Florida Senate - 2022 CS for SB 1300 By the Committee on Education; and Senator Gruters 581-02284-22 20221300c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to district school boards; amending s. 3 145.19, F.S.; conforming provisions to changes made by 4 the act; amending s. 1001.395, F.S.; revising the 5 salaries of district school board members; amending s. 6 1006.28, F.S.; deleting a requirement that district 7 school boards maintain a current list of instructional 8 materials on their websites; requiring meetings of 9 committees convened to rank, eliminate, or select 10 instructional materials to be noticed and open to the 11 public; requiring such committees to include parents 12 of district students and other members of the 13 community; requiring certain individuals involved in 14 selecting library materials to complete a specified 15 training program; requiring certain materials to be 16 selected only by employees who meet specified 17 criteria; requiring district school boards to adopt 18 procedures for developing library media center 19 collections; providing requirements for such 20 procedures; requiring elementary schools, district 21 school boards, and the Department of Education to post 22 in certain formats on their websites specified 23 information relating to instructional materials and 24 other materials; providing district school board 25 requirements relating to public participation 26 regarding selection, approval, adoption, or removal of 27 certain materials; providing that school principals 28 are responsible for overseeing compliance with 29 specified procedures relating to library media center 30 materials; amending s. 1006.29, F.S.; revising 31 requirements for the department relating to the 32 development of training programs for the selection of 33 materials used in schools and library media centers; 34 amending s. 1006.40, F.S.; revising district school 35 board requirements for the selection and adoption of 36 certain materials; providing an effective date. 37 38 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 39 40 Section 1.Subsection (2) of section 145.19, Florida 41 Statutes, is amended to read: 42 145.19Annual percentage increases based on increase for 43 state career service employees; limitation. 44 (2)Each fiscal year, the salaries of all officials listed 45 in this chapter, s. 1001.395, and s. 1001.47 shall be adjusted. 46 The adjusted salary rate shall be the product, rounded to the 47 nearest dollar, of the salary rate granted by the appropriate 48 section of this chapter, s. 1001.395, or s. 1001.47 multiplied 49 first by the initial factor, then by the cumulative annual 50 factor, and finally by the annual factor. The Department of 51 Management Services shall certify the annual factor and the 52 cumulative annual factors. Any special qualification salary 53 received under this chapter, s. 1001.47, or the annual 54 performance salary incentive available to elected 55 superintendents under s. 1001.47 shall be added to such adjusted 56 salary rate. The special qualification salary shall be $2,000, 57 but shall not exceed $2,000. 58 Section 2.Section 1001.395, Florida Statutes, is amended 59 to read: 60 1001.395District school board members; compensation. 61 (1)Each member of the district school board shall receive 62 a base salary equal to the annual salary of a member of the 63 Legislature identified in s. 11.13(1)(a)2., as determined 64 pursuant to the General Appropriations Act or legislation 65 implementing the General Appropriations Act, the amounts 66 indicated in this section, based on the population of the county 67 the district school board member serves. In addition, 68 compensation shall be made for population increments over the 69 minimum for each population group, which shall be determined by 70 multiplying the population in excess of the minimum for the 71 group times the group rate. The product of such calculation 72 shall be added to the base salary to determine the adjusted base 73 salary. The adjusted base salaries of district school board 74 members shall be increased annually as provided for in s. 75 145.19. 76 77 Pop. Group County Pop. Range Base Salary Group Rate 78 Minimum Maximum 79 I -0- 9,999 $5,000 $0.08330 80 II 10,000 49,999 5,833 0.020830 81 III 50,000 99,999 6,666 0.016680 82 IV 100,000 199,999 7,500 0.008330 83 V 200,000 399,999 8,333 0.004165 84 VI 400,000 999,999 9,166 0.001390 85 VII 1,000,000 10,000 0.000000 86 87 (2)Notwithstanding the provisions of this section or s. 88 145.19, district school board members may reduce their salary 89 rate on a voluntary basis. 90 (3)Notwithstanding the provisions of this section and s. 91 145.19, the salary of each district school board member shall be 92 the amount calculated pursuant to subsection (1) or the 93 districts beginning salary for teachers who hold baccalaureate 94 degrees, whichever is less. 95 Section 3.Paragraphs (a) and (d) of subsection (2) and 96 subsection (4) of section 1006.28, Florida Statutes, are 97 amended, and paragraph (e) is added to subsection (2) of that 98 section, to read: 99 1006.28Duties of district school board, district school 100 superintendent; and school principal regarding K-12 101 instructional materials. 102 (2)DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD.The district school board has 103 the constitutional duty and responsibility to select and provide 104 adequate instructional materials for all students in accordance 105 with the requirements of this part. The district school board 106 also has the following specific duties and responsibilities: 107 (a)Courses of study; adoption.Adopt courses of study, 108 including instructional materials, for use in the schools of the 109 district. 110 1.Each district school board is responsible for the 111 content of all instructional materials and any other materials 112 used in a classroom, made available in a school library, or 113 included on a reading list, whether adopted and purchased from 114 the state-adopted instructional materials list, adopted and 115 purchased through a district instructional materials program 116 under s. 1006.283, or otherwise purchased or made available. 117 Each district school board shall maintain on its website a 118 current list of instructional materials, by grade level, 119 purchased by the district. 120 2.Each district school board must adopt a policy regarding 121 an objection by a parent or a resident of the county to the use 122 of a specific instructional material, which clearly describes a 123 process to handle all objections and provides for resolution. 124 The process must provide the parent or resident the opportunity 125 to proffer evidence to the district school board that: 126 a.An instructional material does not meet the criteria of 127 s. 1006.31(2) or s. 1006.40(3)(d) if it was selected for use in 128 a course or otherwise made available to students in the school 129 district but was not subject to the public notice, review, 130 comment, and hearing procedures under s. 1006.283(2)(b)8., 9., 131 and 11. 132 b.Any material used in a classroom, made available in a 133 school library, or included on a reading list contains content 134 that is pornographic or prohibited under s. 847.012, is not 135 suited to student needs and their ability to comprehend the 136 material presented, or is inappropriate for the grade level and 137 age group for which the material is used. 138 139 If the district school board finds that an instructional 140 material does not meet the criteria under sub-subparagraph a. or 141 that any other material contains prohibited content under sub 142 subparagraph b., the school district shall discontinue use of 143 the material for any grade level or age group for which such use 144 is inappropriate or unsuitable. 145 3.Each district school board must establish a process by 146 which the parent of a public school student or a resident of the 147 county may contest the district school boards adoption of a 148 specific instructional material. The parent or resident must 149 file a petition, on a form provided by the school board, within 150 30 calendar days after the adoption of the instructional 151 material by the school board. The school board must make the 152 form available to the public and publish the form on the school 153 districts website. The form must be signed by the parent or 154 resident, include the required contact information, and state 155 the objection to the instructional material based on the 156 criteria of s. 1006.31(2) or s. 1006.40(3)(d). Within 30 days 157 after the 30-day period has expired, the school board must, for 158 all petitions timely received, conduct at least one open public 159 hearing before an unbiased and qualified hearing officer. The 160 hearing officer may not be an employee or agent of the school 161 district. The hearing is not subject to the provisions of 162 chapter 120; however, the hearing must provide sufficient 163 procedural protections to allow each petitioner an adequate and 164 fair opportunity to be heard and present evidence to the hearing 165 officer. 166 167 The school boards decision after convening a hearing is final 168 and not subject to further petition or review. 169 4.Meetings of committees convened for the purpose of 170 ranking, eliminating, or selecting instructional materials for 171 recommendation to the district school board must be noticed and 172 open to the public in accordance with s. 286.011. Any committees 173 convened for such purposes must include parents of school 174 district students and other members of the community. 175 (d)School library media services; establishment and 176 maintenance.Establish and maintain a program of school library 177 media services for all public schools in the district, including 178 school library media centers, or school library media centers 179 open to the public, and, in addition such traveling or 180 circulating libraries as may be needed for the proper operation 181 of the district school system. Each school district shall 182 provide training to School librarians, and media specialists, 183 and other personnel involved in the selection of school district 184 library materials must complete a training program developed 185 pursuant to s. 1006.29(5) before reviewing and selecting 186 regarding the prohibition against distributing harmful materials 187 to minors under s. 847.012 and applicable case law, and best 188 practices for providing students access to age-appropriate 189 materials and library resources. Upon written request, a school 190 district shall provide access to any material or book specified 191 in the request that is maintained in a district school system 192 library and is available for review. 193 1.Each book made available to students through a school 194 district library media center or required as part of a booklist 195 used in a classroom must be selected by a school district 196 employee who holds a valid educational media specialist 197 certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, 198 donated, or otherwise made available to students. 199 2.Each district school board shall adopt procedures for 200 developing library media center collections and post the 201 procedures on the website for each school within the district. 202 The procedures must: 203 a.Require that book selections meet the criteria in s. 204 1006.40(3)(d). 205 b.Require consultation of reputable, professionally 206 recognized reviewing sources and school community stakeholders 207 for each selection. 208 c.Provide for library media center collections based on 209 reader interest, support of state academic standards and aligned 210 curriculum, and the academic needs of students and faculty. 211 d.Provide for the regular removal or discontinuance of 212 books based on, at a minimum, physical condition, rate of recent 213 circulation, alignment to state academic standards and relevancy 214 to curriculum, out-of-date content, and required removal 215 pursuant to subparagraph (a)2. 216 3.Each elementary school must publish on its website, in a 217 searchable format prescribed by the department, a list of all 218 materials maintained in the school library media center or 219 required as part of a booklist used in a classroom. 220 (e)Public participation.Publish on its website, in a 221 searchable format prescribed by the department, a list of all 222 instructional materials, including those used to provide 223 instruction required by s. 1003.42. Each district school board 224 must: 225 1.Provide access to all materials, excluding teacher 226 editions, for public inspection and allow the public to copy, 227 scan, duplicate, or photograph portions of original materials 228 within the limits of fair use under the copyright laws of the 229 United States pursuant to Title 17 of the United States Code, 230 Pub. L. No. 94-653, 17 U.S.C. ss. 101 et seq. Access must be 231 provided at least 30 days before any official action on such 232 materials. 233 2.Select, approve, adopt, or purchase all materials as a 234 separate line item on the agenda and must provide a reasonable 235 opportunity for public comment. The use of materials described 236 in this paragraph may not be selected, approved, or adopted as 237 part of a consent agenda. 238 3.Annually, beginning June 30, 2022, submit to the 239 Commissioner of Education a report that identifies: 240 a.Each material for which the school district received an 241 objection pursuant to subparagraph (a)2. for the school year and 242 the specific objections thereto. 243 b.Each material removed or discontinued as a result of an 244 objection. 245 c.The grade level and course for which a removed or 246 discontinued material was used, as applicable. 247 248 The department shall publish and regularly update a list of 249 materials removed or discontinued as a result of an objection 250 and disseminate the list to school districts for consideration 251 in their selection procedures. 252 (4)SCHOOL PRINCIPAL.The school principal has the 253 following duties for the management and care of instructional 254 materials at the school: 255 (a)Proper use of instructional materials.The principal 256 shall assure that instructional materials are used to provide 257 instruction to students enrolled at the grade level or levels 258 for which the materials are designed, pursuant to adopted 259 district school board rule. The school principal shall 260 communicate to parents the manner in which instructional 261 materials are used to implement the curricular objectives of the 262 school. 263 (b)Money collected for lost or damaged instructional 264 materials; enforcement.The school principal shall collect from 265 each student or the students parent the purchase price of any 266 instructional material the student has lost, destroyed, or 267 unnecessarily damaged and to report and transmit the money 268 collected to the district school superintendent. The failure to 269 collect such sum upon reasonable effort by the school principal 270 may result in the suspension of the student from participation 271 in extracurricular activities or satisfaction of the debt by the 272 student through community service activities at the school site 273 as determined by the school principal, pursuant to policies 274 adopted by district school board rule. 275 (c)Sale of instructional materials.The school principal, 276 upon request of the parent of a student in the school, shall 277 sell to the parent any instructional materials used in the 278 school. All such sales shall be made pursuant to rule adopted by 279 the district school board, and the principal shall annually 280 provide information to parents that they may purchase 281 instructional materials and how to purchase the materials. 282 (d)Disposition of funds.All money collected from the 283 sale, exchange, loss, or damage of instructional materials shall 284 be transmitted to the district school superintendent to be 285 deposited in the district school board fund and added to the 286 district appropriation for instructional materials. 287 (e)Accounting for instructional materials.Principals 288 shall see that all instructional materials are fully and 289 properly accounted for as prescribed by adopted rules of the 290 district school board. 291 (f)Selection of library media center materials.School 292 principals are responsible for overseeing compliance with school 293 district procedures for selecting school library media center 294 materials. 295 Section 4.Subsections (2) and (5) of section 1006.29, 296 Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 297 1006.29State instructional materials reviewers. 298 (2)For purposes of this part state adoption, the term 299 instructional materials means items having intellectual 300 content that by design serve as a major tool for assisting in 301 the instruction of a subject or course. These items may be 302 available in bound, unbound, kit, or package form and may 303 consist of hardbacked or softbacked textbooks, electronic 304 content, consumables, learning laboratories, manipulatives, 305 electronic media, and computer courseware or software. A 306 publisher or manufacturer providing instructional materials as a 307 single bundle shall also make the instructional materials 308 available as separate and unbundled items, each priced 309 individually. A publisher may also offer sections of state 310 adopted instructional materials in digital or electronic 311 versions at reduced rates to districts, schools, and teachers. 312 (5)The department shall develop a training programs 313 program for persons selected as state instructional materials 314 reviewers and school district reviewers of instructional 315 materials, including those used to provide instruction required 316 by s. 1003.42, and any materials maintained in the district 317 school library media centers or included on a reading list. The 318 programs program shall be structured to assist reviewers in 319 complying with the requirements of s. 1006.31(2) developing the 320 skills necessary to make valid, culturally sensitive, and 321 objective decisions regarding the content and rigor of 322 instructional materials. All persons serving as instructional 323 materials reviewers must complete a the training program before 324 prior to beginning the review and selection process. 325 Section 5.Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 326 1006.40, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 327 1006.40Use of instructional materials allocation; 328 instructional materials, library books, and reference books; 329 repair of books. 330 (4)Each district school board is responsible for the 331 content of all materials used in a classroom or otherwise made 332 available to students. Each district school board shall adopt 333 rules, and each district school superintendent shall implement 334 procedures, that: 335 (b)Provide a process for public review of, public comment 336 on, and the adoption of instructional materials, including those 337 instructional materials used to provide instruction required by 338 s. 1003.42 teach reproductive health or any disease, including 339 HIV/AIDS, under ss. 1003.42(3) and 1003.46, which satisfies the 340 requirements of s. 1006.283(2)(b)8., 9., and 11. 341 Section 6.This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.