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Scholarship Students Reported 
as Public School

Please note that Step Up does not oversee the public school survey crosscheck process. This is done by the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE). This page is provided to share information and updates with our families.

Full-time Equivalent Crosscheck – What Is It and What Happens Next?

To ensure that a student does not receive duplication of funding, Florida Statute requires the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) to confirm that scholarship students are not simultaneously enrolled in public school before scholarship payments are issued in October and February.

FLDOE does this through the public school FTE (full-time equivalent) crosscheck.

For 2024-25 and 2025-26 school year cross check updates, including more information on the "Standard Withdrawal Form for Students Entering K-12 Scholarship Programs, please click here. 

What is the public school FTE crosscheck?

Full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment in Florida public schools is calculated based on the number of days a student is in attendance and is used for funding and accountability purposes.

The crosscheck process verifies that scholarship students are not included in FTE enrollment.

What types of schooling are included in FTE enrollment?

Florida public school or its equivalent

Florida Virtual School, unless the family pays the tuition themselves

Florida charter school

What happens if your scholarship student is identified as a public school student in the FTE crosscheck process?

Following the FTE crosscheck process, the FLDOE will notify Step Up For Students of any scholarship students identified as public school students.

At that time, Step Up is required to temporarily suspend access to any remaining funds for that school year for the student and will immediately notify families by email of the next steps they need to take.

If your student was identified in the FTE Crosscheck, you will receive communication to your email registered in EMA with next steps.

If a student was identified as a public school student by their district in this crosscheck, the family received an email from Step Up starting mid-February 2025 advising that their student’s account was temporarily suspended.

Impacted families were advised that, if during the crosscheck period (October 7-11, 2024), their student:

Was in public school: In this case, no action was needed. These students would be withdrawn from their scholarship program and any remaining 2024-25 funds would be returned to the state for FES-UA and FES-EO and to Step Up For Students for FTC and PEP.

Was NOT in public school OR was in public school but HAD SINCE WITHDRAWN: In this case, the family needed to submit documentation to Step Up by a specified deadline.

Families who submitted documentation by the specified deadline have since received status updates from Step Up.

LATEST UPDATE FOR OCTOBER 2024 FTE CROSSCHECK

On June 11, 2025, a message from the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) was sent to schools and families for a population of resolved students.

If you received that communication, please continue to monitor your email for additional details.

On June 16, 2025, a message was sent to the families of any outstanding students advising that we are still waiting on information from the FLDOE for their student. These families should continue to monitor their email for an update on their student’s account.

As a reminder, access to remaining 2024-25 funds for impacted students will remain suspended until the FLDOE notifies Step Up that access can be reinstated. Additionally, Step Up will not receive Quarter 4 funding for these students until the FLDOE review of their account is complete.

We remain committed to providing updates to impacted families as we receive them and continue to do all we can to move this process forward.

If a student was identified as a public school student by their district in this crosscheck, the family would have received an email from Step Up starting mid-May 2025 advising that their student’s account was temporarily suspended.

For those students who were also showing as “enrolled” in a private school within EMA, the FLDOE advised Step Up For Students to work directly with the private school to validate the student’s enrollment. These families were notified that their student’s private school was asked to submit an attestation to Step Up by a specified deadline, validating that their student was, in fact, attending their private school.

For students who were NOT “enrolled” in a private school within EMA, the family was notified that they needed to submit documentation to Step Up by a specified deadline if their student was NOT in public school OR was in public school but HAD SINCE WITHDRAWN.

Please note: If a student WAS in public school during the February FTE crosscheck period (February 3-7, 2025), no action was needed. These students would be withdrawn from their scholarship program and any remaining 2024-25 funds would be returned to the state for FES-UA and FES-EO and to Step Up For Students for FTC and PEP.

LATEST UPDATE FOR FEBRUARY 2025 FTE CROSSCHECK

As of June 11, 2025, Step Up For Students is working with the FLDOE to review submitted documentation for any outstanding students and will provide updates to impacted families as they become available. Families should monitor their emails for updates.

School Year Updates

If we have notified you that documentation is needed for your student before their 2025-26 Quarter 1 funds can become available, please continue reading for important information. (If you have not been notified that documentation is needed for your student, please do not submit any documentation.)

On September 4, 2025, we received notification from the State of students who were reported by a school district as having been physically present in public school since the start of the 2025-26 school year.   

As indicated in program statute, and detailed in our parent/guardian resources and application, a student cannot be enrolled in a public school, which includes charter schools, at the same time they are receiving and using scholarship funds. A full list of school options considered as public school can be found above.

Step Up For Students is not able to release Quarter 1 funds for these students until we have confirmation that the student is not attending a public school for the 2025-26 school year. Note: If a student recently received their Quarter 1 funds, the family will notice a hold on those funds within their EMA account.

ACTION NEEDED: New direction from the State mandates that ONLY the “Standard Withdrawal Form for Students Entering K-12 Scholarship Programs” will be accepted. Click here to view the form.  

If you received a notification from us that documentation is needed for your student, you must follow the steps below to receive your student's Quarter 1 funds, you must follow the steps outlined below by 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday, September 30, 2025.

STEP 1: Contact your school district to request that they complete the official Standard Withdrawal Form for Students Entering K-12 Scholarship Programs for your student.

  • The form must be fully completed. This includes your signature, as well as completion and signature by the school district.
  • Submit one Standard Withdrawal Form per student.

IMPORTANT: If you are not able to obtain a completed form from your student's district, please chat with a live agent on our website or call us at 877-735-7837.

STEP 2: Once the form is complete, upload your student's form by clicking the button below. Please note that if you submit a form that is not complete, your student's scholarship may be at risk.

You will receive an update on your student's funding status once the form is reviewed. Please allow up to two weeks for Step Up to review and update your student's account. Please monitor your email for updates.

When did the FTE crosscheck happen?

The FTE crosscheck process occurs twice a year – once in October and once in February.

For the 2024-25 school year, the FTE crosscheck occurred the week of October 7, 2024, and the week of February 3, 2025.

What is the latest FTE crosscheck update?

On July 24, 2025, the following update was sent to impacted families:

We are committed to providing you with updates on the account status for your student(s) whose name(s) appeared on public school surveys in the 2024-25 school year. 

The timeline for funding review and release of payments is set by the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE). As of today, Step Up For Students has not received a funding update for your student(s). We cannot advise when we will receive an update, nor when funds will arrive.  

We are committed to depositing the funds into student accounts as soon as they arrive.

If a student is funded, the 2024-25 reimbursement deadline will be extended for them. Please disregard any general reminders you have received or may receive about the upcoming reimbursement deadline on July 31.

We will share an update, including the extended reimbursement deadline, as soon as possible. Please monitor your email for updates.

 

Questions?

If you have any questions, our team is here to help. We encourage impacted families to continue to monitor their email for further details or reach out to us for assistance.

Security Reminder:
Step Up For Students will never ask for your banking information by phone, text or email. Using third-party services to access your account violates our user agreement and may expose your data.

Questions? Call 1 (877) 735-7837 or email [email protected].

Visit our Security Center to learn more.
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