No specialized services required

Though some of Florida’s scholarships are earmarked for children with disabilities, private schools that accept them do not have to provide any specialized services.

Too many parents do not realize the legal protections that require public schools to provide individual education plans to children with disabilities do not apply to private schools, said Olivia Babis, a senior policy analyst with Disability Rights Florida, during a meeting on the House bill.

“We need to make sure school choice is [an] informed choice,” she said.

Schools also do not need to accept youngsters with disabilities — nor anyone who does not meet their admissions criteria.

Orlando Christian Prep in east Orlando has one of the largest enrollments of scholarship students in the region, with more than 500 of its students using state vouchers, bringing in more than $2 million.

The school’s admissions documents show students must take academic entrance exams, demonstrate they have not been expelled or faced other serious trouble in previous schools and show they can speak and write English fluently. The school only accepts students with disabilities who can manage in classes without accommodations.

The school’s principal did not respond to an email and phone message requesting comment.

For Bob Vaeth, the expansion is a great idea. He hopes the state approves his new school, Florida East Coast Christian School, to take state scholarships.

Vaeth, a former daycare operator, in 2017 lost the right to take part in Florida’s preschool programs after the Early Learning Coalition of Flagler and Volusia found the center had left a child sleeping on a bus. The facility also had unsafe play equipment, a dirty bus and insufficient supervision, according to a Department of Children and Families inspection in 2017.

Vaeth said he thought the agency’s action was too harsh, and many parents signed a petition urging the state to reinstate the preschool. But Vaeth and his ex-wife, with whom he owned the center, closed the campus.

He also fought for years to win a contract to open a charter school, a privately operated and publicly funded campus, after the Volusia County School Board first rejected his application in 2014. District staff deemed the pitch deficient in 15 of 19 areas and said it included information plagiarized from other schools’ applications.

The State Board of Education and courts sided with Vaeth, however, ruling the charter school could open, so in 2021 the school board approved his proposed charter.

But by that time, Vaeth saw a new opportunity: Opening a private school instead and taking part in the state’s voucher programs, which would allow him to “become independent” of the school district, he said.

Charter schools are freed from some public school requirements but still must hire certified teachers, administer state tests and receive the state’s A-to-F grades. Private schools that take vouchers do not.

Already, Vaeth said he has interest from families who want to enroll and use state vouchers to pay tuition. He’s excited lawmakers may soon expand those efforts.

“They’re encouraging more school choice,” he said. “It’s wonderful for the families here, for the taxpayer, for the mom and dad who want to choose a school.”