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A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to charter schools; amending s. 2
1002.33, F.S.; providing clarifying language relating 3
to admission and dismissal procedures; authorizing a 4
charter school to assign its charter to a high -5
performing charter school in the same district; 6
authorizing the transfer of specified assets to 7
certain charter schools within the state; providing 8
requirements for such transfers; providing the 9
circumstances under which the landlord of a charter 10
school or certain other individuals may serve on a 11
charter school governing board; requiring the State 12
Board of Education to adopt rules to implement a 13
standard monitoring tool; amending s. 1002.331, F.S.; 14
conforming provisions to changes made by the act; 15
amending s. 1013.62, F.S.; revising charter school 16
capital outlay fund eligibility; amending s. 1012.57, 17
F.S.; authorizing charter school governing boards to 18
issue adjunct teaching certificates; requiring a 19
charter school to post specified requirements on its 20
websites and annually report specified information 21
relating to adjunct teaching certificates to the 22
Department of Education; providing an effective date. 23
24
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florid a: 25
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Section 1. Paragraphs (a) and (d) of subsection (7), 27
paragraph (b) of subsection (17), and subsection (28) of section 28
1002.33, Florida Statutes, are amended and paragraph (d) is 29
added to subsection (26) of that section, to read: 30
1002.33 Charter schools.— 31
(7) CHARTER.—The terms and conditions for the operation of 32
a charter school, including a virtual charter school, shall be 33
set forth by the sponsor and the applicant in a written 34
contractual agreement, called a charter. The sponsor and the 35
governing board of the charter school or virtual charter school 36
shall use the standard charter contract or standard virtual 37
charter contract, respectively, pursuant to subsection (21), 38
which shall incorporate the approved application and any addenda 39
approved with the application. Any term or condition of a 40
proposed charter contract or proposed virtual charter contract 41
that differs from the standard charter or virtual charter 42
contract adopted by rule of the State Board of Education shall 43
be presumed a limitation o n charter school flexibility. The 44
sponsor may not impose unreasonable rules or regulations that 45
violate the intent of giving charter schools greater flexibility 46
to meet educational goals. The charter shall be signed by the 47
governing board of the charter sc hool and the sponsor, following 48
a public hearing to ensure community input. 49
(a) The charter shall address and criteria for approval of 50
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the charter shall be based on: 51
1. The school's mission, the types of students to be 52
served, and, for a virtual charte r school, the types of students 53
the school intends to serve who reside outside of the sponsoring 54
school district, and the ages and grades to be included. 55
2. The focus of the curriculum, the instructional methods 56
to be used, any distinctive instructional techniques to be 57
employed, and identification and acquisition of appropriate 58
technologies needed to improve educational and administrative 59
performance which include a means for promoting safe, ethical, 60
and appropriate uses of technology which comply with l egal and 61
professional standards. 62
a. The charter shall ensure that reading is a primary 63
focus of the curriculum and that resources are provided to 64
identify and provide specialized instruction for students who 65
are reading below grade level. The curriculum and instructional 66
strategies for reading must be consistent with the Next 67
Generation Sunshine State Standards and grounded in 68
scientifically based reading research. 69
b. In order to provide students with access to diverse 70
instructional delivery models, to facilitate the integration of 71
technology within traditional classroom instruction, and to 72
provide students with the skills they need to compete in the 73
21st century economy, the Legislature encourages instructional 74
methods for blended learning courses consi sting of both 75
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traditional classroom and online instructional techniques. 76
Charter schools may implement blended learning courses which 77
combine traditional classroom instruction and virtual 78
instruction. Students in a blended learning course must be full -79
time students of the charter school pursuant to s. 80
1011.61(1)(a)1. Instructional personnel certified pursuant to s. 81
1012.55 who provide virtual instruction for blended learning 82
courses may be employees of the charter school or may be under 83
contract to provide instructional services to charter school 84
students. At a minimum, such instructional personnel must hold 85
an active state or school district adjunct certification under 86
s. 1012.57 for the subject area of the blended learning course. 87
The funding and performan ce accountability requirements for 88
blended learning courses are the same as those for traditional 89
courses. 90
3. The current incoming baseline standard of student 91
academic achievement, the outcomes to be achieved, and the 92
method of measurement that will be used. The criteria listed in 93
this subparagraph shall include a detailed description of: 94
a. How the baseline student academic achievement levels 95
and prior rates of academic progress will be established. 96
b. How these baseline rates will be compared to ra tes of 97
academic progress achieved by these same students while 98
attending the charter school. 99
c. To the extent possible, how these rates of progress 100
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will be evaluated and compared with rates of progress of other 101
closely comparable student populations. 102
103
A district school board is required to provide academic student 104
performance data to charter schools for each of their students 105
coming from the district school system, as well as rates of 106
academic progress of comparable student populations in the 107
district school system. 108
4. The methods used to identify the educational strengths 109
and needs of students and how well educational goals and 110
performance standards are met by students attending the charter 111
school. The methods shall provide a means for the charter schoo l 112
to ensure accountability to its constituents by analyzing 113
student performance data and by evaluating the effectiveness and 114
efficiency of its major educational programs. Students in 115
charter schools shall, at a minimum, participate in the 116
statewide assessment program created under s. 1008.22. 117
5. In secondary charter schools, a method for determining 118
that a student has satisfied the requirements for graduation in 119
s. 1002.3105(5), s. 1003.4281, or s. 1003.4282. 120
6. A method for resolving conflicts between the governing 121
board of the charter school and the sponsor. 122
7. The admissions procedures and dismissal procedures, 123
including the school's code of student conduct. Admission or 124
dismissal must not be based on a student's academic performance , 125
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except as authorized under subparagraph (10)(e)5 . 126
8. The ways by which the school will achieve a 127
racial/ethnic balance reflective of the community it serves or 128
within the racial/ethnic range of other nearby public schools or 129
school districts. 130
9. The financial and ad ministrative management of the 131
school, including a reasonable demonstration of the professional 132
experience or competence of those individuals or organizations 133
applying to operate the charter school or those hired or 134
retained to perform such professional se rvices and the 135
description of clearly delineated responsibilities and the 136
policies and practices needed to effectively manage the charter 137
school. A description of internal audit procedures and 138
establishment of controls to ensure that financial resources ar e 139
properly managed must be included. Both public sector and 140
private sector professional experience shall be equally valid in 141
such a consideration. 142
10. The asset and liability projections required in the 143
application which are incorporated into the charter and shall be 144
compared with information provided in the annual report of the 145
charter school. 146
11. A description of procedures that identify various 147
risks and provide for a comprehensive approach to reduce the 148
impact of losses; plans to ensure the safety a nd security of 149
students and staff; plans to identify, minimize, and protect 150
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others from violent or disruptive student behavior; and the 151
manner in which the school will be insured, including whether or 152
not the school will be required to have liability insur ance, 153
and, if so, the terms and conditions thereof and the amounts of 154
coverage. 155
12. The term of the charter which shall provide for 156
cancellation of the charter if insufficient progress has been 157
made in attaining the student achievement objectives of the 158
charter and if it is not likely that such objectives can be 159
achieved before expiration of the charter. The initial term of a 160
charter shall be for 5 years, excluding 2 planning years. In 161
order to facilitate access to long -term financial resources for 162
charter school construction, charter schools that are operated 163
by a municipality or other public entity as provided by law are 164
eligible for up to a 15 -year charter, subject to approval by the 165
sponsor. A charter lab school is eligible for a charter for a 166
term of up to 15 years. In addition, to facilitate access to 167
long-term financial resources for charter school construction, 168
charter schools that are operated by a private, not -for-profit, 169
s. 501(c)(3) status corporation are eligible for up to a 15 -year 170
charter, subject to approval by the sponsor. Such long -term 171
charters remain subject to annual review and may be terminated 172
during the term of the charter, but only according to the 173
provisions set forth in subsection (8). 174
13. The facilities to be used and their loca tion. The 175
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sponsor may not require a charter school to have a certificate 176
of occupancy or a temporary certificate of occupancy for such a 177
facility earlier than 15 calendar days before the first day of 178
school. 179
14. The qualifications to be required of the t eachers and 180
the potential strategies used to recruit, hire, train, and 181
retain qualified staff to achieve best value. 182
15. The governance structure of the school, including the 183
status of the charter school as a public or private employer as 184
required in paragraph (12)(i). 185
16. A timetable for implementing the charter which 186
addresses the implementation of each element thereof and the 187
date by which the charter shall be awarded in order to meet this 188
timetable. 189
17. In the case of an existing public school tha t is being 190
converted to charter status, alternative arrangements for 191
current students who choose not to attend the charter school and 192
for current teachers who choose not to teach in the charter 193
school after conversion in accordance with the existing 194
collective bargaining agreement or district school board rule in 195
the absence of a collective bargaining agreement. However, 196
alternative arrangements shall not be required for current 197
teachers who choose not to teach in a charter lab school, except 198
as authorized by the employment policies of the state university 199
which grants the charter to the lab school. 200
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18. Full disclosure of the identity of all relatives 201
employed by the charter school who are related to the charter 202
school owner, president, chairperson of the governing board of 203
directors, superintendent, governing board member, principal, 204
assistant principal, or any other person employed by the charter 205
school who has equivalent decisionmaking authority. For the 206
purpose of this subparagraph, the term "relative" means father, 207
mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first 208
cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, father -in-law, mother-in-209
law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, 210
stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrot her, 211
stepsister, half brother, or half sister. 212
19. Implementation of the activities authorized under s. 213
1002.331 by the charter school when it satisfies the eligibility 214
requirements for a high -performing charter school. A high -215
performing charter school s hall notify its sponsor in writing by 216
March 1 if it intends to increase enrollment or expand grade 217
levels the following school year. The written notice shall 218
specify the amount of the enrollment increase and the grade 219
levels that will be added, as applicab le. 220
(d) A charter may be modified during its term upon the 221
recommendation of the sponsor or the charter school's governing 222
board and the approval of both parties to the agreement. Changes 223
to curriculum which are consistent with state standards are 224
shall be deemed approved unless the sponsor and the Department 225
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of Education determine in writing that the curriculum is 226
inconsistent with state standards. Modification during any term 227
may include, but is not limited to, consolidation of multiple 228
charters into a single charter if the charters are operated 229
under the same governing board, regardless of the renewal cycle. 230
A charter school may assign its charter to a high -performing 231
charter school operating in the same district. A charter school 232
that is not subject to a school improvement plan and that closes 233
as part of a consolidation shall be reported by the sponsor as a 234
consolidation. A request for consolidation of multiple charters 235
must be approved or denied within 60 days after the submission 236
of the request. If th e request is denied, the sponsor must shall 237
notify the charter school's governing board of the denial and 238
must provide the specific reasons, in reasonable detail, for the 239
denial of the request for consolidation within 10 days. 240
(17) FUNDING.—Students enrolled in a charter school, 241
regardless of the sponsorship, shall be funded as if they are in 242
a basic program or a special program, the same as students 243
enrolled in other public schools in a school district. Funding 244
for a charter lab school shall be as provid ed in s. 1002.32. 245
(b)1. The basis for the agreement for funding students 246
enrolled in a charter school shall be the sum of the school 247
district's operating funds from the Florida Education Finance 248
Program as provided in s. 1011.62 and the General Appropria tions 249
Act, including gross state and local funds, discretionary 250
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lottery funds, and funds from the school district's current 251
operating discretionary millage levy; divided by total funded 252
weighted full-time equivalent students in the school district; 253
and multiplied by the weighted full -time equivalent students for 254
the charter school. Charter schools whose students or programs 255
meet the eligibility criteria in law are entitled to their 256
proportionate share of categorical program funds included in the 257
total funds available in the Florida Education Finance Program 258
by the Legislature, including transportation, and the evidence -259
based reading allocation. Total funding for each charter school 260
shall be recalculated during the year to reflect the revised 261
calculations under the Florida Education Finance Program by the 262
state and the actual weighted full -time equivalent students 263
reported by the charter school during the full -time equivalent 264
student survey periods designated by the Commissioner of 265
Education. For charter schoo ls operated by a not -for-profit or 266
municipal entity, any unrestricted current and capital assets 267
identified in the charter school's annual financial audit may be 268
used for other charter schools operated by the not -for-profit or 269
municipal entity within the s chool district. For charter schools 270
operated by a not-for-profit entity, any unrestricted current or 271
capital assets identified in the charter school's annual audit 272
may be used for other charter schools operated by the not -for-273
profit entity that are located outside of the originating 274
charter school's school district but within the state through an 275
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unforgiveable loan which must be repaid to the originating 276
charter school by the receiving charter school. Unrestricted 277
current assets shall be used in accordance with s. 1011.62, and 278
any unrestricted capital assets shall be used in accordance with 279
s. 1013.62(2). 280
2.a. Students enrolled in a charter school sponsored by a 281
state university or Florida College System institution pursuant 282
to paragraph (5)(a) shall be fu nded as if they are in a basic 283
program or a special program in the school district. The basis 284
for funding these students is the sum of the total operating 285
funds from the Florida Education Finance Program for the school 286
district in which the school is locat ed as provided in s. 287
1011.62 and the General Appropriations Act, including gross 288
state and local funds, discretionary lottery funds, and funds 289
from each school district's current operating discretionary 290
millage levy, divided by total funded weighted full -time 291
equivalent students in the district, and multiplied by the full -292
time equivalent membership of the charter school. The Department 293
of Education shall develop a tool that each state university or 294
Florida College System institution sponsoring a charter sch ool 295
shall use for purposes of calculating the funding amount for 296
each eligible charter school student. The total amount obtained 297
from the calculation must be appropriated from state funds in 298
the General Appropriations Act to the charter school. 299
b. Capital outlay funding for a charter school sponsored 300
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by a state university or Florida College System institution 301
pursuant to paragraph (5)(a) is determined pursuant to s. 302
1013.62 and the General Appropriations Act. 303
(26) STANDARDS OF CONDUCT AND FINANCIAL DIS CLOSURE.— 304
(d) The landlord of a charter school, or his or her 305
spouse, or an officer, director, or employee of an entity that 306
is a landlord of a charter school, or his or her spouse, may not 307
be a member of the governing board of the charter school unless: 308
1. The charter school is established under paragraph 309
(15)(c) and the landlord is a municipal entity; or 310
2. The landlord is a not -for-profit entity and a two -311
thirds majority vote of the charter school board, excluding the 312
vote of landlord-affiliated board members, approves the 313
landlord-affiliated board member to be elected to, or to remain 314
on, the board. 315
(28) RULEMAKING.—The Department of Education, after 316
consultation with sponsors and charter school directors, shall 317
recommend that the State Board of Education adopt rules to 318
implement specific subsections of this section. Such rules shall 319
require minimum paperwork and shall not limit charter school 320
flexibility authorized by statute. The State Board of Education 321
shall adopt rules, pursuant to ss. 120.53 6(1) and 120.54, to 322
implement a standard charter application form, standard 323
application form for the replication of charter schools in a 324
high-performing charter school system, standard evaluation 325
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instrument, standard monitoring tool, and standard charter a nd 326
charter renewal contracts in accordance with this section. 327
Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 1002.331, Florida 328
Statutes, is amended to read: 329
1002.331 High-performing charter schools. — 330
(2) A high-performing charter school is authorized to: 331
(a) Increase its student enrollment once per school year 332
to more than the capacity identified in the charter, but student 333
enrollment may not exceed the capacity of the facility at the 334
time the enrollment increase will take effect. Facility capacity 335
for purposes of expansion must shall include any improvements to 336
an existing facility or any new facility in which the students 337
of the high-performing charter school will enroll. 338
(b) Expand grade levels within kindergarten through grade 339
12 to add grade levels not already served if any annual 340
enrollment increase resulting from grade level expansion is 341
within the limit established in paragraph (a). 342
(c) Submit a quarterly, rather than a monthly, financial 343
statement to the sponsor pursuant to s. 1002.33(9)(g). 344
(d) Consolidate under a single charter the charters of 345
multiple high-performing charter schools operated in the same 346
school district by the charter schools' governing board 347
regardless of the renewal cycle. 348
(e) Receive a modification of its charter to a t erm of 15 349
years or a 15-year charter renewal. The charter may be modified 350
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or renewed for a shorter term at the option of the high -351
performing charter school. The charter must be consistent with 352
s. 1002.33(7)(a)19. and (10)(h) and (i), is subject to annual 353
review by the sponsor, and may be terminated during its term 354
pursuant to s. 1002.33(8). 355
(f) Assume the charter of another operator within the same 356
school district in which it operates. 357
358
A high-performing charter school shall notify its sponsor in 359
writing by March 1 if it intends to increase enrollment or 360
expand grade levels the following school year. The written 361
notice must shall specify the amount of the enrollment increase 362
and the grade levels that will be added, as applicable. If a 363
charter school notifi es the sponsor of its intent to expand, the 364
sponsor must shall modify the charter within 90 days to include 365
the new enrollment maximum and may not make any other changes. 366
The sponsor may deny a request to increase the enrollment of a 367
high-performing charter school if the commissioner has 368
declassified the charter school as high -performing. If a high -369
performing charter school requests to consolidate multiple 370
charters or assume an existing charter , the sponsor has shall 371
have 40 days after receipt of that reque st to provide an initial 372
draft charter to the charter school. The sponsor and charter 373
school shall have 50 days thereafter to negotiate and notice the 374
charter contract for final approval by the sponsor. 375
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Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of sec tion 376
1013.62, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 377
1013.62 Charter schools capital outlay funding. — 378
(1) For the 2022-2023 fiscal year, charter school capital 379
outlay funding shall consist of state funds appropriated in the 380
2022-2023 General Appropriati ons Act. Beginning in fiscal year 381
2023-2024, charter school capital outlay funding shall consist 382
of state funds when such funds are appropriated in the General 383
Appropriations Act and revenue resulting from the discretionary 384
millage authorized in s. 1011.71 (2) if the amount of state funds 385
appropriated for charter school capital outlay in any fiscal 386
year is less than the average charter school capital outlay 387
funds per unweighted full -time equivalent student for the 2018 -388
2019 fiscal year, multiplied by the est imated number of charter 389
school students for the applicable fiscal year, and adjusted by 390
changes in the Consumer Price Index issued by the United States 391
Department of Labor from the previous fiscal year. Nothing in 392
this subsection prohibits a school distri ct from distributing to 393
charter schools funds resulting from the discretionary millage 394
authorized in s. 1011.71(2). 395
(a) To be eligible to receive capital outlay funds, a 396
charter school must: 397
1.a. Have been in operation for 2 or more years; 398
b. Be governed by a governing board established in the 399
state for 2 or more years which operates both charter schools 400
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and conversion charter schools within the state; 401
c. Be an expanded feeder chain of a charter school within 402
the same school district that is current ly receiving charter 403
school capital outlay funds; 404
d. Have been accredited by a regional accrediting 405
association as defined by State Board of Education rule; 406
e. Serve students in facilities that are provided by a 407
business partner for a charter school -in-the-workplace pursuant 408
to s. 1002.33(15)(b); or 409
f. Be operated by a hope operator pursuant to s. 1002.333. 410
2. Have an annual audit that does not reveal any of the 411
financial emergency conditions provided in s. 218.503(1) for the 412
most recent fiscal year for which such audit results are 413
available. 414
3. Have not earned two consecutive grades of "F", three 415
consecutive grades below a "C", or two consecutive school 416
improvement ratings of "Unsatisfactory" satisfactory student 417
achievement based on state account ability standards applicable 418
to the charter school . 419
4. Have received final approval from its sponsor pursuant 420
to s. 1002.33 for operation during that fiscal year. 421
5. Serve students in facilities that are not provided by 422
the charter school's sponsor. 423
Section 4. Section 1012.57, Florida Statutes, is amended 424
to read: 425
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1012.57 Certification of adjunct educators. — 426
(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of ss. 1012.32, 427
1012.55, and 1012.56, or any other provision of law or rule to 428
the contrary, district sc hool boards and charter school 429
governing boards shall adopt rules to allow for the issuance of 430
an adjunct teaching certificate to any applicant who fulfills 431
the requirements of s. 1012.56(2)(a) -(f) and (10) and who has 432
expertise in the subject area to be t aught. An applicant shall 433
be considered to have expertise in the subject area to be taught 434
if the applicant demonstrates sufficient subject area mastery 435
through passage of a subject area test. 436
(2) The Legislature intends that this section allow school 437
districts and charter schools to tap the wealth of talent and 438
expertise represented in Florida's citizens who may wish to 439
teach in a Florida public school by permitting school districts 440
and charter schools to issue adjunct certificates to qualified 441
applicants. 442
(3) Adjunct certificateholders should be used primarily as 443
a strategy to enhance the diversity of course offerings offered 444
to all students. School districts and charter schools may use 445
the expertise of individuals in the state who wish to provide 446
online instruction to students by issuing adjunct certificates 447
to qualified applicants. 448
(4) Each adjunct teaching certificate is valid through the 449
term of the annual contract between the educator and the school 450
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district or charter school. An additional annual certification 451
and an additional annual contract may be awarded by the district 452
or charter school at the district's or charter school's 453
discretion but only if the applicant is rated effective or 454
highly effective under s. 1012.34 durin g each year of teaching 455
under adjunct teaching certification. A school district and 456
charter school may issue an adjunct teaching certificate for a 457
part-time or full-time teaching position; however, an adjunct 458
teaching certificate issued for a full -time teaching position is 459
valid for no more than 3 years and is nonrenewable. 460
(5) Individuals who are certified and employed under this 461
section shall have the same rights and protection of laws as 462
teachers certified under s. 1012.56. 463
(6) Each school district and charter school shall: 464
(a) Post requirements on its website for the issuance of 465
an adjunct teaching certificate, which must specify the subject 466
area test through which an applicant demonstrates subject area 467
mastery. 468
(b) Annually report to the departm ent the number of 469
adjunct teaching certificates issued for part -time teaching 470
positions and full-time teaching positions pursuant to this 471
section. 472
Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 473