Florida
Florida families say school voucher reimbursements worse than ever
Barbara Beasley wanted nothing more than to see her role advocating on behalf of voucher-receiving families disappear this fall.
Many of them struggled last year to get repaid for the items and services they bought for their children’s homeschool education. Lawmakers intervened after hearing the complaints, implementing timelines for reimbursements and requiring the creation of updated purchasing guidelines for families and agencies to follow.
More than two months into the new voucher funding cycle, which began July 1, Beasley said the situation has worsened. Her online group of families seeking support and assistance had doubled to nearly 11,000 participants.
“The Legislature did a great job in giving families these choices,” the Longwood mom said. “But the devil is in the details.”
While families are criticizing Step Up for Students, which manages the bulk of the state’s vouchers, and the smaller AAA Scholarship Foundation, Step Up officials say they’ve been working to improve service during the state’s massive expansion project. The group anticipates more than 2 million reimbursement requests this year, up from 1.2 million last year, and said it has implemented review criteria to ensure many of the expenses are educationally appropriate.
“We have heard our families’ frustrations and are continuing to simplify our processes, increase the speed of payments, and resolve issues quickly and efficiently,” CEO Gretchen Schoenhaar said via email.
The group said just over 2% reimbursement requests for students had exceeded the 60-day deadline, with a similar amount of requests on hold. Last year, 13.6% of reimbursements were denied.
Chat rooms are filled with parents telling stories of how they submit claims based on what they understand from the guides, only to be denied for reasons they don’t understand. When they contact the help center for Step Up for Students, which manages all but a handful of the vouchers, they get placed on hold for hours before receiving what they say is confusing and sometimes contradictory advice.
Then the 60-day timeline lawmakers created to improve the repayment is reset, and they’re sent to the back of the growing line of requests.
“Just be patient. That’s what they always say,” said Christin Carlisle, who leads another online group of voucher parents.
But some families are going months without reimbursements, Carlisle said, making it difficult to impossible for many to continue the services and programs they’ve selected for their children. Many service providers have stopped taking payments directly from the voucher funding groups after last year’s troubles, which forced several to take personal loans to make ends meet, she added.
Compounding the situation, the rules keep shifting, she said. For example, she noted that in late August Step Up for Students announced it would not reimburse families for items shipped to addresses other than the one on record for the voucher recipient. That negatively impacts families that use Amazon lock boxes, live in rural areas without delivery, or travel for medical services, among others.
Catch up on top stories before rush hour
Become a Times subscriber to get our afternoon newsletter, The Rundown
We’ll break down Tampa Bay’s biggest environment, politics, business, education and culture news every weekday
You’re all signed up!
Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.
Explore all your options
Making it worse, Carlisle said, families learned of the change through denied claims, not through information sent out alerting them of new rules. That has put the burden more heavily on families, she said.
“It’s not an uncommon problem right now,” said Carlisle, an Orlando mom with two children who get vouchers. “It’s very sad, and it’s very frustrating.”
Ashley Pitter of St. Augustine, whose 10-year-old daughter with autism has received a voucher for three years, said she’s encountered several problems with the system including being unable to submit claims at all for a while. Last year, she said, it took five months for her to get reimbursed $1,000 she had paid for her daughter’s therapies.
This year, it’s “new drama,” she said.
The family submitted claims for monthly internet service, an allowable expense at a student’s home address. Step Up for Students challenged the expense, she said, contending it was a duplicate request. It took four resubmissions to get the issue cleared up.
Pitter said she’s become a “squeaky wheel” to get answers and resolutions. She said that’s not easy for many families to do, especially when they’re already busy fighting for services for their children.
“There are a lot of moms who are in my position who are tired of fighting,” she said.
State Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat, is no fan of school vouchers. But she’s been fielding calls from parents inside her district and outside, seeking help with voucher reimbursements.
“Every (legislative) staff is going through this,” Eskamani said. “These are not isolated cases. This is a systemic problem. Families are suffering.”
Republican leaders said last spring they would be watching the system closely to determine whether added changes are needed.
Beasley said she has offered several ideas, such as an in-house call center comprised of trained participating parents to process the claims more intelligently and helpfully. She also proposed separating out the handling of vouchers for students with special needs, who lawmakers originally created the program for as a way to help them find more positive life outcomes.
“They could do so much better,” Beasley said.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/4DLXMJBS6JDU3N75Q6AVJCW4H4.jpeg?w=400&resize=400,240&ssl=1 "Rubio, Scott call fast-tracking of Florida state park golf course plan ‘ridiculous’")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/4DLXMJBS6JDU3N75Q6AVJCW4H4.jpeg?w=80&resize=80,80&ssl=1 "Rubio, Scott call fast-tracking of Florida state park golf course plan ‘ridiculous’")
TAMPA, Fla – New SNAP restrictions will start Monday in Florida.
What we know:
These changes will ban the purchase of many sugary sodas, energy drinks, candy and ultra-processed, shelf-stable prepared desserts.
Hunger Free America, an advocacy group, is against these restrictions.
Joel Berg, the CEO, said some regulation is a good thing, but he wants to see it support access to healthy foods as a choice.
“We do support mandates to mandate that healthier food is available in stores that do accept SNAP,” Berg said. “So, it makes a lot more sense to make it easier to get healthier food.”
Berg said these restrictions are unnecessary in achieving a healthier America.
“We should make America healthier again by making healthy food more affordable, convenient and physically available,” Berg said. “We shouldn’t micromanage the eating patterns of adults to try to achieve that goal.”
The other side:
This is part of the Make America Healthy Again initiative.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said, “Under the MAHA initiative, we are taking bold, historic steps to reverse the chronic disease epidemic that has taken root in this country for far too long.”
What they’re saying:
Berg said that these changes, on top of cuts to the program nationwide, will increase hunger.
“It’s not that low-income Americans don’t want healthier food; it’s that they can’t afford healthier food,” Berg said.
This coincides with the announcement that there will be cuts to WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, which supplies food to mothers and young children.
“President Trump’s budget just announced that he’s proposing taking away fruits and vegetables from the WIC program for pregnant women and children under five,” Berg said. “So, they’re taking away healthier food.”
The WIC cuts would take away $1.4 billion in fruit and vegetable benefits from 5.4 million people.
Big picture view:
The SNAP changes come as part of the MAHA movement and include more than 20 other states that will implement changes over the next two years.
The Source: Information in this story comes from WIC, SNAP and interviews done by Fox 13’s Danielle Zulkosky.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — The engines are revving for one final day of high-stakes bidding and family fun at the South Florida Fairgrounds.
Barrett-Jackson’s Palm Beach auction reaches its grand finale today with an action-packed “Super Saturday” lineup, promising to close out the weekend with a full slate of collector car sales, live entertainment, and fan attractions.
“Super Saturday,” presented by Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, officially kicks off at 8 a.m. when gates, food courts, and the exhibitor marketplace open to the public.
What to expect
- 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.: The Fantasy Bid presented by Dodge begins early, running in tandem with the automobilia auction in the arena.
- 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.: Thrill-seekers can catch Dodge thrill rides on the Barrett-Jackson Performance Track.
- 10:00 a.m.: New amenities open to the public, including the Stella Artois, Staging Lanes, and Food Court patios, which offer shaded seating and auction views.
- 10:45 a.m.: The national anthem will be performed in the auction arena, signaling the start of the main collector car auction at 11 a.m.
- Afternoon Entertainment: DJ sets run from noon to 5 p.m. across the various patios, and a detailing clinic by Adam’s Polishes is scheduled for 2 p.m. near the South Showcase.
For those unable to attend, the whole event will be livestreamed throughout the day on the Barrett-Jackson website and the HISTORY channel from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Today’s finale comes on the heels of a high-energy Friday that saw significant sales and notable celebrity interest.
Star power was evident throughout the day, particularly with vehicles tied to the Busch family. A 1957 Ford Thunderbird Convertible owned by Samantha Busch and a 1969 Oldsmobile 442 Custom Coupe were among the day’s heavy hitters, each fetching $159,500. Kyle Busch’s 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Custom Coupe also drew a strong bid, selling for $143,000.
Other Friday highlights included:
- 1968 Ford Mustang Eleanor Replica: $137,500
- 2004 Dodge Viper SRT-10 Mamba Edition: $132,000
- 1972 Chevrolet K5 Blazer Custom SUV: $126,500
- 1957 Ford Thunderbird Custom Convertible: $121,000
BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT
With a festival-style atmosphere and high-profile sales driving momentum, organizers expect a busy crowd for the final push at the auction block today.
-
World3 minutes ago
Oil prices rise anew after a US-Iran standoff in the Strait of Hormuz strands tankers
-
News9 minutes agoVideo: 8 Children Killed in Louisiana Shooting, Police Say
-
Culture45 minutes agoPoetry Challenge: Memorize “The More Loving One” by W.H. Auden
-
Lifestyle51 minutes agoPhotos: How overfishing in Southeast Asia is an ecological and human crisis
-
Technology1 hour agoBlue Origin successfully reused its New Glenn rocket
-
World1 hour agoDistress call captures tanker under fire, Iran shuts Hormuz trapping thousands of sailors
-
Politics1 hour agoTrump ally diGenova tapped to lead DOJ probe into Brennan over Russia probe origins
-
Health1 hour agoExperts reveal why ‘nonnamaxxing’ trend may improve mental, physical health
