FES-UA for Public School

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Family Empowerment Scholarship with
Unique Abilities for Public School

Students using the McKay Scholarship public school option will be able to continue doing so under the FES-UA public school option.

The DEADLINE FOR REQUESTING PUBLIC FES-UA FOR THE 2022-23 school year is now closed.

Transfer requests for the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year will open March 1, 2023 and WILL CLOSE May 31, 2023 (midnight).

Transfer requests for the second semester of the 2023-2024 school year will open September 6, 2023 and WILL CLOSE October 31, 2023 (midnight).

***OCPS DOES NOT PROVIDE A LIST OF PUBLIC FES-UA SCHOOLS***

The OCPS transfer policy outlines the guidelines for public FES-UA Scholarship options. The document can be found here. OCPS determines which specific public schools will be designated as FES-UA eligible public schools in July and December. Students who qualify for a Public FES-UA Scholarship for the first semester are offered a school late July and for the second semester are offered a school in late December. The offer will be sent via email to you by the last week of July 2023 and for the second semester the last week of December 2023.

Transportation is only provided for Public FES-UA Scholarship students who are enrolled in the transportation offered OCPS Public FES-UA school.

Public FES-UA only offers a different public school option for the student. There is no additional funding nor are additional services provided to the public school for a student who is there on a public FES-UA transfer option.

There are no sibling transfers with the public FES-UA Scholarship program. However, siblings of students currently on the public FES/McKay public option can receive a transfer to a school that is available on the Controlled Open Enrollment Transfer list. If the school is not on the list, there is not a transfer available to that school. Please note that transportation is not provided for this transfer. You can read more about student enrollment's transfer options on the Student Enrollment Transfers website.

Prior to the approval of a public FES-UA Scholarship, the student's data will be reviewed.

Parents choosing the public school option of the FES-UA Scholarships Program are responsible for acknowledging and following the details below regarding public school FES-UA Scholarships. See the chart below indicating deadlines for requests and enrollment for each semester:

Grading Period

Request Deadline

Enrollment Deadline

First Semester

5/31/2023 (midnight)

8/19/2023

Second Semester

10/31/2023 (midnight)

1/13/2024

Parents must complete the Public FES-UA Request form and a current IEP to request a public school option.
OCPS does not provide a list of public FES-UA schools because the schools may change.
Students are enrolled pursuant to the OCPS School Choice Plan and the receiving school's ability to appropriately implement the student's individual Education Plan (School Board Policy, JCA - Assignment of Students to School). Parent requests for specific schools will be considered, however school offers will be based on ESE program availability, transportation routes, student residence, school grade, etc.
ESE students who require intensive and/or specially designed services may not be approved for a public FES-UA transfer due to the need for a specific setting as determined by the IEP Team.
Letters indicating final approval of a public FES-UA Scholarship will be emailed to families prior to the enrollment deadline above.
After receiving the letter, parents may choose to have their child remain at their current school, enroll in the offered public FES-UA school, or elect to apply for the private/homeschool FES-UA option.
Parents who accept the offered public FES-UA school must withdraw their child from their current school and take the following documents to the offered FES-UA school for enrollment ASAP (must enroll by the deadline on the chart).
Please note that transfers will be reviewed each year. All approved transfers are valid for the duration of all grade levels at the assigned school (K – 5, 6 – 8, 9 – 12).

***Public FES-UA Scholarship students who in grade 5 and 8 must have a new public request submitted for transition to the middle school or high school if parent wants a public FES-UA for those grade levels***

***Public FES-UA Scholarship students who are dismissed from ESE must withdraw from the FES-UA public school by the end of the nine weeks, then must return to the zoned public school as they are no longer eligible for the FES-UA Scholarship***

***Parents must apply for the FES-UA Scholarship for any Public FES-UA Scholarship students who want to go to a private school/home-school option***