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Board workshop: Family Empowerment Scholarship reporting added to monthly financials; PEP program tracking discussed
Summary
Finance staff added a dedicated page for Family Empowerment Scholarship (FES) figures to the district financial packet and discussed how PEP scholarship receipts would be tracked when funds begin to flow; staff said FES figures are provided by the state and FTE-driven.
District staff said on Jan. 14 that they have added a fourth page to the district financials PDF to show Family Empowerment Scholarship (FES) amounts and the program's history dating to 2020. The page will be included monthly for transparency and staff said scholarship estimates will be removed from revenue and expense amounts as actual state payments are received.
Staff explained that when FES first started the state provided the district with the information needed to record the scholarship; more recently the state has taken over the calculations and the scholarship counts are included in the district's FTE totals. Staff said the state informs districts each February about expected scholarship FTE, and the first state “calc” provides revenue estimates. Staff emphasized the district has no control over the state's scholarship FTE figures.
Board members asked how the new PEP scholarship (a different, recent scholarship program) will appear in district statements. Staff said PEP does not affect FEFP (the state funding formula) but that if students use PEP funds to take district classes, the district will add the corresponding revenue as those funds begin to arrive. Staff said they will consider a separate line item or a separate report to show PEP activity and recommended creating metrics to track student movement into and out of district enrollment related to scholarship participation.
Board members and staff discussed the need to track whether students taking scholarships were new to Flagler Schools, coming from private schools or switching from homeschooling, and the need for specific reporting to evaluate whether district programs are retaining or attracting students in response to scholarship options.
