Florida's county evaluation map, as the official pages put it

This was filed as a briefing on July 3, 2026. It is not a sent Tuesday issue and does not imply email history. Live program windows live on /now.

This is a look-back for the week of July 3, 2026. It is not a sent Tuesday issue, and it is not a live calendar. The official pages below were re-opened on August 19, 2026. If a district rewrote a sentence after early July, that earlier wording is not on the public page anymore.

They describe Florida's home education program under section 1002.41. That is not PEP, and it is not a private umbrella school. Those are different legal paths with different paperwork.

What the statute actually requires

The 2026 Florida Statutes display for 1002.41, as shown on August 19, says a parent who keeps a home education program must file a signed notice of intent with the superintendent in the county where the parent lives, within 30 days of establishing the program; keep a portfolio (a contemporaneous reading log plus work samples) for two years; provide an annual educational evaluation that documents progress "at a level commensurate with her or his ability," choose the method, and file a copy with the superintendent; and file a written notice of termination, with that evaluation, within 30 days of ending the program.

The five methods in the statute are a parent-chosen teacher with a valid regular Florida certificate who reviews the portfolio and talks with the student; a nationally normed achievement test given by a certified teacher; a state assessment used by the district, given by a certified teacher under district-approved conditions; an evaluation by a person holding a valid, active license under s. 490.003(7) or (8); or another valid measurement tool the superintendent and parent agree on.

The statute uses the word "annually." On the page opened for this briefing, it does not define that word as one year from the Letter of Intent.

If an evaluation is filed and the student does not show commensurate progress, the superintendent must notify the parent in writing. The parent then has one year from that notice for remedial instruction. Continuation depends on a new evaluation at the end of that probation. Missing the filing is a different problem. The statute text we read does not spell out a 180-day lockout.

Florida Department of Education's parent-resources page restates three duties: Letter of Intent, annual evaluations turned in to the district you live in, and a Letter of Termination when you finish. It also says the Family Empowerment Scholarship is available for home education students. That is funding, not a substitute for 1002.41.

Three counties, three clocks

Palm Beach. The evaluation "is due no later than each anniversary of a student's registration date." Email it to homeed@palmbeachschools.org. The district asks for a subject line like "First Name Last Name Annual Evaluation" and prefers a dated PDF. Optional English, Spanish, Creole, and Portuguese forms are linked from the page. Its fifth-method example is an official transcript from an accredited program — still only if the superintendent and parent agree.

Pasco. The parent picks a statutory method and files a copy in the superintendent's office. Pasco's page says "annually" is defined in Florida Statute as one year from the Letter of Intent. That definition is not in the 1002.41 text displayed today. Treat it as Pasco's instruction, not as a sentence you can point to in the statute. Pasco also says missing the evaluation places the program in non-compliance and permits the superintendent, after notice, to terminate it, and that a program terminated for non-compliance "may not re-open for at least 180 days." That 180-day bar is Pasco's language. It is not in the statute section we read.

Walton. The evaluation is at the parent's cost, filed with the Walton Home Education Office. "The first evaluation will be due one (1) year from the date the student registration is received and then each year after that." Walton sends an automated courtesy letter the month before the month it is due. Until a Notice of Intent arrives, Walton says the child is not enrolled. Walton's five methods track the others, except its state-assessment option omits the statute's "administered by a certified teacher" clause. Do not assume the omission changes the statute.

Palm Beach keys off a registration anniversary. Pasco keys off the Letter of Intent. Walton keys off the date registration is received. Those may be the same day in a given file. The pages do not say they are.

What FPEA adds — and what it is not

The Florida Parent-Educators Association is an independent organization, not the Department of Education. Its evaluations page tracks the five options and the one-year probation after a weak evaluation. It says the evaluation is due on the anniversary of the Letter of Intent — "not to be confused with the date of the submission of your last annual evaluation" — and that "nothing in the law requires families to comply with any other particular date, nor can the local school district enforce an arbitrary deadline."

That last sentence is FPEA's reading. The three county pages each publish a date. If they disagree with FPEA, read both, keep proof of what you filed, and ask the office that holds your record.

The scholarship page in this stack

FLDOE's Family Empowerment Scholarship page describes two branches. FES-EO offers additional educational options for K–12 students, "such as attending a participating private school." FES-UA is for eligible students with disabilities, as young as age 3, and may include a personal education savings account. Families apply and renew through an approved scholarship-funding organization. The page names AAA Scholarship Foundation-FL and Step Up For Students.

That page does not set a home-education evaluation deadline or method. PEP is a different scholarship path and is not described on these seven pages. Live award windows belong on This month in Florida homeschooling, not here.

One next step

Find the date your district actually recorded — notice of intent, registration received, or whichever label your county uses. Put the evaluation on the calendar 60 days before that anniversary. Pick one of the five methods that fits this child. Then file the way your county's current page says to file.

This is informational, not legal advice. Confirm the live page before you act.

Official references

Opened August 19, 2026, for this look-back of the week of July 3, 2026.