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New McKay Bill: Can You Use McKay w/o Going Back to Public School?
Recently, the Florida Legislature passed a bill (HB 1505) which will change the McKay law in a number of ways (if and when it’s signed into law).** I haven’t analyzed or researched the bill in-depth yet, but it appears to broaden the number of students who can use the McKay Scholarship for Students with Disabilities in two main ways: 1) Children in the Voluntary Pre Kindergarten program may be able to use the scholarship for kindergarten without spending another year in public school – I’ll cover this issue in another post; and 2) Children can use the McKay Scholarship in the 2011-2012 school year, if they a) have never used the scholarship before; b) attended public school for at least the months October through February in one of the five years prior to the 2010-11 school year; and c) you request an IEP meeting and Matrix of Services during the 2010-2011 school year.
This appears to be a pilot program for the coming year – though I haven’t verified that – which, if it works, could be expanded. In other words, if your child attended public school for any of the school years 2005-2010, and for some reason never used the McKay Scholarship (because they were home schooled, for instance), you child could use the scholarship for the 2011-12 school year without going back to public school for a year, by requesting an IEP meeting and Matrix. Ordinarily, if you pulled your child out of public school without taking advantage of the McKay Scholarship in the following year, in order to get the scholarship, you’d have to put your child back in public school for a year.
I can see why this bill would be a pilot program because it’s likely to cause all sorts of confusion for parents and school districts. I’ll keep you posted as I get more info on this.
**The Governor signed this bill into law on June 6th.
Copyright 2010 Florida School Partners
Ms. Hertog, an attorney and former special education teacher, founded Florida School Partners in 2005. Its mission is to help South Florida families to 1) understand their childrens’ legal rights in public school; 2)gain accommodations and special services in school; 3) find the right public or private school placement and; 4) navigate the process of attaining significant McKay Scholarships for their disabled children. See her site at: www.makingschoolwork.com or contact her by phone at:305-856-2698, or email at:AllisonHertog@gmail.com.
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