Florida Online and Virtual Schools in 2026-27

Florida K-12 students can take free online public school courses part time through FLVS Flex, enroll full time in FLVS Full Time, or use their county district’s virtual school or a district-sponsored virtual charter school.

The Florida Department of Education calls Florida Virtual School the largest state virtual school in the nation and says each school district operates virtual schools, programs or courses for its own students, with many districts also sponsoring virtual charter schools (Florida Department of Education). FLVS says it has led online education since 1997 and reports serving more than 250,000 students in the 2024-25 school year (Florida Virtual School).

FLVS Flex lets a Florida student add individual online courses at any time of year, free for Florida residents, while staying enrolled at a public, private, charter or home school.

Public, private and charter school students in Florida take 1 to 3 Flex courses per semester on top of their regular schedule, and homeschool students take up to 6 per semester; course enrollment is open year-round (FLVS Flex). FLVS says it is free to Florida residents, with separate requirements for students who use a school choice scholarship to attend private school. Students outside Florida or the U.S. can take the same courses through Flexpoint Virtual School on a tuition basis.

FLVS reports continued demand: more than 242,000 Florida students enrolled in FLVS Flex during the 2025-26 school year and completed more than 706,000 semester courses, a 10 percent increase from the year before, and Flex served students in all 67 Florida counties (FLVS, September 10, 2026). Flex offers more than 200 courses taught by Florida-certified teachers, from world languages to Driver Education/Traffic Safety.

Public or private school students who take Flex courses have grades sent to their current school, FLVS Flex does not provide a high school diploma, and Flex homeschool students are not eligible to receive a diploma or GED directly from FLVS (FLVS). Florida school districts may not limit a student’s access to FLVS courses (Florida Statutes s. 1002.37).

FLVS Full Time is a tuition-free statewide online public school district for Florida residents in kindergarten through grade 12, and its next enrollment window, for the second semester, opens November 2, 2026.

Second semester begins January 6, 2027, and FLVS asks families to gather proof of residency, immunizations and recent academic records ahead of the window; an application does not guarantee enrollment (FLVS Full Time Enrollment). The student must be a legal resident of Florida, and students with Florida School Choice Scholarships forfeit those scholarships when they choose FLVS Full Time.

For the 2026-27 school year, enrollment opened June 1 and ran through July 24, with classes beginning August 19 (FLVS, June 1, 2026). FLVS Full Time is made up of Florida Virtual Elementary School, Florida Virtual Middle School and Florida Virtual High School, the only fully virtual public school district in Florida, and more than 9,000 students choose it each year. FLVS reports a 97 percent high school graduation rate for 2024-25.

Unlike Flex, Full Time requires six courses per semester on a traditional 180-day calendar, acts as the school of record for transcripts and issues diplomas to graduating seniors (FLVS). Florida law requires full-time FLVS public students to take all statewide assessments (Florida Statutes s. 1002.37).

A county virtual school is a Florida school district’s own virtual instruction program for its resident students, run by the district itself or through a provider such as FLVS.

Florida Statutes section 1002.45 gives districts five ways to offer a virtual instruction program to residents: contract with FLVS or open an FLVS franchise, contract with a state-approved provider, join another district’s program, run a district part-time or full-time K-12 program, or partner with a virtual charter school (Florida Statutes s. 1002.45). The statute defines a virtual instruction program as instruction in an interactive learning environment created through technology in which students are separated from their teachers by time or space, or both.

FLVS explains that when a Florida district uses FLVS as its provider, the student remains a student of the resident district, must be approved by the district and receives the diploma from that district (FLVS). Hillsborough County Public Schools, for example, took applications for Hillsborough Virtual School in its final 2026-2027 school choice window, July 6 to 12, 2026 (Hillsborough County Public Schools).

At the beginning of each school year, each Florida school district must notify parents and students about a student’s right to take part in a virtual instruction program and in FLVS courses (Florida Statutes s. 1002.45).

Florida law sets up FLVS under section 1002.37 and regulates district virtual programs and their providers under section 1002.45, including teacher certification, school grades and equipment for students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Section 1002.37 establishes FLVS for the development and delivery of online and distance learning education and places it under a board of trustees of seven members appointed by the Governor to 4-year staggered terms (Florida Statutes s. 1002.37). Full-time equivalent student credit completed through FLVS, including summer credit, is funded through the Florida Education Finance Program, and funding for a home education student is provided upon course completion when the parent verifies district home education registration.

Approved providers under section 1002.45 must keep an administrative office in Florida and use Florida-certified teachers, and a provider’s contract is automatically terminated after two consecutive school grades of F or two consecutive Unsatisfactory ratings (Florida Statutes s. 1002.45). Each virtual instruction program must provide all necessary equipment, including a computer and monitor, plus access to or reimbursement for Internet services, to full-time students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch or are on the direct certification list and lack a computer or Internet access at home.

The next Florida deadline is the FLVS Full Time second semester window opening November 2, 2026, and FLVS is also enrolling teens in driver education under a new state learner license requirement.

FLVS states that teens are now required to take a driver education course before they can get a learner license, and offers the course for high school credit (Florida Virtual School). The same FLVS home page also lists the November 2 opening for FLVS Full Time second semester applications.

The two FLVS pages name the state tests differently: the FLVS Flex page describes Full Time testing as the Florida Standards Assessments (FSA), while the FLVS Full Time enrollment page refers to FAST ELA and FSA/FAST scores (FLVS Flex; FLVS Full Time Enrollment). Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the Florida Virtual School and Online Sunshine (Florida Legislature) websites.