Option 1: register as a private school
File the annual FLDOE survey, join Step Up/AAA, and accept the Private School Scholarship ($8,745 K-3 in Miami-Dade). Best for five-day programs with 20+ students.
Option 2: PEP hybrid
Operate two or more in-person days a week; families pay from PEP accounts and file a Student Learning Plan for the remaining time. Full-time online instruction is not permitted on PEP, so the in-person days must be real.
Option 3: private tutoring program
A Florida-certified teacher may serve up to 5 students (25 with a qualifying facility such as a church, library or commercial building with a certificate of occupancy) and be paid as a full-time tutor — 720 hours K-3, 900 hours 4-12.
Where the families are
Miami-Dade had 2,996 funded PEP students in 2025-26 and the statewide PEP cap is scheduled to lift in 2027-28. Hialeah, West Kendall and Homestead have the most PEP-eligible families per registered private school.