We have been Blogging the last few weeks about The John McKay Scholarship for children with disabilities. The McKay Scholarship is funded by the state of Florida and so there are specific requirements and deadlines to meet. You can apply at anytime for The McKay Scholarship if you qualify. This means if your child has a 504 Plan or IEP and has been enrolled in a Florida public school for the year prior to applying, then your child qualifies. (For the exact qualifications go to: https://www.floridaschoolchoice.org
When you apply determines the date you can enroll your child and take advantage of The McKay Scholarship. So lets see if we can simplify this for you:
There Are 2 Types of Deadlines:
APPLY: The First Deadline is to apply by “Filing an Intent”, meaning that you plan to take advantage of The McKay Scholarship.
Once you apply, by filing an “intent” to use The McKay Scholarship, it is good for one year. If you decide not to use The McKay Scholarship you can always reapply the next year.
ENROLL: The Second Deadline is to enroll. If you decide after “filing an intent”, that you plan to enroll your child in a private school, then there are certain enrollment deadlines as well.
Why are there two deadlines? Here’s why: The McKay Scholarship is paid out quarterly. A check comes to the school 4 times per year in the parents’s name and the parent must come to the school and endorse the check. Because parents apply and enroll their children at different times during the year, how much of the scholarship they receive is linked to the two deadlines.
So even though you can apply at any time, if you plan to enroll your child then you must file your intent 60 days prior to when the school is scheduled to receive a quarterly payment.
So for example: If you file by July 3rd and enroll your child in a private school by August 2nd then the school will receive the first quarterly check on September 1st. This way your child will receive all 4 quarterly payments, meaning that your child will receive 100% of The McKay Scholarship amount for that year.
If you decide to enroll your child at another time during the school year, then the amount your child receives of The McKay Scholarship is determined by the deadlines that are met.
To see the full schedule of Intent and Enrollment deadlines, please download our “A Guide to Understand The John McKay Scholarship”
You can also go to https://www.floridaschoolchoice.org for exact requirements and deadlines.
