Florida Senate - 2023 CS for CS for SB 986 By the Appropriations Committee on Education; the Committee on Education Pre-K -12; and Senator Burgess 602-03779-23 2023986c2 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; revising 5 requirements relating to the funding of students 6 enrolled in charter schools and reimbursement of such 7 funds by the sponsor; specifying training and 8 reporting requirements for charter school sponsors; 9 requiring the State Board of Education to adopt rules 10 to implement a standard monitoring tool; amending s. 11 1002.43, F.S.; authorizing the provision of private 12 tutoring to up to a specified number of students in 13 certain facilities; amending s. 1003.02, F.S.; 14 requiring that a poster containing specified 15 information relating to choking be placed in public 16 school cafeterias; requiring that the posters be 17 easily visible and prominently placed; amending s. 18 1012.71, F.S.; revising the definition of the term 19 classroom teacher; revising how a district school 20 board calculates certain teachers shares of funds 21 from the Florida Teachers Classroom Supply Assistance 22 Program; providing an effective date. 23 24 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 25 26 Section 1.Paragraph (d) of subsection (10), paragraph (e) 27 of subsection (17), paragraph (a) of subsection (20), and 28 subsection (28) of section 1002.33, Florida Statutes, are 29 amended to read: 30 1002.33Charter schools. 31 (10)ELIGIBLE STUDENTS. 32 (d)A charter school may give enrollment preference to the 33 following student populations: 34 1.Students who are siblings of a student enrolled in the 35 charter school. 36 2.Students who are the children of a member of the 37 governing board of the charter school. 38 3.Students who are the children of an employee of the 39 charter school. 40 4.Students who are the children of: 41 a.An employee of the business partner of a charter school 42 in-the-workplace established under paragraph (15)(b) or a 43 resident of the municipality in which such charter school is 44 located; or 45 b.A resident or employee of a municipality that operates a 46 charter school-in-a-municipality pursuant to paragraph (15)(c) 47 or allows a charter school to use a school facility or portion 48 of land provided by the municipality for the operation of the 49 charter school. 50 5.Students who have successfully completed, during the 51 previous year, a voluntary prekindergarten education program 52 under ss. 1002.51-1002.79 provided by the charter school, the 53 charter schools governing board, or a voluntary prekindergarten 54 provider that has a written agreement with the governing board. 55 6.Students who are the children of an active duty member 56 of any branch of the United States Armed Forces. 57 7.Students who attended or are assigned to failing schools 58 pursuant to s. 1002.38(2). 59 8.Students who are the children of a school safety officer 60 or officers assigned to the charter school. 61 (17)FUNDING.Students enrolled in a charter school, 62 regardless of the sponsorship, shall be funded as if they are in 63 a basic program or a special program, the same as students 64 enrolled in other public schools in a school district. Funding 65 for a charter lab school shall be as provided in s. 1002.32. 66 (e)Sponsors shall make timely and efficient payment and 67 reimbursement to charter schools, including processing paperwork 68 required to access special state and federal funding for which 69 they may be eligible, including the timely review and 70 reimbursement of federal grant funds. Payments of funds under 71 paragraph (b) must shall be made monthly or twice a month, 72 beginning with the start of the sponsors fiscal year. Each 73 payment must shall be one-twelfth, or one twenty-fourth, as 74 applicable, of the total state and local funds described in 75 paragraph (b) and adjusted as set forth therein. For the first 2 76 years of a charter schools operation, if a minimum of 75 77 percent of the projected enrollment is entered into the 78 sponsors student information system by the first day of the 79 current month, the sponsor must shall distribute funds to the 80 school for the months of July through October based on the 81 projected full-time equivalent student membership of the charter 82 school as submitted in the approved application. If less than 75 83 percent of the projected enrollment is entered into the 84 sponsors student information system by the first day of the 85 current month, the sponsor must shall base payments on the 86 actual number of student enrollment entered into the sponsors 87 student information system. Thereafter, the results of full-time 88 equivalent student membership surveys must shall be used in 89 adjusting the amount of funds distributed monthly to the charter 90 school for the remainder of the fiscal year. The payments must 91 shall be issued no later than 10 working days after the sponsor 92 receives a distribution of state or federal funds or the date 93 the payment is due pursuant to this subsection. With respect to 94 federal grant funds submitted for reimbursement, the sponsor 95 shall have 60 days after the date of the submittal to fund them, 96 if the submittal provides all the necessary information to 97 qualify for reimbursement. If a warrant for payment is not 98 issued within 10 working days after receipt of funding by the 99 sponsor, or within 60 days after an approved submittal for the 100 reimbursement of federal grant funds, the sponsor must shall pay 101 to the charter school, in addition to the amount of the 102 scheduled disbursement, interest at a rate of 1 percent per 103 month calculated on a daily basis on the unpaid balance from the 104 expiration of the 10 working days until such time as the warrant 105 is issued. The district school board may not delay payment to a 106 charter school of any portion of the funds provided in paragraph 107 (b) based on the timing of receipt of local funds by the 108 district school board. 109 (20)SERVICES. 110 (a)1.A sponsor shall provide certain administrative and 111 educational services to charter schools. These services shall 112 include contract management services; full-time equivalent and 113 data reporting services; exceptional student education 114 administration services; services related to eligibility and 115 reporting duties required to ensure that school lunch services 116 under the National School Lunch Program, consistent with the 117 needs of the charter school, are provided by the sponsor at the 118 request of the charter school, that any funds due to the charter 119 school under the National School Lunch Program be paid to the 120 charter school as soon as the charter school begins serving food 121 under the National School Lunch Program, and that the charter 122 school is paid at the same time and in the same manner under the 123 National School Lunch Program as other public schools serviced 124 by the sponsor or the school district; test administration 125 services, including payment of the costs of state-required or 126 district-required student assessments; processing of teacher 127 certificate data services; and information services, including 128 equal access to the sponsors student information systems that 129 are used by public schools in the district in which the charter 130 school is located or by schools in the sponsors portfolio of 131 charter schools if the sponsor is not a school district. Student 132 performance data for each student in a charter school, 133 including, but not limited to, FCAT scores, standardized test 134 scores, previous public school student report cards, and student 135 performance measures, shall be provided by the sponsor to a 136 charter school in the same manner provided to other public 137 schools in the district or by schools in the sponsors portfolio 138 of charter schools if the sponsor is not a school district. 139 2.A sponsor shall provide training on systems the sponsor 140 will require the charter school to use. 141 3.A sponsor may withhold an administrative fee for the 142 provision of such services which shall be a percentage of the 143 available funds defined in paragraph (17)(b) calculated based on 144 weighted full-time equivalent students. If the charter school 145 serves 75 percent or more exceptional education students as 146 defined in s. 1003.01(3), the percentage shall be calculated 147 based on unweighted full-time equivalent students. The 148 administrative fee shall be calculated as follows: 149 a.Up to 5 percent for: 150 (I)Enrollment of up to and including 250 students in a 151 charter school as defined in this section. 152 (II)Enrollment of up to and including 500 students within 153 a charter school system which meets all of the following: 154 (A)Includes conversion charter schools and nonconversion 155 charter schools. 156 (B)Has all of its schools located in the same county. 157 (C)Has a total enrollment exceeding the total enrollment 158 of at least one school district in this state. 159 (D)Has the same governing board for all of its schools. 160 (E)Does not contract with a for-profit service provider 161 for management of school operations. 162 (III)Enrollment of up to and including 250 students in a 163 virtual charter school. 164 b.Up to 2 percent for enrollment of up to and including 165 250 students in a high-performing charter school as defined in 166 s. 1002.331. 167 c.Up to 2 percent for enrollment of up to and including 168 250 students in an exceptional student education center that 169 meets the requirements of the rules adopted by the State Board 170 of Education pursuant to s. 1008.3415(3). 171 4.3.A sponsor may not charge charter schools any 172 additional fees or surcharges for administrative and educational 173 services in addition to the maximum percentage of administrative 174 fees withheld pursuant to this paragraph. A sponsor may not 175 charge or withhold any administrative fee against a charter 176 school for any funds specifically allocated by the Legislature 177 for teacher compensation. 178 5.4.A sponsor shall provide to the department by September 179 15 of each year the total amount of funding withheld from 180 charter schools pursuant to this subsection for the prior fiscal 181 year. The department must include the information in the report 182 required under sub-sub-subparagraph (5)(b)1.k.(III). 183 6.A sponsor shall annually provide a report to its charter 184 schools on what services are being rendered from the sponsors 185 portion of the administrative fee. The report must include the 186 listed services and be submitted to the department by September 187 15 of each year. 188 (28)RULEMAKING.The Department of Education, after 189 consultation with sponsors and charter school directors, shall 190 recommend that the State Board of Education adopt rules to 191 implement specific subsections of this section. Such rules shall 192 require minimum paperwork and shall not limit charter school 193 flexibility authorized by statute. The State Board of Education 194 shall adopt rules, pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54, to 195 implement a standard charter application form, standard 196 application form for the replication of charter schools in a 197 high-performing charter school system, standard evaluation 198 instrument, standard monitoring tool, and standard charter and 199 charter renewal contracts in accordance with this section. 200 Section 2.Subsection (3) is added to section 1002.43, 201 Florida Statutes, to read: 202 1002.43Private tutoring programs. 203 (3)Private tutoring may be provided to no more than 25 204 students at one time in any commercial building with a valid 205 certificate of occupancy, including, but not limited to, a 206 library, community center, museum, performing arts center, 207 theatre, cinema, or church facility; any facility or land owned 208 by a Florida College System institution or university; any 209 similar public institution facilities; and any facility recently 210 used to house a school or child care facility licensed under s. 211 402.305 within the preexisting zoning and land use designations 212 of the facility without obtaining a special exception, rezoning, 213 or a land use change so long as the provision of such tutoring 214 meets all applicable state and local health, safety, and welfare 215 laws, codes, and rules, including those related to firesafety 216 and building safety. 217 Section 3.Paragraph (k) is added to subsection (1) of 218 section 1003.02, Florida Statutes, to read: 219 1003.02District school board operation and control of 220 public K-12 education within the school district.As provided in 221 part II of chapter 1001, district school boards are 222 constitutionally and statutorily charged with the operation and 223 control of public K-12 education within their school districts. 224 The district school boards must establish, organize, and operate 225 their public K-12 schools and educational programs, employees, 226 and facilities. Their responsibilities include staff 227 development, public K-12 school student education including 228 education for exceptional students and students in juvenile 229 justice programs, special programs, adult education programs, 230 and career education programs. Additionally, district school 231 boards must: 232 (1)Provide for the proper accounting for all students of 233 school age, for the attendance and control of students at 234 school, and for proper attention to health, safety, and other 235 matters relating to the welfare of students in the following 236 areas: 237 (k)Instructions on emergency first aid for choking. 238 Require that a poster that contains step-by-step instructions on 239 how to provide emergency first aid for choking on conscious 240 individuals be posted in each public school cafeteria within the 241 school district. The poster must be easily visible and 242 prominently placed. 243 Section 4.Subsections (1) and (3) of section 1012.71, 244 Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 245 1012.71The Florida Teachers Classroom Supply Assistance 246 Program. 247 (1)For purposes of the Florida Teachers Classroom Supply 248 Assistance Program, the term classroom teacher means a 249 certified teacher employed by a public school district or a 250 public charter school in that district on or before September 1 251 of each year whose full-time or job-share responsibility is the 252 classroom instruction of students in prekindergarten through 253 grade 12, including full-time media specialists and certified 254 school counselors serving students in prekindergarten through 255 grade 12, who are funded through the Florida Education Finance 256 Program. A job-share classroom teacher is one of two teachers 257 whose combined full-time equivalent employment for the same 258 teaching assignment equals one full-time classroom teacher. The 259 term classroom teacher may also include an administrator or a 260 substitute teacher who holds a valid teaching certificate and 261 who is filling a vacancy in an identified teaching position on 262 or before September 1 of each year. 263 (3)From the funds allocated to each school district and 264 any funds received from local contributions for the Florida 265 Teachers Classroom Supply Assistance Program, the district 266 school board shall calculate an identical amount for each 267 classroom teacher who is estimated to be employed by the school 268 district or a charter school in the district on September 1 of 269 each year, which is that teachers proportionate share of the 270 total amount allocated to the district from state funds and 271 funds received from local contributions. A job-share classroom 272 teacher may receive a prorated share of the amount provided to a 273 full-time classroom teacher. The school district shall calculate 274 a prorated share of the funds for a classroom teacher who 275 teaches less than full time. For a classroom teacher determined 276 eligible on July 1, the district school board and each charter 277 school board may provide the teacher with his or her total 278 proportionate share by August 1 based on the estimate of the 279 number of teachers who will be employed on September 1. For a 280 classroom teacher determined eligible after July 1, the district 281 school board and each charter school board shall provide the 282 teacher with his or her total proportionate share by September 283 30. The proportionate share may be provided by any means 284 determined appropriate by the district school board or charter 285 school board, including, but not limited to, direct deposit, 286 check, debit card, or purchasing card. If a debit card is used, 287 an identifier must be placed on the front of the debit card 288 which clearly indicates that the card has been issued for the 289 Florida Teachers Classroom Supply Assistance Program. 290 Expenditures under the program are not subject to state or local 291 competitive bidding requirements. Funds received by a classroom 292 teacher do not affect wages, hours, or terms and conditions of 293 employment and, therefore, are not subject to collective 294 bargaining. Any classroom teacher may decline receipt of or 295 return the funds without explanation or cause. 296 Section 5.This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.