FL
Florida House Bill H1557

Florida 2022 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1557 Compare Versions

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1010 FL O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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14+A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to parental rights in education; 2
1616 amending s. 1001.42, F.S.; requiring district school 3
1717 boards to adopt procedures that comport with certain 4
1818 provisions of law for notifying a student's parent of 5
1919 specified information; requiring such procedure s to 6
2020 reinforce the fundamental right of parents to make 7
2121 decisions regarding the upbringing and control of 8
2222 their children in a specified manner; prohibiting the 9
2323 procedures from prohibiting a parent from accessing 10
2424 certain records; providing construction; pro hibiting a 11
2525 school district from adopting procedures or student 12
2626 support forms that prohibit school district personnel 13
2727 from notifying a parent about specified information or 14
2828 that encourage or have the effect of encouraging a 15
2929 student to withhold from a parent such information; 16
3030 prohibiting school district personnel from 17
3131 discouraging or prohibiting parental notification and 18
3232 involvement in critical decisions affecting a 19
3333 student's mental, emotional, or physical well -being; 20
3434 providing construction; prohibiting class room 21
3535 discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity 22
3636 in certain grade levels or in a specified manner; 23
3737 requiring certain training developed or provided by a 24
3838 school district to adhere to standards established by 25
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4747 FL O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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5151 the Department of Education; requiring school 26
5252 districts to notify parents of healthcare services and 27
5353 provide parents the opportunity to consent or decline 28
5454 such services; providing that a specified parental 29
5555 consent does not wave certain parental rights; 30
5656 requiring school districts to provide par ents with 31
5757 certain questionnaires or health screening forms and 32
5858 obtain parental permission before administering such 33
5959 questionnaires and forms; requiring school districts 34
6060 to adopt certain procedures for resolving specified 35
6161 parental concerns; requiring resolu tion within a 36
6262 specified timeframe; requiring the Commissioner of 37
6363 Education to appoint a special magistrate for 38
6464 unresolved concerns; providing requirements for the 39
6565 special magistrate; requiring the State Board of 40
6666 Education to approve or reject the special 41
6767 magistrate's recommendation within specified 42
6868 timeframe; requiring school districts to bear the 43
6969 costs of the special magistrate; requiring the State 44
7070 Board of Education to adopt rules; providing 45
7171 requirements for such rules; authorizing a parent to 46
7272 bring an action against a school district to obtain a 47
7373 declaratory judgment that a school district procedure 48
7474 or practice violates certain provisions of law; 49
7575 providing for the additional award of injunctive 50
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8484 FL O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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8888 relief, damages, and reasonable attorney fees and 51
8989 court costs to certain parents; requiring school 52
9090 district to adopt policies to notify parents of 53
9191 certain rights; providing construction; requiring the 54
9292 department to review and update, as necessary, 55
9393 specified materials by a certain date; providing an 56
9494 effective date. 57
9595 58
9696 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 59
9797 60
9898 Section 1. Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (8) of 61
9999 section 1001.42, Florida Statutes, to read: 62
100100 1001.42 Powers and duties of district school board. —The 63
101101 district school board, acting as a board, shall exercise all 64
102102 powers and perform all duties listed below: 65
103103 (8) STUDENT WELFARE. — 66
104104 (c)1. In accordance with the rights of parents enumerated 67
105105 in ss. 1002.20 and 1014.04, adopt procedures for notifying a 68
106106 student's parent if there is a change i n the student's services 69
107107 or monitoring related to the student's mental, emotional, or 70
108108 physical health or well -being and the school's ability to 71
109109 provide a safe and supportive learning environment for the 72
110110 student. The procedures must reinforce the fundamenta l right of 73
111111 parents to make decisions regarding the upbringing and control 74
112112 of their children by requiring school district personnel to 75
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121121 FL O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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125125 encourage a student to discuss issues relating to his or her 76
126126 well-being with his or her parent or to facilitate discussion of 77
127127 the issue with the parent. The procedures may not prohibit 78
128128 parents from accessing any of their student's education and 79
129129 health records created, maintained, or used by the school 80
130130 district, as required by s. 1002.22(2). 81
131131 2. A school district may not ado pt procedures or student 82
132132 support forms that prohibit school district personnel from 83
133133 notifying a parent about his or her student's mental, emotional, 84
134134 or physical health or well -being, or a change in related 85
135135 services or monitoring, or that encourage or have the effect of 86
136136 encouraging a student to withhold from a parent such 87
137137 information. School district personnel may not discourage or 88
138138 prohibit parental notification of and involvement in critical 89
139139 decisions affecting a student's mental, emotional, or physical 90
140140 health or well-being. This subparagraph does not prohibit a 91
141141 school district from adopting procedures that permit school 92
142142 personnel to withhold such information from a parent if a 93
143143 reasonably prudent person would believe that disclosure would 94
144144 result in abuse, abandonment, or neglect, as those terms are 95
145145 defined in s. 39.01. 96
146146 3. Classroom instruction by school personnel or third 97
147147 parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur 98
148148 in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age -99
149149 appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in 100
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158158 FL O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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162162 accordance with state standards. 101
163163 4. Student support services training developed or provided 102
164164 by a school district to school district personnel must adhere to 103
165165 student services guidelines, standards, and frame works 104
166166 established by the Department of Education. 105
167167 5. At the beginning of the school year, each school 106
168168 district shall notify parents of each healthcare service offered 107
169169 at their student's school and the option to withhold consent or 108
170170 decline any specific se rvice. Parental consent to a health care 109
171171 service does not waive the parent's right to access his or her 110
172172 student's educational or health records or to be notified about 111
173173 a change in his or her student's services or monitoring as 112
174174 provided by this paragraph. 113
175175 6. Before administering a student well -being questionnaire 114
176176 or health screening form to a student in kindergarten through 115
177177 grade 3, the school district must provide the questionnaire or 116
178178 health screening form to the parent and obtain the permission of 117
179179 the parent. 118
180180 7. Each school district shall adopt procedures for a 119
181181 parent to notify the principal, or his or her designee, 120
182182 regarding concerns under this paragraph at his or her student's 121
183183 school and the process for resolving those concerns within 7 122
184184 calendar days after notification by the parent. 123
185185 a. At a minimum, the procedures must require that within 124
186186 30 days after notification by the parent that the concern 125
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195195 FL O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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199199 remains unresolved, the school district must either resolve the 126
200200 concern or provide a statement of the re asons for not resolving 127
201201 the concern. 128
202202 b. If a concern is not resolved by the school district, a 129
203203 parent may: 130
204204 (I) Request the Commissioner of Education to appoint a 131
205205 special magistrate who is a member of The Florida Bar in good 132
206206 standing and who has at least 5 years' experience in 133
207207 administrative law. The special magistrate shall determine facts 134
208208 relating to the dispute over the school district procedure or 135
209209 practice, consider information provided by the school district, 136
210210 and render a recommended decision fo r resolution to the State 137
211211 Board of Education within 30 days after receipt of the request 138
212212 by the parent. The State Board of Education must approve or 139
213213 reject the recommended decision at its next regularly scheduled 140
214214 meeting that is more than 7 calendar days a nd no more than 30 141
215215 days after the date the recommended decision is transmitted. The 142
216216 costs of the special magistrate shall be borne by the school 143
217217 district. The State Board of Education shall adopt rules, 144
218218 including forms, necessary to implement this subparag raph. 145
219219 (II) Bring an action against the school district to obtain 146
220220 a declaratory judgment that the school district procedure or 147
221221 practice violates this paragraph and seek injunctive relief. A 148
222222 court may award damages and shall award reasonable attorney fees 149
223223 and court costs to a parent who receives declaratory or 150
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232232 FL O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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236236 injunctive relief. 151
237237 c. Each school district shall adopt policies to notify 152
238238 parents of the procedures required under this subparagraph. 153
239239 d. Nothing contained in this subparagraph shall be 154
240240 construed to abridge or alter rights of action or remedies in 155
241241 equity already existing under the common law or general law. 156
242242 Section 2. By June 30, 2023, the Department of Education 157
243243 shall review and update, as necessary, school counseling 158
244244 frameworks and standards; educator practices and professional 159
245245 conduct principles; and any other student services personnel 160
246246 guidelines, standards, or frameworks in accordance with the 161
247247 requirements of this act. 162
248248 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 163