If you've searched for news about Step Up For Students recently, you may have come across headlines about a lawsuit. It's understandable if that raised some questions, or some worry, about your own child's scholarship. Here's what's actually happening, in plain language.
The short answer: In February 2026, seven Florida private schools sued Step Up For Students over alleged scholarship payment delays. The lawsuit is a dispute between those specific schools and Step Up, it does not automatically affect your individual family's scholarship funding or payment timeline. Below is what the lawsuit alleges, how Step Up has responded, and what it does and doesn't mean for your family.
What the lawsuit says
On February 18, 2026, seven Florida private schools filed a civil lawsuit against Step Up For Students in Duval County Circuit Court. The plaintiffs are Square Pegs Learning Center, Mountaineer's School of Autism, Lakeland Institute for Learning, Educational Harbor Christian School, Diverse Abilities School, ICITY Christian School, and Dickens Sanomi Academy, schools serving students across several of Florida's state-funded scholarship programs, including the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, and the Hope Scholarship.
According to the complaint, Step Up approved scholarship funding for eligible students but, the schools allege, failed to disburse payments consistently or on time. The schools report delays ranging from 90 days to over a year, partial payments, unexplained funding reductions, and in some cases no payment at all for more than two years. The lawsuit alleges breach of contract, operational nonperformance, and breach of fiduciary duty, and it seeks injunctive relief that would compel Step Up to promptly disburse the approved funds. (Source: News4JAX)
Terrie Hairston, executive director of ICITY Christian School in Jacksonville, framed the schools' goal this way at a press conference announcing the suit: "When the administration of those funds break down, schools face financial strain, families experience uncertainty, and students are placed at risk of service disruption. Our purpose today is simple. It's not political. It's accountability. It is transparency, and it is ensuring that our programs funded for students operate as intended under the law." (Source: WUSF)
It's worth understanding that this lawsuit didn't come out of nowhere. A 2025 audit by the Florida Auditor General had already found that Step Up did not always meet its own committed timelines for FES-EO tuition payments and reimbursements during the rapid 2023-24 expansion of the voucher program.
How Step Up has responded
Step Up has publicly disputed the schools' claims. In a statement to News4JAX, a Step Up spokesperson said: "Step Up For Students has worked extremely closely with these schools who believe they have not been fully funded. We demonstrated to them that their claims against Step Up are unfounded. For example, they repeatedly point to matrix scores for students with unique abilities. Step Up For Students has no input on setting matrix scores. Those are the sole responsibility of district schools and the state. Their complaints are not indicative of any larger issues with the programs, rather are specific to their schools." (Source: News4JAX)
Step Up also said it was "disappointed that the schools have chosen to file a lawsuit," and that it would "work with our attorneys to address the allegations the schools have raised and respond accordingly." (Source: WLRN)
In other words: Step Up is not conceding the schools' claims. This is an active, contested legal dispute, not a settled matter, and both sides have put their positions on the record.
What this means for your family
A few things worth understanding clearly:
- This lawsuit is between specific schools and Step Up, not a class action on behalf of all families. It does not automatically change your child's scholarship status, payment schedule, or funding amount.
- If your child attends one of the seven named schools, it may be worth a direct, calm conversation with school administration about whether or how this affects your specific tuition arrangement.
- The broader payment-reliability issues referenced in the lawsuit are not new or hidden. They've been documented in official state audits for over a year, and Florida's Legislature is separately working on a bill to overhaul the voucher program, aimed at improving payment reliability and transparency going forward. That's a sign of movement toward a fix, even while this specific dispute plays out in court.
- If you're personally experiencing a payment delay or a frozen scholarship, that's a separate, individual process from this lawsuit, and you have specific steps you can take.
The bottom line
A lawsuit against the organization managing your scholarship can be unsettling to read about, especially when your family depends on that funding. But it's important to separate the legal dispute (which is specific, contested, and playing out in court) from your own scholarship's day-to-day status (which you can check directly in your EMA account at any time). If you have concerns about your own funding, the most reliable path is always to check your status directly and contact Step Up's support team, not to assume the worst based on headlines.
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Sources: News4JAX, WLRN, WUSF, Florida Auditor General Report No. 2025-185.