The Florida Homeschool Compliance & Funding Guide — 2026–27

You have 30 days from the day you start. The consequences of missing it are widely misstated online.

Florida is described everywhere as a “low-regulation” homeschool state. That is true of the amount of paperwork and false about the consequences of getting it wrong. A missed evaluation deadline can end your program. A misunderstood scholarship rule can cost you an account worth roughly $7,400 to $12,200 a year, per child, depending on your county and your child’s grade.

This guide is 78 pages that put the entire picture in one place, in order, with the citation attached to every claim so you can check it yourself.

The thing almost nobody tells you first

Florida gives you two legal ways to homeschool, and they are not one program with money attached. The Home Education Program under Fla. Stat. § 1002.41 and the FTC-PEP scholarship are separate legal statuses with different paperwork, different deadlines, and different bodies watching them — and you cannot hold both at once. Once a PEP scholarship is funded, your home education program with the district has to be terminated. Families find this out at the worst possible moment. Part I of this guide is about that decision, and nothing else.

What you get

• Part I — The decision that comes first. Both tracks compared obligation by obligation, a decision tree, and the switching trap in detail.
• Part II — The Home Education Program. Filing the notice of intent. What your district may not legally ask you for, with the subsection to quote back. The portfolio, including a filled-in sample log and an explanation of why it looks that way. All five annual evaluation methods with the real trade-offs. A compliance calendar keyed to your notice date. The probation year, and the truancy pathway if it goes further.
• Part III — The FTC-PEP scholarship. Eligibility and funding priority. Application timing. The award amount for all 67 counties, all three grade bands. The Student Learning Plan. How the money actually moves, including the reimbursement lag of up to 60 days during which you are floating the cost yourself. What you may and may not buy. Why reimbursements get denied. Rollover, the balance cap, dormant accounts, and every revocation trigger.
• Part IV — What both tracks share. Sports, Bright Futures, dual enrollment, the diploma question, students with disabilities, testing and district resources.
• Part V — Templates. First-year checklist, blank portfolio log, reading materials register, evaluation method worksheet, records retention chart. Print and fill in.
• Appendices. The key statutory language verbatim, every source with a link, and a glossary.

Why the citations matter

Almost everything here exists in public documents. The problem is that it’s spread across a statute, several Department of Education pages, and a scholarship handbook, in language aimed at administrators. When a district employee tells you something that doesn’t sound right, “I read it on a blog” is not a position. The subsection number is. Every rule in this guide carries its source, and Appendix B lists all of them — with links to the primary documents — so you can go straight to the original and check us.

Format

Instant download. One PDF, 78 pages, designed to be printed on US Letter and written in. Readable on a phone, but the templates are meant for paper.

Honest about what this is not

This is an informational reference, not legal advice, and I am not an attorney. It does not file anything for you, it will not tell you which curriculum to buy, and it cannot promise your district will behave the way the statute says it should — it tells you what to do when they don’t. It covers Florida only.

Current through the 2026–27 school year. Reflects the 2025 Florida Statutes compilation, the Florida DOE Home Education FAQ revised July 2024, and the 2026–27 FTC-PEP Family Handbook and award schedule.

Questions people ask before buying

Isn’t all of this free on the Florida DOE website?
The raw material is, and Appendix B links to it. What isn’t free is having it in one order, cross-referenced, with the places where the agency guidance and the statute don’t line up pointed out, and the deadlines converted into a calendar. If you have a weekend and enjoy reading statutes, you can assemble this yourself. That is not a joke and it is not a trick question — some people should.

I already homeschool. Is this only for beginners?
Part II assumes you’ve already filed. The sections families come back for are the evaluation methods, the records retention chart, and Part III — most people currently in a home education program have never worked out whether PEP is worth switching for.

Does it cover the ESA / Step Up For Students money?
Yes — that’s Part III, eighteen pages of it, including the full county table. FTC-PEP is administered by Step Up For Students through the EMA platform. The guide covers award amounts by county, what the money can and can’t be spent on, why requests get denied, and what makes an account get revoked.

Will it still be accurate next year?
Statutes and award amounts change. This edition is built for the 2026–27 school year and says so on the cover. Buyers of this edition get 50% off the next one — I’ll email you the code.

Can I get a refund?
Yes. 14 days, no explanation needed. See the refund policy.

Is this legal advice?
No. It’s an informational reference with the sources attached so you can verify it. For a decision with real stakes, talk to a Florida attorney.