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Pasco plans FlexED pilot to offer AP and other courses to homeschool and scholarship families
Summary
District staff proposed a FlexED pilot to accept families using Florida scholarship programs and home-education families as vendor customers, starting with advanced placement courses, via a survey and a contracting process; staff said the goal is to attract students back to district programs and to recover some operating dollars.
District staff introduced a FlexED pilot that would allow Pasco County Schools to act as a vendor to families who are home-educating or who receive state scholarship funds (Family Empowerment Scholarship or Florida Tax Credit scholarships), offering individual courses rather than full enrollment.
The district said the pilot would start by surveying home-education families and scholarship recipients to measure interest; advanced placement classes were the initial focus because low enrollment has limited offerings in some buildings. Staff told the board they aim to let families contract for up to three courses, which could be delivered in a student’s zone school, at a nearby school with capacity, or through the district’s online program. “If we can attract them back to our schools after they take a course, that would be a great benefit,” a district presenter said.
Maps produced for the presentation show the district currently has roughly 1,663 home‑education students zoned at elementary level, about 2,240 at middle school level, and about 2,197 at high school level (figures presented by staff and noted as approximate). Staff said they will send a survey to homeschool and PEP (personal education plan) scholarship families immediately and asked board members for input before the outreach. If interest supports the pilot, families would complete an online contract that specifies code-of-conduct expectations and clarifies the vendor arrangement will not confer school-choice or lottery preference at the hosting school.
District staff said some logistics still must be resolved, including course scheduling, transportation or period placement for enrolled students, and how the program would interact with career and technical education (CTE) and extracurricular eligibility. Staff said the district reviewed an initial Miami‑Dade model and will adapt terms, pricing formulas and contracts; officials also noted Pasco’s eSchool could be an option for non-seat-based delivery.
Staff identified potential benefits: (1) students could access low-enrollment courses such as AP Physics or AP Calculus, (2) schools could boost enrollment and make classes viable, and (3) the district could recover operating funds when scholarship dollars are used to pay for vendor coursework. Staff said Miss Taylor and Chris Williams had worked on pricing and mapping, and that counsel (Mr. Green) had reviewed contract drafts. Staff proposed piloting the program next school year, starting with AP courses if the survey shows interest.
Board members suggested including elementary and middle course options if the survey shows demand, requested that the district share survey results with the board, and asked staff to confirm pricing and teacher compensation approaches for any courses offered. Staff said teacher bonus potential for AP courses would be explored, and that they will return with a detailed plan after survey results are analyzed.
No vote was taken; staff will distribute the survey and report back with results and a recommended pilot design.
