The Florida legislature appropriated $189.9 million for the Gardiner Scholarship in 2020-21. Step Up estimates it will be able to serve approximately 17,000 students on scholarship this year. Scholarships are available on a rolling basis and are prorated quarterly.
Last year Step Up managed $136 million in education savings accounts for 13,219 students. The scholarships averaged $10,305 that year.
For 2020-21:
- 63.8 percent of students are diagnosed with autism
- 9.8 percent with intellectual disability
- 8.2 percent with rare diseases
- 4.2 percent with anaphylaxis
- 3.1 percent with multiple diagnoses
- 2..7 percent with cerebral palsy
- 2.3 percent as a “high-risk” child
- 2.2 percent with Down syndrome
- 3.7 percent all others
Student eligibility: This scholarship is for Florida students 3-years old through 12th grade, or up to age 22, with one of the following disabilities: autism spectrum disorder, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, Phelan-McDermid syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, Spina bifida, Williams syndrome or Intellectual Disability (severe cognitive impairment). Also, students aged 3 to 5 deemed “high risk” because of developmental delays may be eligible.
Students can continue to receive scholarship funding until they graduate from high school, reach age 22 or return to public school. Unspent money in the account rolls over from year to year and is refunded to the state if the student has not enrolled in any eligible post secondary institution for three consecutive years following high school graduation.
Scholarship account value: The scholarship amount varies according to grade and county but averages about $10,500 per student. The scholarship is higher for students whose disability is rated above a level 3 (known as Matrix 253). The parent may request an evaluation from the school district to determine whether the student qualifies.
The Gardiner scholarship allows parents to truly customize the education for their children. In a busy week Step Up will process more than 1,000 unique reimbursement requests totaling more than $1 million.
Eligible expenses: The Gardiner Scholarship can be used to pay for tuition and fees at an eligible private school, applied behavior analysis services, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapy, physical therapy, services from listening and spoken language specialists, private tutoring from a certified teacher, virtual programs or online courses, exam fees, contract services from school districts, contributions to the state prepaid college program, instructional materials such as digital devices and assistive technology, and curriculum materials. Preapproved expenses can be viewed here.
Reimbursements and provider payments: Parents may seek reimbursement for approved expenses by submitting receipts online with a description of the educational purpose of the purchase. Participating service providers, such as therapists, tutors and schools, may also invoice parents and be paid directly from the account. Parents may review the scholarship handbook here.
The bill creating the Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts (now called the Gardiner Scholarship ) passed largely along party lines and was signed into law in June, 2014. Before the first scholarships were awarded the Florida Education Association filed suit against the state to end the fledgling program. Lawyers for the teacher union called the special needs students a “collateral casualty” of the lawsuit. The lawsuit was dismissed in December, 2014.
Over the next two years an outpouring of support from parents helped the public understand the impact of scholarships for children with unique abilities.
The legislature has shown continuous bipartisan support for the program by helping the program grow with demand. Democrats and Republicans alike in the Florida legislature have repeatedly voted to increase funding for the program. The legislature increased funding in 2016 to $71 million, 2017 to $105 million, 2018 to $126 million, 2019 to $147.9 million and again in 2020 to $189.9 million to meet growing demand from Florida parents.
The Gardiner Scholarship program is a unique program for children with special needs. The scholarship allows parents to personalize the education of their children by directing money toward a combination of programs and approved providers. Florida became the second state in the nation, after Arizona, to create an education savings account program for children with special needs in 2014.
