Florida Senate - 2023 CS for SB 986 By the Committee on Education Pre-K -12; and Senator Burgess 581-03088-23 2023986c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to education; amending s. 1002.33, 3 F.S.; revising which students may be eligible for an 4 enrollment preference for charter schools; specifying 5 training and reporting requirements for charter school 6 sponsors; requiring the State Board of Education to 7 adopt rules to implement a standard monitoring tool; 8 amending s. 1012.71, F.S.; revising the definition of 9 the term classroom teacher; revising how a district 10 school board calculates certain teachers shares of 11 funds from the Florida Teachers Classroom Supply 12 Assistance Program; providing an effective date. 13 14 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 15 16 Section 1.Paragraph (d) of subsection (10), paragraph (a) 17 of subsection (20), and subsection (28) of section 1002.33, 18 Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 19 1002.33Charter schools. 20 (10)ELIGIBLE STUDENTS. 21 (d)A charter school may give enrollment preference to the 22 following student populations: 23 1.Students who are siblings of a student enrolled in the 24 charter school. 25 2.Students who are the children of a member of the 26 governing board of the charter school. 27 3.Students who are the children of an employee of the 28 charter school. 29 4.Students who are the children of: 30 a.An employee of the business partner of a charter school 31 in-the-workplace established under paragraph (15)(b) or a 32 resident of the municipality in which such charter school is 33 located; or 34 b.A resident or employee of a municipality that operates a 35 charter school-in-a-municipality pursuant to paragraph (15)(c) 36 or allows a charter school to use a school facility or portion 37 of land provided by the municipality for the operation of the 38 charter school. 39 5.Students who have successfully completed, during the 40 previous year, a voluntary prekindergarten education program 41 under ss. 1002.51-1002.79 provided by the charter school, the 42 charter schools governing board, or a voluntary prekindergarten 43 provider that has a written agreement with the governing board. 44 6.Students who are the children of an active duty member 45 of any branch of the United States Armed Forces. 46 7.Students who attended or are assigned to failing schools 47 pursuant to s. 1002.38(2). 48 8.Students who are the children of a school safety officer 49 or officers assigned to the charter school. 50 (20)SERVICES. 51 (a)1.A sponsor shall provide certain administrative and 52 educational services to charter schools. These services shall 53 include contract management services; full-time equivalent and 54 data reporting services; exceptional student education 55 administration services; services related to eligibility and 56 reporting duties required to ensure that school lunch services 57 under the National School Lunch Program, consistent with the 58 needs of the charter school, are provided by the sponsor at the 59 request of the charter school, that any funds due to the charter 60 school under the National School Lunch Program be paid to the 61 charter school as soon as the charter school begins serving food 62 under the National School Lunch Program, and that the charter 63 school is paid at the same time and in the same manner under the 64 National School Lunch Program as other public schools serviced 65 by the sponsor or the school district; test administration 66 services, including payment of the costs of state-required or 67 district-required student assessments; processing of teacher 68 certificate data services; and information services, including 69 equal access to the sponsors student information systems that 70 are used by public schools in the district in which the charter 71 school is located or by schools in the sponsors portfolio of 72 charter schools if the sponsor is not a school district. Student 73 performance data for each student in a charter school, 74 including, but not limited to, FCAT scores, standardized test 75 scores, previous public school student report cards, and student 76 performance measures, shall be provided by the sponsor to a 77 charter school in the same manner provided to other public 78 schools in the district or by schools in the sponsors portfolio 79 of charter schools if the sponsor is not a school district. 80 2.A sponsor shall provide training on systems the sponsor 81 will require the charter school to use. 82 3.A sponsor may withhold an administrative fee for the 83 provision of such services which shall be a percentage of the 84 available funds defined in paragraph (17)(b) calculated based on 85 weighted full-time equivalent students. If the charter school 86 serves 75 percent or more exceptional education students as 87 defined in s. 1003.01(3), the percentage shall be calculated 88 based on unweighted full-time equivalent students. The 89 administrative fee shall be calculated as follows: 90 a.Up to 5 percent for: 91 (I)Enrollment of up to and including 250 students in a 92 charter school as defined in this section. 93 (II)Enrollment of up to and including 500 students within 94 a charter school system which meets all of the following: 95 (A)Includes conversion charter schools and nonconversion 96 charter schools. 97 (B)Has all of its schools located in the same county. 98 (C)Has a total enrollment exceeding the total enrollment 99 of at least one school district in this state. 100 (D)Has the same governing board for all of its schools. 101 (E)Does not contract with a for-profit service provider 102 for management of school operations. 103 (III)Enrollment of up to and including 250 students in a 104 virtual charter school. 105 b.Up to 2 percent for enrollment of up to and including 106 250 students in a high-performing charter school as defined in 107 s. 1002.331. 108 c.Up to 2 percent for enrollment of up to and including 109 250 students in an exceptional student education center that 110 meets the requirements of the rules adopted by the State Board 111 of Education pursuant to s. 1008.3415(3). 112 4.3.A sponsor may not charge charter schools any 113 additional fees or surcharges for administrative and educational 114 services in addition to the maximum percentage of administrative 115 fees withheld pursuant to this paragraph. A sponsor may not 116 charge or withhold any administrative fee against a charter 117 school for any funds specifically allocated by the Legislature 118 for teacher compensation. 119 5.4.A sponsor shall provide to the department by September 120 15 of each year the total amount of funding withheld from 121 charter schools pursuant to this subsection for the prior fiscal 122 year. The department must include the information in the report 123 required under sub-sub-subparagraph (5)(b)1.k.(III). 124 6.A sponsor shall annually provide a report to its charter 125 schools on what services are being rendered from the sponsors 126 portion of the administrative fee. The report must include the 127 listed services and be submitted to the department by September 128 15 of each year. 129 (28)RULEMAKING.The Department of Education, after 130 consultation with sponsors and charter school directors, shall 131 recommend that the State Board of Education adopt rules to 132 implement specific subsections of this section. Such rules shall 133 require minimum paperwork and shall not limit charter school 134 flexibility authorized by statute. The State Board of Education 135 shall adopt rules, pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54, to 136 implement a standard charter application form, standard 137 application form for the replication of charter schools in a 138 high-performing charter school system, standard evaluation 139 instrument, standard monitoring tool, and standard charter and 140 charter renewal contracts in accordance with this section. 141 Section 2.Subsections (1) and (3) of section 1012.71, 142 Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 143 1012.71The Florida Teachers Classroom Supply Assistance 144 Program. 145 (1)For purposes of the Florida Teachers Classroom Supply 146 Assistance Program, the term classroom teacher means a 147 certified teacher employed by a public school district or a 148 public charter school in that district on or before September 1 149 of each year whose full-time or job-share responsibility is the 150 classroom instruction of students in prekindergarten through 151 grade 12, including full-time media specialists and certified 152 school counselors serving students in prekindergarten through 153 grade 12, who are funded through the Florida Education Finance 154 Program. A job-share classroom teacher is one of two teachers 155 whose combined full-time equivalent employment for the same 156 teaching assignment equals one full-time classroom teacher. The 157 term classroom teacher may also include an administrator or a 158 substitute teacher who holds a valid teaching certificate and 159 who is filling a vacancy in an identified teaching position on 160 or before September 1 of each year. 161 (3)From the funds allocated to each school district and 162 any funds received from local contributions for the Florida 163 Teachers Classroom Supply Assistance Program, the district 164 school board shall calculate an identical amount for each 165 classroom teacher who is estimated to be employed by the school 166 district or a charter school in the district on September 1 of 167 each year, which is that teachers proportionate share of the 168 total amount allocated to the district from state funds and 169 funds received from local contributions. A job-share classroom 170 teacher may receive a prorated share of the amount provided to a 171 full-time classroom teacher. The school district shall calculate 172 a prorated share of the funds for a classroom teacher who 173 teaches less than full time. For a classroom teacher determined 174 eligible on July 1, the district school board and each charter 175 school board may provide the teacher with his or her total 176 proportionate share by August 1 based on the estimate of the 177 number of teachers who will be employed on September 1. For a 178 classroom teacher determined eligible after July 1, the district 179 school board and each charter school board shall provide the 180 teacher with his or her total proportionate share by September 181 30. The proportionate share may be provided by any means 182 determined appropriate by the district school board or charter 183 school board, including, but not limited to, direct deposit, 184 check, debit card, or purchasing card. If a debit card is used, 185 an identifier must be placed on the front of the debit card 186 which clearly indicates that the card has been issued for the 187 Florida Teachers Classroom Supply Assistance Program. 188 Expenditures under the program are not subject to state or local 189 competitive bidding requirements. Funds received by a classroom 190 teacher do not affect wages, hours, or terms and conditions of 191 employment and, therefore, are not subject to collective 192 bargaining. Any classroom teacher may decline receipt of or 193 return the funds without explanation or cause. 194 Section 3.This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.