of the issuance of an Order regarding the Petition for Waiver or Variance, which was filed on March 29, 2024, by Ashcon Alizadeh. The Notice of Petition for Variance or Waiver was published in Volume 50, No. 64, of the Florida ....
RULE NO.:RULE TITLE:
64B13-4.004Manner of Application; Approved Schools or Colleges
The Board of Optometry hereby gives notice: of the issuance of an Order regarding the Petition for Waiver or Variance, which was filed on March 29, 2024, by Ashcon Alizadeh. The Notice of Petition for Variance or Waiver was published in Volume 50, No. 64, of the Florida Administrative Register, on April 1, 2024. Petitioner sought a variance or waiver of subsection 64B13-4.004(2), F.A.C., entitled, “Hours Requirement” that states in part that an applicant who has graduated from an accredited school or college of optometry that does not require passage of the Applied Basic Science (Part I) portion of the NBEO examination as part of its educational curriculum who provides evidence in an NBEO score report that the applicant successfully passed the Applied Basic Science (Part I) portion of the NBEO examination shall qualify as having graduated from an approved and accredited school or college of optometry.
The Board considered the instant Petition at a duly-noticed videoconference public meeting held April 24, 2024. The Board’s Order, filed on May 9, 2024, denied the petition finding that Petitioner had failed to establish that the purpose of the underlying statute would be met by granting a variance or waiver from subsection 64B13-4.004(2), F.A.C. The Board further finds that Petitioner failed to establish that applying the requirements of the aforementioned rule to petitioner’s circumstances would violate principles of fairness and impose substantial hardship.
A copy of the Order or additional information may be obtained by contacting: Dayle Mooney, Executive Director, Board of Optometry, 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin # C07, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3257, telephone: (850)488-0595, or by electronic mail – MQA.Optometry@flhealth.gov.
