The school year is starting. For most Florida families, that means supply lists, new schedules, and the usual August scramble.
For divorced and separated parents, it can mean something else entirely — a disagreement about which school your child attends, a dispute over who’s covering the costs, or a co-parent who’s making decisions about your child’s education without including you.
These conflicts are some of the most common — and most frustrating — that family law attorneys see every August. They’re also some of the most preventable, if you understand what your parenting plan actually requires and what Florida law says when parents can’t agree.
Here are the three questions we hear most often this time of year.
Who decides which school my child attends after a Florida divorce?
In most Florida divorces involving children, both parents share what’s called parental responsibility. Under Florida Statute §61.13, shared parental responsibility means both parents retain full parenting rights and must make major decisions about their child’s life together — including decisions about education. (Source: Florida Statutes, §61.13)
School enrollment is a major decision. That means one parent cannot unilaterally pull a child out of their current school, enroll them in a new one, or switch from public to private — or private to public — without the other parent’s agreement.
This applies even if one parent has the majority of the timesharing. More overnights does not equal more decision-making authority. Parental responsibility and time-sharing are separate concepts under Florida law, and conflating them is one of the most common mistakes parents make.
Where it gets complicated is when parents genuinely disagree. One parent wants to keep the child in their current school for continuity. The other wants to enroll them closer to their home to reduce the morning commute. Neither position is unreasonable — but they’re incompatible, and someone has to resolve it.
If parents cannot agree, the dispute goes back to court. A judge will evaluate the options based on the best interests of the child — considering factors like the quality of each school, the stability of the child’s existing friendships and community, the logistics of transportation under the current timesharing schedule, and each parent’s history of involvement in the child’s education.
If your co-parent has already enrolled your child in a school without your agreement — or is threatening to — contact a family law attorney before the school year begins. Acting quickly matters here.
Who pays for school supplies, uniforms, and back-to-school expenses?
This is where most parents assume child support covers everything. It doesn’t — at least not automatically.
Florida’s child support guidelines calculate a base support amount that accounts for the child’s basic living expenses. What they don’t always clearly address are the out-of-pocket costs that pile up every August: uniforms, school supplies, backpacks, sports equipment, lab fees, activity fees, and the assorted costs that come with a new school year.
How these expenses are handled depends on what your parenting plan and child support order actually say. There are a few common arrangements:
Some agreements specify that certain educational expenses are split proportionally between parents based on their incomes — the same formula used to calculate child support itself. Others assign specific categories of expenses to one parent or the other. Some are silent on the issue entirely, which is where disputes are most likely to arise.
If your agreement is silent, the starting point is a direct conversation with your co-parent — ideally in writing — about how to split the costs. If that conversation goes nowhere, a family law attorney can help you determine whether a modification of the child support order is appropriate or whether the issue can be resolved through a motion to the court.
One thing worth knowing: a parent who incurs a necessary educational expense and receives no contribution from the other parent is not without options. Courts can address reimbursement for expenses that fall within the spirit of the support obligation, particularly when one parent has been consistently uncooperative about sharing costs.
Keep receipts and records of every back-to-school expense. If this becomes a dispute, documentation is what moves the conversation from argument to evidence.
What happens when parents disagree about extracurricular activities?
Fall sports signups, music lessons, dance classes, after-school programs — extracurricular decisions land in the same category as school enrollment under shared parental responsibility. Both parents are supposed to be involved. One parent cannot unilaterally sign a child up for an activity that significantly affects the other parent’s timesharing schedule or requires a financial contribution from the other parent.
That’s the legal framework. The practical reality is messier.
One parent signs the child up for a travel soccer league with weekend games. The other parent’s timesharing falls on weekends and they weren’t consulted. Now there’s a conflict between the activity schedule and the parenting plan — and two parents who aren’t speaking to each other productively.
Florida courts consider several factors when resolving these disputes: whether both parents were consulted before the commitment was made, whether the activity is in the child’s best interests, how the activity affects the timesharing schedule, and whether the financial burden is reasonable and fairly shared.
A pattern of one parent making unilateral decisions about activities — particularly ones that eat into the other parent’s time or require financial contributions without agreement — is exactly the kind of behavior courts address in enforcement and modification proceedings.
The cleaner path is to build extracurricular decision-making into a modified parenting plan that establishes a clear process: both parents must agree in writing before any activity is registered, costs are split according to a defined formula, and neither parent’s timesharing is displaced without mutual consent.
If your current parenting plan doesn’t address extracurricular activities specifically, this is a gap worth closing — particularly as your children get older and activities become more demanding.
What joint decision-making actually requires in practice
Shared parental responsibility sounds straightforward. In practice, it requires two people who may not communicate well to reach agreement on important decisions. That’s a high bar when the relationship has broken down to the point of ending a marriage.
What Florida law requires is a good-faith effort to consult and reach agreement — not perfect harmony, and not unanimous consent on every minor detail. Day-to-day decisions during each parent’s timesharing — what the child eats, what time they go to bed, what they wear — belong to the parent who has the child that day. Major decisions about education, medical care, and significant extracurricular commitments require both parents.
When good-faith effort fails and parents genuinely cannot agree, the options are mediation, a parenting coordinator, or returning to court. Florida courts strongly prefer that parents resolve disputes without judicial intervention — but when they can’t, a judge will make the decision for them based on the child’s best interests.
A parenting coordinator is worth knowing about. Florida courts can appoint one in high-conflict cases — a neutral professional who helps parents work through disputes and, in some cases, has authority to resolve minor conflicts without a court hearing. If your co-parenting relationship makes every school-year decision a battle, this is a tool worth discussing with your attorney. (Source: Florida Statutes, §61.125)
A note on what this school season reveals
Back-to-school time has a way of exposing gaps in a parenting plan that weren’t obvious when it was written. A plan drafted when children were young often doesn’t account for the complexity of middle school schedules, competitive sports commitments, or a child’s own growing preferences about where they want to be and when.
If every August brings the same fights — about school, about activities, about costs — that’s a signal the current arrangement isn’t working. Parenting plans can be modified when there’s been a substantial change in circumstances. A child transitioning to a new school level, a significant change in either parent’s work schedule, or a persistent pattern of conflict around educational decisions can all support a modification.
You don’t have to keep navigating the same argument every year.
Hoffman, Larin & Agnetti, P.A. has been helping South Florida families work through parenting and divorce issues for over 40 years. If you’re dealing with a school enrollment dispute, an extracurricular conflict, or a parenting plan that no longer reflects your family’s reality, we’re glad to talk through your options.
Contact Hoffman, Larin & Agnetti today to schedule a confidential consultation with one of our experienced Florida family law attorneys.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can one parent choose my child’s school without my agreement in Florida?
Not if you share parental responsibility, which is the default in most Florida divorces. School enrollment is a major educational decision that requires both parents to agree under shared parental responsibility. A parent who unilaterally enrolls a child in a new school without the other parent’s consent may be in violation of the parenting plan and subject to a court enforcement action.
Does child support cover back-to-school supplies and uniforms in Florida?
Child support covers basic living expenses, but school supplies, uniforms, activity fees, and other out-of-pocket educational costs are not always included. How those expenses are handled depends on the specific language in your parenting plan and child support order. If your agreement is silent on these costs, a family law attorney can help you determine your options for addressing them.
What happens if my co-parent signs our child up for an activity without telling me?
If you share parental responsibility, significant extracurricular commitments — particularly those that affect the other parent’s timesharing schedule or require financial contributions — should require both parents’ agreement. A parent who consistently makes these decisions unilaterally may be violating the parenting plan. Document the pattern and speak with a family law attorney about your enforcement options.
Can I modify my Florida parenting plan if it doesn’t address school-year logistics?
Yes. Florida allows modification of a parenting plan when there has been a substantial, material, and unanticipated change in circumstances. If your plan was written when your children were younger and no longer reflects their current school schedule, activities, and needs, a modification is worth discussing with an attorney.
What is a parenting coordinator and do I need one?
A parenting coordinator is a neutral professional appointed by a Florida court to help high-conflict co-parents resolve disputes without returning to court for every disagreement. They can facilitate communication, help interpret the parenting plan, and in some cases make minor decisions when parents are at an impasse. If school-year conflicts are a recurring problem in your co-parenting relationship, a parenting coordinator may be worth requesting.
