ORANGE PARK, Fla. — The owner of a private Christian academy in Orange Park contacted the Ask Anthony team for help, because she's on the verge of losing her school. The state funding she needs to pay rent, pay her employees, and buy books for her students has been delayed.
Angela Schminke is the leader of Faith Christian Academy. A small, private school that has served the community for more than 20 years. Faith Christian currently has 44 students enrolled in elementary to high school.
"Most of our students are special needs or are on an IEP or 504 plan, which means they require a little more attention than your average student," Angela Schminke explained.
Schminke told the "Ask Anthony" team her school is fully funded by a program called Step Up for Students, which is based in Jacksonville. It's a state approved non-profit scholarship funding organization that was created to give money to lower to middle income students.
"That any and every student can have the opportunity of school of choice. They can go to any school in the state of Florida and receive that scholarship funding so they can attend a private school if they so choose," Schminke said.
But, Schminke says she hasn't received any money from Step Up for Students in months.
"The last "Step Up" check was sent in April. So, that means my entire staff is working here voluntarily," Schminke added.
It's become such an issue that parents are now trying to raise money.
"I had a parent create a GoFundMe account and so we're now requesting funds to keep us open longer if need be...if those funds don't come in any sooner," Schminke said.
It's not just Faith Christian Academy that's at risk of shutting down. Smaller private schools across the state are being affected by this issue. It's a problem that is catching the attention of some state lawmakers like Representative Angie Nixon.
"What I'm hearing from my constituents is that they are fearful that they are now going to be on the hook for tuition payments that they cannot afford to pay," Rep. Angie Nixon responded.
Nixon says, last year under new legislation, the school voucher program expanded allowing more families to take advantage of the funding.
"Which was in essence, a universal voucher program that not only opened up vouchers to what was normally children with disabilities, learning disabilities, or children in low-income areas...now they opened it up for millionaires and billionaires or whoever else wants to subsidize private corporate schools. Those people can now tap into that funding," Rep. Nixon added.
Nixon fears the program has mismanaged funds or run out completely. She's calling on parents and school leaders to voice their concerns.
"They need to continue to reach out to the Florida Department of Education. They need to continue to reach out to Step Up for Students. They need to demand that a review is done and audit is done on the funding," Rep. Nixon said.
After Anthony Austin posted this story on social media and tagged Step Up for Students, a spokesperson reached out and said there was an issue with a tax form. The school is expected to receive funding this Wednesday or Thursday. We will keep you updated.
Full statement from Step Up for Students:
Out of the more than 79,000 students who have been awarded Family Empowerment Scholarships for Students with Unique Abilities (FES-UA) by Step Up For Students, more than 68,000 (86%) have been funded so far. Of those 68,000 funded FES-UA students, about 33,000 are enrolled in private schools; those not enrolled in schools already have access to their funds. The funds for enrolled students are deposited into students’ accounts, then schools must invoice us for their tuition.
The remaining FES-UA students should have funds in their accounts this week. Schools can then invoice Step Up and Step Up can make the payments by the end of the following week for those invoiced this week.
Schools began on 9/14 invoicing Step Up on FES-UA and Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options (FES-EO) students. Step Up has processed 69% of the FES-UA invoices received through 9/17. We have not processed those received 9/18-9/24. We are processing those this week.
Most of those FES-UA invoices not processed that were received through 9/17 -- about 7,500 -- have some sort of issue preventing payment at the time. Step Up is currently working to resolve those issues.
Roughly 95% of Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC) students have received funds in their accounts and schools that have properly invoiced them should have most of their funds this week—many already have. The remaining 5% of FTC students will receive funds in their accounts this week and Step Up can pay schools after they are properly invoiced.
Roughly 26% of Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options (FES-EO) students have received funds in their account and approximately 70% of those students have been invoiced by their schools; 55% of those students who have been invoiced properly by their schools should have their funds this week. Payments for most of the remaining 45% of those funded students should be paid by early next week. The remaining students should have funds in their accounts this week, and then Step Up can pay schools after they are properly invoiced.