CHAPTER 2006-126
House Bill No. 75
An act relating to the John M. McKay Scholarships for Students with
Disabilities Program; amending s. 1002.39, F.S.; revising definition
of the term “students with disabilities”; revising student eligibility
requirements for receipt of a scholarship; revising provisions relat-
ing to scholarship funding and payment; providing funding and pay-
ment requirements for former Florida School for the Deaf and the
Blind students and for students exiting a Department of Juvenile
Justice program; providing an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
Section 1. Subsections (1), (2), and (6) of section 1002.39, Florida Stat-
utes, are amended to read:
1002.39 The John M. McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities
Program.—There is established a program that is separate and distinct from
the Opportunity Scholarship Program and is named the John M. McKay
Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program, pursuant to this sec-
tion.
(1) THE JOHN M. MCKAY SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STUDENTS WITH
DISABILITIES PROGRAM.—The John M. McKay Scholarships for Stu-
dents with Disabilities Program is established to provide the option to at-
tend a public school other than the one to which assigned, or to provide a
scholarship to a private school of choice, for students with disabilities for
whom an individual education plan has been written in accordance with
rules of the State Board of Education. Students with disabilities include
K-12 students who are documented as having mental retardation; a men-
tally handicapped, speech or and language impairment; a impaired, deaf or
hard of hearing impairment, including deafness; a visual impairment, in-
cluding blindness; a visually impaired, dual sensory impairment; a physical
impairment; a serious emotional disturbance, including an emotional handi-
cap; a impaired, physically impaired, emotionally handicapped, specific
learning disability, including, but not limited to, dyslexia, dyscalculia, or
developmental aphasia; a traumati