SpectrumBeaconThe Florida Matrix Playbook
How your child’s scholarship amount really gets decided, and the 30-day request most families never make. Written by Florida autism parents who learned this the hard way. Every fact below comes from the official 2025-26 FES-UA Family Handbook and Florida DOE documents, linked at the bottom. Last verified: July 18, 2026.
The short version
If your child has an autism diagnosis and a Family Empowerment Scholarship (FES-UA), the state gave them a funding level. Most families never hear about it. Here is what matters:
The default tier
A diagnosis alone puts your child at the lowest funding tier by default. In most counties that means roughly $10,000 to $11,000 a year.
VerifiedSource: FES-UA award amounts by county and grade, 2025-26 (Step Up For Students, official PDF) · How we verify
The higher tiers
A district evaluation called the Matrix of Services can place your child at a higher tier, if their documented needs support it. Level 4 pays about $21,500 to $25,700. Level 5, which is rare and reflects the most intensive needs, pays about $34,700 to $39,300.
VerifiedSource: FES-UA award amounts by county and grade, 2025-26 (Step Up For Students, official PDF) · How we verify
The 30-day matrix rule
You can request this evaluation at any time. Your child does not need to attend public school. Florida law gives the district 30 days to complete it after your request.
VerifiedSource: FES-UA Family Handbook 2025-26, Step Up For Students (official PDF) · How we verify
The matrix only counts what is written down. Needs that live in your head, or in a therapist’s memory, do not exist to the matrix. Documents decide dollars.
None of this is a trick or a loophole. The higher tiers exist for children whose needs are genuinely more intensive. The problem is that nobody tells parents the system exists. This playbook fixes that.
What the Matrix of Services is
The matrix is a form your local school district completes. It scores how much support your child needs in five areas:
- Curriculum and learning: how much help your child needs to learn (modified work, specialized instruction, one-on-one support)
- Social and emotional behavior: behavior plans, emotional support, safety concerns
- Independent functioning: daily living skills: toileting, feeding, dressing, transitions
- Health care: medical needs during the school day
- Communication: speech services, communication devices, being nonverbal or minimally verbal
Each area gets a score. The total maps to a funding level the state calls 251 through 255. Levels 1-3 (251-253) all pay the same default amount. Levels 4 and 5 (254-255) pay more.
Two facts to hold onto:
- Step Up For Students cannot create or change a matrix level. Their own handbook says so. Only your school district can.
- The district may use private evaluations. Your child’s diagnostic report, speech evaluations, ABA assessments, and OT reports all count as evidence. You are not starting from zero.
Your rights, straight from the handbook
The 2025-26 FES-UA Family Handbook (effective April 2026) states:
- If your child has no IEP or matrix level, “you may request an evaluation from your local school district at any time.”
- If your child already has one, you may request a re-evaluation once every three years, or sooner if correcting an error. A matrix that no longer reflects your child’s real needs is an error worth correcting.
The clocks, in order
When you request a new or revised matrix, Florida law requires the district to “complete the IEP and matrix level of services within thirty (30) days” of your request, and to notify you and the Florida Department of Education within 10 days after that. The DOE then tells Step Up within another 10 days, and the scholarship adjusts.
VerifiedSource: FES-UA Family Handbook 2025-26, Step Up For Students (official PDF) · How we verify
The re-evaluation window
A family may request a matrix re-evaluation once every three years, or sooner if correcting an error.
VerifiedSource: FES-UA Family Handbook 2025-26, Step Up For Students (official PDF) · How we verify
Private school and homeschool families: your child is a “parentally placed private school student” under federal law. The district still owes you an evaluation when you ask. The office you want is usually called the Parentally Placed Private School office or the ESE (Exceptional Student Education) department of your county district.
The step-by-step
Step 1. Gather your documents first. Pull together everything in writing: the diagnostic report, speech and language evaluations, ABA assessments and behavior plans, OT and PT reports, any medical records that affect the school day, and notes from teachers or therapists about daily support needs. Organize them by the five areas above. A need without a document is invisible.
Step 2. Find the gaps. Read your documents like a stranger would. Does the paperwork actually say your child needs one-on-one support, or do you just know it? Does the speech report describe how your child communicates all day, or only test scores? If a real need is missing from the record, ask the treating therapist to write a current summary before the district evaluation. Therapists do this routinely when parents ask.
Step 3. Send the request in writing. Email the ESE department of your county district (and the Parentally Placed Private School office if your child is in private school). Keep it short. A template is below. The written date starts the 30-day clock.
Step 4. Go to the meetings with your binder. The district will evaluate and meet with you. Bring copies of everything. Answer questions about a typical day honestly and completely, including the hard parts. Parents tend to understate their child’s needs out of habit or hope. The matrix cannot see what you leave out.
Step 5. Get the result and check it. You have the right to see the matrix score and how it was rated. If the level does not match your child’s documented needs, you can say so, provide the missing evidence, and request correction.
Step 6. Watch the funding update. After the district reports to the DOE, Step Up updates the award. Timing runs on the 30-day and 10-day windows above.
The request letter template
Subject: Request for evaluation and Matrix of Services, [Child’s full name], DOB [date]
Dear [ESE Director / Parentally Placed Private School office],
I am the parent of [child’s name], a resident of [county] County. [He/She] has a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and receives the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Unique Abilities. [He/She] is currently enrolled at [private school name / in home education].
I am requesting an evaluation and completion of a Matrix of Services for my child. I understand that under Florida law the district completes the IEP and matrix level of services within 30 days of this request.
I have current private evaluations and reports available and will provide copies. Please tell me the next steps and any forms you need from me.
Thank you,
[Name, phone, email]
Keep the reply. Note the date you sent it.
What this is not
- It is not a way to inflate your child’s level. The matrix reflects documented need. Most children with lower support needs will score 251-253, and that is the correct outcome for them. The families this playbook helps most are the ones whose children genuinely need intensive support but whose paperwork has never caught up with reality.
- It is not legal advice, and we are not lawyers or doctors. This is education about a public process, drawn from official sources. For a dispute with a district, a special education advocate or attorney is the right help.
- It is not a guarantee of any dollar amount. Award amounts vary by county and year, districts make the rating decision, and programs change. The numbers here come from the official 2025-26 award tables. Always check the current year’s table, linked below.
Common questions
My child is in private school. Are you sure I can do this?
Yes. The handbook’s own instruction for scholarship families is to contact the district’s special education department or Parentally Placed Private School office to request an evaluation. Attending public school is not required.
FES-UA Family Handbook 2025-26. Verified .
We were told to just apply with the diagnosis. Did we do it wrong?
No. The diagnosis route is the normal front door, and it works. It simply lands at the default tier. The matrix is the second step nobody mentions.
What if the district misses the 30 days?
Follow up in writing, referencing your request date and the 30-day requirement. If it stalls, contact the Florida DOE and ask Step Up’s support line (877-735-7837) to note the delay. Keep everything in writing.
Does this affect our private insurance or therapy?
The matrix is a school-funding evaluation. It does not change your insurance. Your private evaluations feed into it, not the other way around.
What about the re-evaluation if my child’s needs have grown?
Once every three years as a matter of course, or sooner to correct an error. If services have intensified since the last rating, put the new documentation together and request the revision.
FES-UA Family Handbook 2025-26. Verified .
Sources
- FES-UA Family Handbook 2025-26, Step Up For Students (official PDF): matrix rights, the 30-day requirement, re-evaluation rules
- FES-UA award amounts by county and grade, 2025-26 (official PDF): the dollar figures by tier
- Florida DOE Matrix of Services Handbook: the five domains and rating method
- Step Up For Students FES-UA program page
This guide is free. Share it with any family who needs it. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it. Every fact above gets re-verified on a schedule, and the verified date at the top is real.