MOORE HAVEN, Fla. – Education choice enthusiasts talk a lot about ESAs and part-time enrollment and “unbundling.” They are some of the keys to the future of public education. Millions of families could benefit from those things working in synch. But at this point in the evolution of choice, it’s rare to see concrete examples of that happening.
Well, we got one for you – from sugar cane country.
It involves a relentless school board member from one rural county; her son with special needs; and the elected superintendent from another rural county next door.
Stephanie Busin is the school board member. She’s from Hendry County, population 39,619. Hendry is best known for being the headquarters of U.S. Sugar. It’s in the middle of a sea of sugar cane.
Anthony Busin IV is the reason Busin is so relentless (and a die-hard supporter of education choice). Anthony, 17, is Busin’s oldest son. He’s considered a twice-exceptional learner whose academic profile includes areas of giftedness and areas requiring support. He’s on the autism spectrum. He’s challenged by both dyslexia and dysgraphia.
Busin’s been fighting since Anthony was in kindergarten to get him the educational services he needs and deserves. Her love for Anthony – and her dogged pursuit of those services – is what eventually led her to a little public school in Glades County, population 12,126.
Anthony attended public school in Hendry until seventh grade. But even with Busin being a school board member, getting Anthony the supports he needed never came easy.
Three years ago, Busin turned to homeschooling. She secured a state-funded education savings account to help. (Those ESAs are administered by Step Up For Students, the nonprofit that hosts this blog.) Academically, it went well. But socially – and again, this is a remote area, with limited opportunities for things like co-ops – a critical piece was missing.
“He’d say things like, “I don’t have any friends,’ “ Busin said. “It broke my heart and drove me to find the opportunities to meet the needs I had been unable to provide him on my own.”
In 2021, Busin made another change. She enrolled her youngest son in a local private school, and she pitched an idea to the school to allow Anthony to attend part-time. Anthony took speech and debate classes and joined his peers for lunch. Busin used the ESA to pay for it.
It worked. But Busin wanted more for Anthony, including things the small private school could not provide.
This year, the stars finally lined up. Busin took Anthony to see a play at Moore Haven Middle-High School, about 15 minutes away in Glades County.
Anthony loved the play and the school. And being there gave Busin an idea.
She called the Glades County superintendent, Dr. Beth Barfield.
“I said, ‘What are the options over there?’“ Busin said. “And she said, ‘Bring him (Anthony) over and we’ll see.’ “
Anthony is still a homeschooler. But this fall, he is taking two classes at the school in Glades: Honors Biology and Honors American History. He is also a member of the high school band, where he plays bass drum.
“I knew if we could get him into Glades County, and he had a good experience, it could change his life,” said Barfield.
Barfield said it didn’t matter to her that Anthony was from the neighboring county. Or that he was using a state-funded education choice scholarship.
“All I saw was a kid who needed an opportunity,” she said. “As an educator, it’s my responsibility – it’s what my being is – to provide that opportunity.”
The Glades County School District is billing Busin for its unbundled services.
Busin is paying for them with the ESA.
Everybody, especially Anthony, is getting what they need.
“He’s doing well academically. He’s got friends. He’s working the lunchroom. He’s visiting with everybody,” Busin said. “It’s awesome to see him embraced by this community and have this sense of belonging.”
As ESAs gain traction, there’s no good reason why thousands of parents across America – and eventually millions – couldn’t follow the lead here from rural Florida.
Florida law allows students to access public school classes on a part-time, pro-rated basis. HB 1, the historic bill that made ESAs available to every student in Florida, made that opportunity even more explicit. But to date, few families using ESAs have tried to access classes a la carte, either at public or private schools (though there are a few exceptions like this one).
Barfield said a handful of students over the years have enrolled part-time in Glades County public schools, but none using a state choice scholarship. She said she would welcome other families who want to access her district’s services like the Busins have. She also said she and her leadership team plan to discuss how Glades could promote its willingness to offer enrollment options.
“Education doesn’t have to be the way it’s always been. Why have we backed ourselves into a corner?” Barfield said. “Breaking barriers is the bottom line if we want to do the best for kids.”
Glades County has 1,650 students in its three public schools. Meanwhile, there are another 110 students homeschooled in Glades County – and nearly 7,000 more in the counties that border it.
A lack of awareness among families may be one hurdle to part-time enrollment becoming a bigger thing. Resistance on the part of hidebound school districts to raising that awareness may be another.
When that begins to change, operationalizing part-time enrollment to consider capacity, staffing, priority placement, assessments, and other complications would need to be thought out. But it’s clearly doable, and in ways that would benefit both families and districts.
The story from sugar cane country is notable for other reasons.
It’s yet another example of choice defying the public-vs-private framing that opponents like to deploy, and showing, instead, that it has everything to do with allowing families to access whatever resources they need to help students find success.
Busin didn’t need the whole package of a school for Anthony; she just needed a few pieces.
Barfield and the Glades County school district didn’t hesitate to accommodate them.
This is a path forward.
I’m so happy for Anthony and hopeful that other families looking for alternatives to help their children “fit in,” while getting an education, will consider such options. I think that both high and middle schools in Hendry County are too large to accommodate many students like Anthony. Not all have empowered parents to fight for them. Great article!