School Choice Home

Office of Independent Education & Parental Choice

Resolving Payment Issues

Each payment period, the private school administrator should reconcile all McKay scholarship payments received with a list of expected payments. Usually, for each set of scholarship payments, a reconciliation report is available, linked from the private school's Welcome page on the School Choice website.

The McKay Payment Reconciliation Report screen lists students whose payments were not generated, and provides an explanation as to why they were not paid.

Problems regarding payments usually fall into one of the following categories:

1. Payment is not received.
2. Payment is received, but it is not for the expected amount.
3. Payment is received in error.

Payment Is Not Received:

If an expected payment for a student was not received, in addition to the Reconciliation Report, information is available on the student's Payment tab. The Payment tab contains a drop-down box used to select the appropriate pay period and a payment checklist listing payment criteria and the status of each. The checklist will show either a green check or a red x next to each item.

1. Enrolled in Public School (EPS) - A payment was not issued because the student was reported by a public school district as still being enrolled in public school. If the school/parent believes that this is an error, then a District Verification Form should be submitted.
2. Social Security Number (SSN) Issues - A payment was not issued because the SSN for the signee was invalid, the signee's SSN was the same as the student's, two signees had the same SSN, or some other related issue. In order to correct the issue and for the school to receive a payment, the private school administrator should submit a Guardian Issue Form and a legible copy of the signee's social security card.
3. Missed Intent Deadline - A payment was not issued because intent to participate in the McKay scholarship was not filed for the student by the current payment's deadline.
4. Missed Enrollment Deadline - A payment was not issued because the student was not enrolled through the School Choice website by a private school on or before the current payment's deadline.
5. Attendance Verification Deadline - A payment was not issued because the student's attendance was not verified on the School Choice website by a private school during the most recent attendance verification period. To request the missed payment, the private school administrator should submit a Scholarship Issue Form and a copy of the student's daily attendance record.

Payment is received, but it is not for the expected amount:

Some of the reasons that payments would not be for the expected amount are:

• The Student Fee Schedule was not entered properly.
• An incorrect student grade level was entered during enrollment.
• Incorrect Matrix or eligibility plan information was entered by the district.

The private school administrator should contact the appropriate Regional Manager for help resolving the above issues.

Payment is received in error:

The first school that the student attends for 10 days during each payment period is the school that is owed the payment. If a school receives scholarship funds in error, it is their responsibility to promptly return the funds to the School Choice office.

To ensure proper administration of scholarship funds, all claims by private schools for missed scholarship payments must be made by June 1 of the fiscal year in which the scholarship payment was originally due. (State Board Rule 6A-6.0970)

Tutorial

Back To Top

For questions & comments regarding education issues:
Accessibility | Copyright Florida Department of Education ©2015 | Privacy Statement | Public Records
Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public-records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.