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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 corporal punishment; amending s. 2
1002.20, F.S.; conforming provisions to changes made 3
by the act; amending s. 1002.33, F.S.; requiring 4
charter schools to comply with general law relating to 5
corporal punishment; amending s. 1003.01, F.S.; 6
conforming provisions to changes made by the act; 7
amending s. 1003.32, F.S.; deleting provisions 8
authorizing teachers to administer corporal 9
punishment; providing duties of and responsibilities 10
for principals relating to corporal punishment; 11
requiring a specified notification be provided to 12
parents relating to corporal punishment; providing 13
requirements for a student to be disciplined using 14
corporal punishment; prohibiting the use of corporal 15
punishment on specified students; providing reporting 16
requirements relating to corporal punishment; 17
providing an effective date. 18
19
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 20
21
Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (4) of section 22
1002.20, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 23
1002.20 K-12 student and parent rights. —Parents of public 24
school students must receive accurate and timely information 25
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regarding their child's academic progress and must be i nformed 26
of ways they can help their child to succeed in school. K -12 27
students and their parents are afforded numerous statutory 28
rights including, but not limited to, the following: 29
(4) DISCIPLINE.— 30
(c) Corporal punishment. — 31
1. In accordance with the provisions of s. 1003.32, 32
Corporal punishment of a public school student may only be 33
administered in accordance with s. 1003.32(1)(k) by a teacher or 34
school principal within guidelines of the school principal and 35
according to district school board policy. Another adult must be 36
present and must be informed in the student's presence of the 37
reason for the punishment. Upon request, the teacher or school 38
principal must provide the parent with a written explanation of 39
the reason for the punishment and the name of the other adult 40
who was present. 41
2. A district school board having a policy authorizing the 42
use of corporal punishment as a form of discipline shall review 43
its policy on corporal punishment once every 3 years during a 44
district school board meeting held pursuant to s. 1001.372. The 45
district school board shall take public testimony at the board 46
meeting. If such board meeting is not held in accordance with 47
this subparagraph, the portion of the district school board's 48
policy authorizing corporal punishment e xpires. 49
Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (16) of section 50
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1002.33, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 51
1002.33 Charter schools. — 52
(16) EXEMPTION FROM STATUTES. — 53
(b) Additionally, a charter school shall be in compliance 54
with the following st atutes: 55
1. Section 286.011, relating to public meetings and 56
records, public inspection, and criminal and civil penalties. 57
2. Chapter 119, relating to public records. 58
3. Section 1003.03, relating to the maximum class size, 59
except that the calculation for compliance pursuant to s. 60
1003.03 shall be the average at the school level. 61
4. Section 1012.22(1)(c), relating to compensation and 62
salary schedules. 63
5. Section 1012.33(5), relating to workforce reductions. 64
6. Section 1012.335, relating to contracts with 65
instructional personnel hired on or after July 1, 2011. 66
7. Section 1012.34, relating to the substantive 67
requirements for performance evaluations for instructional 68
personnel and school administrators. 69
8. Section 1006.12, relating to safe -school officers. 70
9. Section 1006.07(7), relating to threat management 71
teams. 72
10. Section 1006.07(9), relating to School Environmental 73
Safety Incident Reporting. 74
11. Section 1006.07(10), relating to reporting of 75
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involuntary examinations. 76
12. Section 1006.1493, relating to the Florida Safe 77
Schools Assessment Tool. 78
13. Section 1006.07(6)(d), relating to adopting an active 79
assailant response plan. 80
14. Section 943.082(4)(b), relating to the mobile 81
suspicious activity reporting to ol. 82
15. Section 1012.584, relating to youth mental health 83
awareness and assistance training. 84
16. Section 1001.42(4)(f)2., relating to middle school and 85
high school start times. A charter school -in-the-workplace is 86
exempt from this requirement. 87
17. Section 1003.32(1)(k), relating to corporal 88
punishment. 89
Section 3. Subsection (6) of section 1003.01, Florida 90
Statutes, is amended to read: 91
1003.01 Definitions. —As used in this chapter, the term: 92
(6) "Corporal punishment" means the moderate use of 93
physical force or physical contact by a teacher or principal as 94
may be necessary to maintain discipline or to enforce school 95
rule. However, the term "corporal punishment" does not include 96
the use of such reasonable force by a teacher or principal as 97
may be necessary for self-protection or to protect other 98
students from disruptive students. 99
Section 4. Paragraph (k) of subsection (1) of section 100
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1003.32, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 101
1003.32 Authority of teacher; responsibility for control 102
of students; district school board and principal duties. —Subject 103
to law and to the rules of the district school board, each 104
teacher or other member of the staff of any school shall have 105
such authority for the control and discipline of students as may 106
be assigned to him or her by the principal or the principal's 107
designated representative and shall keep good order in the 108
classroom and in other places in which he or she is assigned to 109
be in charge of students. 110
(1) In accordance with this section and within the 111
framework of the district school board's code of student 112
conduct, teachers and other instructional personnel shall have 113
the authority to undertake any of the following actions in 114
managing student behavior and ensuring the safety of all 115
students in their classes and school and their opportunity to 116
learn in an orderly and disciplined classroom: 117
(k) Use corporal punishment according to school board 118
policy and at least the following procedures, if a principal 119
teacher feels that corporal punishment is necessary: 120
1. The use of corporal punishment shall be approved in 121
principle by the principal before it is used and may only be 122
administered by the principal , but approval is not necessary for 123
each specific instance in which it is used . The principal shall 124
prepare guidelines for administering such punishment which 125
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identify the types of punishable offenses and, the conditions 126
under which the punishment shall be administered , and the 127
specific personnel on the school staff authorized to administer 128
the punishment. 129
2. A teacher or principal may administer corporal 130
punishment only in the presence of another adult who is informed 131
beforehand, and in the student's presence, of the reason for the 132
punishment. Before a principal may administer corporal 133
punishment, he or she must, in the presence of another adult, 134
verify that the parent of such student has completed the form 135
required under subparagraph 3. and consented to allow the 136
administration of corporal punishment on his or her student. 137
3.a. A teacher or principal who elects to use corporal 138
punishment must at the beginning of the school year provide each 139
parent of a student enrolled at his or her school a written form 140
that allows the parent to authorize the use of corporal 141
punishment when disciplining his or her student. The form must 142
read: "Do you authorize the use of corporal punishment on your 143
child? Florida Statutes defines the term 'corporal punishment' 144
as 'the moderate use of physical force or physical contact by a 145
principal as may be necessary to maintain school discipl ine or 146
to enforce school rule.' Your school district's code of student 147
conduct provides further information on how corporal punishment 148
may be administered at your student's school. Please check YES 149
if you consent to the use of corporal punishment on your s tudent 150
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or check NO if you do not consent to the use of corporal 151
punishment on your student and provide your signature. You may 152
contact your student's principal with any relevant questions 153
about the administration of corporal punishment." 154
b. Each principal must collect and store the completed 155
forms. 156
c. If a student's parent does not return a completed form 157
or returns a completed form and does not consent to the use of 158
corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure for his or her 159
student, a principal may n ot administer corporal punishment on 160
the student. 161
4. Once a principal has administered the corporal 162
punishment, he or she shall, upon request, provide the student's 163
parent with a written explanation of the reason for the 164
punishment and the name of the ot her adult who was present and 165
the name of the other adult who witnessed the principal verify 166
the student's parental consent form before the administration of 167
the corporal punishment . 168
5. Corporal punishment may not be used to discipline the 169
following students: 170
a. Exceptional students as defined in s. 1003.01(9). 171
b. Students with an individual education plan under s. 172
1003.5716. 173
c. Students who attend an alternative school as described 174
in s. 1008.341(2). 175
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d. Children and youths who are experiencing homelessness 176
as defined in s. 1003.01. 177
e. Students covered under s. 504 of the Rehabilitation Act 178
of 1973 and 29 U.S.C. s. 794. 179
6. Each principal must annually compile the follow 180
information and submit such information to the Office of Safe 181
Schools and the school district. 182
a. The number of instances where corporal punishment was 183
used during the school year. 184
b. The number of students who were punished using corporal 185
punishment during the school year. 186
c. The number of students who were punished more than once 187
using corporal punishment during the school year. 188
Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 189