The Florida Instructional Materials Center for the Visually Impaired (FIMC-VI) 2021 Annual Census for students with visual impairments closes on February 1, 2021. Thank you to all of you that have updated your student records. However, there are still over 1,000 student records that have not been updated! In order for you to order textbooks and APH materials for your students, those records must be updated. Please finalize all student records by Monday, February 1, 2021. Once the records are updated, the information will be shared with APH. Those registrations generate the Federal Quota funds that FIMC-VI has for the next school year.
To access the Census page, log in as you typically do to order textbooks and click on the link for Annual Census on the left. Once open, click on the blue “Administration” button to open the Census record for your district.
Just a few reminders as you get started:
- To be counted on the Census, the student must have been enrolled in your school district or agency program on January 4, 2021. Students can only be registered with one school district or agency.
- The requirement for the current eye medical has been suspended for the 2021 APH Census! Register/update all students regardless of the date on the eye medical. This waiver does NOT affect the eye medical exam required for the Florida State Board of Education eligibility criteria for compliance regarding reevaluations. The district should make every attempt to assist "in obtaining an eye medical report such as paying for and/or providing transportation to an appointment" to ensure that the student is seen by an optometrist or ophthalmologist per the Florida State Board of Education Rule 6A-6.01304 Exceptional Student Education Eligibility for Students with Visual Impairments.
- The consent form to share confidential student information with FIMC-VI and APH must be signed by the parents (or student if over 18 years of age) and be on file in your district. You only need this signed once as long as the student remains in your school district or agency. You can access those forms in English and Spanish here: Consent Forms
- AND ... update and include EVERY STUDENT for this year's annual census!
Your completion of this Census allows Florida to participate in the Federal Quota Program at the American Printing House for the Blind (APH). Registered students are eligible to receive accessible textbooks in braille, large print, and digital format as well as specialized learning materials from APH. All of this is provided through FIMC-VI at no cost to the school district.
Those of you that have participated in the Quality Programs for Students with Visual Impairments (QPVI) and have your Master List up to date, will find this Census a breeze to complete. All your dates and acuities are right there in the Excel spreadsheet.
