CS/HB 443 2023
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F L 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
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to education; amending s. 1002.33, 2
F.S.; authorizing charter schools to give enrollment 3
preference to specified students; requiring charter 4
school sponsors to provide specified training and a 5
certain report to its charter schools; requiring the 6
report to be submitted to the Department of Education 7
by a specified date; requiring the State Board of 8
Education to adopt rules to implement a standar d 9
monitoring tool; amending s. 1012.71, F.S.; revising 10
the definition of the term "classroom teacher"; 11
requiring district school boards to calculate prorated 12
shares of funds from the Florida Teachers Classroom 13
Supply Assistance Program for certain classroo m 14
teachers; providing an effective date. 15
16
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 17
18
Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (10), paragraph (a) 19
of subsection (20) and subsection (28) of section 1002.33, 20
Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 21
1002.33 Charter schools. — 22
(10) ELIGIBLE STUDENTS. — 23
(d) A charter school may give enrollment preference to the 24
following student populations: 25
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F L 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
1. Students who are siblings of a student enrolled in the 26
charter school. 27
2. Students who are t he children of a member of the 28
governing board of the charter school. 29
3. Students who are the children of an employee of the 30
charter school. 31
4. Students who are the children of: 32
a. An employee of the business partner of a charter 33
school-in-the-workplace established under paragraph (15)(b) or a 34
resident of the municipality in which such charter school is 35
located; or 36
b. A resident or employee of a municipality that operates 37
a charter school-in-a-municipality pursuant to paragraph (15)(c) 38
or allows a charter school to use a school facility or portion 39
of land provided by the municipality for the operation of the 40
charter school. 41
5. Students who have successfully completed, during the 42
previous year, a voluntary prekindergarten education program 43
under ss. 1002.51-1002.79 provided by the charter school, the 44
charter school's governing board, or a voluntary prekindergarten 45
provider that has a written agreement with the governing board. 46
6. Students who are the children of an active duty member 47
of any branch of the United States Armed Forces. 48
7. Students who attended or are assigned to failing 49
schools pursuant to s. 1002.38(2). 50
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8. Students who are the children of a safe -school officer, 51
as defined in s. 1006.12, at the school. 52
(20) SERVICES.— 53
(a)1. A sponsor shall provide certain administrative and 54
educational services to charter schools. These services shall 55
include contract management services; full -time equivalent and 56
data reporting services; exceptional student education 57
administration services; services related to eligibility and 58
reporting duties required to ensure that school lunch services 59
under the National School Lunch Program, consistent with the 60
needs of the charter school, are provided by the sponsor at the 61
request of the charter sc hool, that any funds due to the charter 62
school under the National School Lunch Program be paid to the 63
charter school as soon as the charter school begins serving food 64
under the National School Lunch Program, and that the charter 65
school is paid at the same time and in the same manner under the 66
National School Lunch Program as other public schools serviced 67
by the sponsor or the school district; test administration 68
services, including payment of the costs of state -required or 69
district-required student assessme nts; processing of teacher 70
certificate data services; and information services, including 71
equal access to the sponsor's student information systems that 72
are used by public schools in the district in which the charter 73
school is located or by schools in the sponsor's portfolio of 74
charter schools if the sponsor is not a school district. Student 75
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F L 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
performance data for each student in a charter school, 76
including, but not limited to, FCAT scores, standardized test 77
scores, previous public school student report cards , and student 78
performance measures, shall be provided by the sponsor to a 79
charter school in the same manner provided to other public 80
schools in the district or by schools in the sponsor's portfolio 81
of charter schools if the sponsor is not a school district . 82
2. A sponsor shall provide training to charter schools on 83
systems the sponsor will require the charter school to use. 84
3.2. A sponsor may withhold an administrative fee for the 85
provision of such services which shall be a percentage of the 86
available funds defined in paragraph (17)(b) calculated based on 87
weighted full-time equivalent students. If the charter school 88
serves 75 percent or more exceptional education students as 89
defined in s. 1003.01(3), the percentage shall be calculated 90
based on unweighted full-time equivalent students. The 91
administrative fee shall be calculated as follows: 92
a. Up to 5 percent for: 93
(I) Enrollment of up to and including 250 students in a 94
charter school as defined in this section. 95
(II) Enrollment of up to and including 50 0 students within 96
a charter school system which meets all of the following: 97
(A) Includes conversion charter schools and nonconversion 98
charter schools. 99
(B) Has all of its schools located in the same county. 100
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(C) Has a total enrollment exceeding the tot al enrollment 101
of at least one school district in this state. 102
(D) Has the same governing board for all of its schools. 103
(E) Does not contract with a for -profit service provider 104
for management of school operations. 105
(III) Enrollment of up to and includin g 250 students in a 106
virtual charter school. 107
b. Up to 2 percent for enrollment of up to and including 108
250 students in a high -performing charter school as defined in 109
s. 1002.331. 110
c. Up to 2 percent for enrollment of up to and including 111
250 students in an exceptional student education center that 112
meets the requirements of the rules adopted by the State Board 113
of Education pursuant to s. 1008.3415(3). 114
4.3. A sponsor may not charge charter schools any 115
additional fees or surcharges for administrative and edu cational 116
services in addition to the maximum percentage of administrative 117
fees withheld pursuant to this paragraph. A sponsor may not 118
charge or withhold any administrative fee against a charter 119
school for any funds specifically allocated by the Legislature 120
for teacher compensation. 121
5.4. A sponsor shall provide to the department by 122
September 15 of each year the total amount of funding withheld 123
from charter schools pursuant to this subsection for the prior 124
fiscal year. The department must include the inform ation in the 125
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F L 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
report required under sub -sub-subparagraph (5)(b)1.k.(III). 126
6. A sponsor shall annually provide a report to its 127
charter schools on what services are being rendered from the 128
sponsor's portion of the administrative fee. The report must 129
include the listed services and be submitted to the department 130
by September 15 of each year. 131
(28) RULEMAKING.—The Department of Education, after 132
consultation with sponsors and charter school directors, shall 133
recommend that the State Board of Education adopt rul es to 134
implement specific subsections of this section. Such rules shall 135
require minimum paperwork and shall not limit charter school 136
flexibility authorized by statute. The State Board of Education 137
shall adopt rules, pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54, to 138
implement a standard charter application form, standard 139
application form for the replication of charter schools in a 140
high-performing charter school system, standard evaluation 141
instrument, standard monitoring tool, and standard charter and 142
charter renewal contracts in accordance with this section. 143
Section 2. Subsections (1) and (3) of section 1012.71, 144
Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 145
1012.71 The Florida Teachers Classroom Supply Assistance 146
Program.— 147
(1) For purposes of the Florida Teachers Cla ssroom Supply 148
Assistance Program, the term "classroom teacher" means a 149
certified teacher employed by a public school district or a 150
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F L 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
public charter school in that district on or before September 1 151
of each year whose full -time or job-share responsibility is t he 152
classroom instruction of students in prekindergarten through 153
grade 12, including full -time media specialists and certified 154
school counselors serving students in prekindergarten through 155
grade 12, who are funded through the Florida Education Finance 156
Program. A "job-share" classroom teacher is one of two teachers 157
whose combined full-time equivalent employment for the same 158
teaching assignment equals one full -time classroom teacher. The 159
term "classroom teacher" may also include an administrator or a 160
substitute teacher who holds a valid teaching certificate who is 161
filling a vacancy in an identified teaching position on or 162
before September 1 of each year. 163
(3) From the funds allocated to each school district and 164
any funds received from local contributions for t he Florida 165
Teachers Classroom Supply Assistance Program, the district 166
school board shall calculate an identical amount for each 167
classroom teacher who is estimated to be employed by the school 168
district or a charter school in the district on September 1 of 169
each year, which is that teacher's proportionate share of the 170
total amount allocated to the district from state funds and 171
funds received from local contributions. A job -share classroom 172
teacher may receive a prorated share of the amount provided to a 173
full-time classroom teacher. The school district shall calculate 174
a prorated share of the funds for a classroom teacher who 175
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teaches less than full time. For a classroom teacher determined 176
eligible on July 1, the district school board and each charter 177
school board may provide the teacher with his or her total 178
proportionate share by August 1 based on the estimate of the 179
number of teachers who will be employed on September 1. For a 180
classroom teacher determined eligible after July 1, the district 181
school board and each charter school board shall provide the 182
teacher with his or her total proportionate share by September 183
30. The proportionate share may be provided by any means 184
determined appropriate by the district school board or charter 185
school board, including, but not l imited to, direct deposit, 186
check, debit card, or purchasing card. If a debit card is used, 187
an identifier must be placed on the front of the debit card 188
which clearly indicates that the card has been issued for the 189
Florida Teachers Classroom Supply Assistanc e Program. 190
Expenditures under the program are not subject to state or local 191
competitive bidding requirements. Funds received by a classroom 192
teacher do not affect wages, hours, or terms and conditions of 193
employment and, therefore, are not subject to collect ive 194
bargaining. Any classroom teacher may decline receipt of or 195
return the funds without explanation or cause. 196
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 197