TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — As Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier presses Catholic schools to recognize religious vaccine exemptions, the legal fight is raising a practical question for families in the Capital City: Could the schools they chose for faith-based education and specialized support eventually lose access to state scholarship programs?
For Kimberly Ledford, the issue is deeply personal.
Ledford enrolled her daughter, who has autism, in Catholic schools in Tallahassee because she believed the smaller class sizes, individualized attention and religious education offered the best environment for her daughter to succeed. Her daughter graduated in 2021 after attending Trinity Catholic School and St. John Paul II Catholic High School, with tuition assistance through what is now the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities…