding organization applicant will have thirty (30) days
				to correct any deficiencies and resubmit the final application.
(f) Within thirty (30) days of receipt of the
				finalized application, the Commissioner of Education shall recommend approval
				or disapproval of the application to the State Board of Education.
1. The State Board of Education shall
				consider the application and recommendation at the next scheduled
				meeting.
2. In order to assist the
				State Board of Education in its decision, a Nonprofit Scholarship-Funding
				Organization must make a brief presentation to the State Board of
				Education.
3. If the State Board of
				Education disapproves an organization's application, it shall provide the
				organization with a written explanation of that determination.
4. The action of the State Board of Education
				is not subject to proceedings under Chapter 120, F.S.
(g) No later than March 15 of each year, the
				Department shall submit to the Florida Department of Revenue and the Division
				of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco of the Department of Business and
				Professional Regulation a list of organizations that it has determined to be
				eligible to be listed as a nonprofit scholarship-funding organization for
				participation in the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program.
(h) A state university; or an independent
				college which is eligible to participate in the William L. Boyd, IV, Effective
				Access to Student Education Grant Program, located and chartered in Florida,
				and is not for profit and accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the
				Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, is exempt from the initial or
				renewal application process, but must file a registration notice with the
				Department of Education in order to be an eligible nonprofit
				scholarship-funding organization.
(i) If, at any point during the school year,
				a nonprofit scholarship-funding organization no longer meets the eligibility
				requirements for nonprofit scholarship-funding organizations, the Commissioner
				shall:
1. Issue a notice of noncompliance that
				gives the nonprofit scholarship-funding organization a reasonable time to meet
				the requirements, or
2. Issue a
				notice of proposed action to suspend the nonprofit scholarship-funding
				organization or to remove the nonprofit scholarship-funding organization from
				the list of eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organizations where the
				health, safety, or welfare of students is involved or the nonprofit
				scholarship-funding organization has failed to meet requirements specified in a
				notice of noncompliance pursuant to this paragraph.
(j) Nonprofit scholarship-funding
				organizations suspended or removed pursuant to paragraph (1)(i) of this rule
				shall have fifteen (15) days from receipt of the notice of proposed action to
				file with the Department's agency clerk a request for a proceeding pursuant to
				Sections 120.569 and
				120.57, F.S. All resulting
				proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with Chapter 120, F.S.
(k) Upon removal of an approved nonprofit
				scholarship-funding organization, the Department shall notify the Department of
				Revenue and the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco of the Department
				of Business and Professional Regulation that the organization is no longer
				approved to participate in the program.