HB 537 2024
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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 student achievement; amending s. 2
1003.02, F.S.; requiring a certified school counselor 3
to provide academic counseling relating to graduation 4
requirements to certain freshmen students within a 5
specified timeframe; providing requirements f or such 6
counseling; amending s. 1003.4282, F.S.; prohibiting 7
certain students from participating in their school's 8
graduation ceremony; amending s. 1003.433, F.S.; 9
authorizing certain students enrolled in an ESOL 10
program to meet specified graduation requir ements by 11
demonstrating certain expectations; amending s. 12
1008.22, F.S.; requiring the Commissioner of Education 13
to identify additional scores on certain exams and 14
grades in certain courses that may be used to satisfy 15
specified graduation requirements; cre ating the Music-16
based Supplemental Content to Accelerate Learner 17
Engagement and Success Pilot Program within the 18
department for a specified purpose; providing for 19
participation in the pilot program; providing school 20
district duties; requiring the Commissio ner of 21
Education to select school districts for participation 22
in the pilot program, subject to legislative 23
appropriation; requiring the University of Florida's 24
College of Education to evaluate the effectiveness of 25
HB 537 2024
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the pilot program; providing requirements for such 26
evaluation; requiring such college to provide progress 27
monitoring updates to the department and Legislature 28
and a comprehensive report to the Governor, the 29
Legislature, and a certain center by a specified date; 30
providing for expiration of the pilo t program; 31
providing an appropriation; providing an effective 32
date. 33
34
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 35
36
Section 1. Paragraph (k) of subsection (1) of section 37
1003.02, Florida Statutes, is redesignated as paragraph (l), and 38
a new paragraph (k) is added to that subsection to read: 39
1003.02 District school board operation and control of 40
public K-12 education within the school district. —As provided in 41
part II of chapter 1001, district school boards are 42
constitutionally and statu torily charged with the operation and 43
control of public K-12 education within their school districts. 44
The district school boards must establish, organize, and operate 45
their public K-12 schools and educational programs, employees, 46
and facilities. Their resp onsibilities include staff 47
development, public K -12 school student education including 48
education for exceptional students and students in juvenile 49
justice programs, special programs, adult education programs, 50
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and career education programs. Additionally, di strict school 51
boards must: 52
(1) Provide for the proper accounting for all students of 53
school age, for the attendance and control of students at 54
school, and for proper attention to health, safety, and other 55
matters relating to the welfare of students in th e following 56
areas: 57
(k) Academic counseling for certain freshmen students. —58
Within the first 30 days of the second semester of the school 59
year, a certified school counselor must meet with each freshman 60
student who has a cumulative grade point average (GPA) lower 61
than 2.0. The student's parent must be notified of such meeting 62
and encouraged to attend. During the meeting, the certified 63
school counselor shall: 64
1. Explain the graduation requirements under s. 1003.4282, 65
the difference between a standard high s chool diploma and a 66
certificate of completion, and the pathways to achieve a 67
standard high school diploma. 68
2. Explain to the student his or her current academic 69
standing, how he or she is failing to meet such graduation 70
requirements, and what options are available to help the student 71
meet such requirements. 72
Section 2. Paragraph (c) of subsection (5) of section 73
1003.4282, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 74
1003.4282 Requirements for a standard high school 75
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diploma.— 76
(5) AWARD OF A STANDARD HIGH S CHOOL DIPLOMA.— 77
(c) A student who earns the required 24 credits, or the 78
required 18 credits under s. 1002.3105(5), but fails to pass the 79
assessments required under s. 1008.22(3) or achieve a 2.0 GPA 80
shall be awarded a certificate of completion in a form 81
prescribed by the State Board of Education. However, a student 82
who is otherwise entitled to a certificate of completion may 83
elect to remain in high school either as a full -time student or 84
a part-time student for up to 1 additional year and receive 85
special instruction designed to remedy his or her identified 86
deficiencies. A student who is awarded a certificate of 87
completion shall not participate in his or her school's 88
graduation ceremony. 89
Section 3. Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (3) of 90
section 1003.433, Florida Statutes, to read: 91
1003.433 Learning opportunities for out -of-state and out-92
of-country transfer students and students needing additional 93
instruction to meet high school graduation requirements. — 94
(3) Students who have been enrolled in an ESOL program for 95
less than 2 school years and have met all requirements for the 96
standard high school diploma except for passage of any must -pass 97
assessment under s. 1003.4282 or s. 1008.22 or alternate 98
assessment may: 99
(c) Beginning with the 2024 -2025 school year, meet the 100
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requirement to earn a passing score on the Algebra 1 end -of-101
course assessment by satisfactorily demonstrating subject -level 102
expectations on formative assessments in accordance with state 103
board rule. 104
Section 4. Subsections (9) and (10 ) of section 1008.22, 105
Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 106
1008.22 Student assessment program for public schools. — 107
(9) CONCORDANT SCORES. —The Commissioner of Education must 108
identify scores on assessments or exams and grades in courses on 109
the SAT and ACT that if achieved satisfy the graduation 110
requirement that a student pass the grade 10 ELA assessment , 111
including, but not limited to, scores on the SAT, ACT, and 112
Classic Learning Test; a score on the General Educational 113
Development test; and a grade of " C" or higher in specified dual 114
enrollment courses. The commissioner may identify concordant 115
scores on assessments other than those listed in this subsection 116
the SAT and ACT. If the content or scoring procedures change for 117
the grade 10 ELA assessment, new c oncordant scores must be 118
determined. If new concordant scores are not timely adopted, the 119
last-adopted concordant scores remain in effect until such time 120
as new scores are adopted. The state board shall adopt 121
concordant scores in rule. 122
(10) COMPARATIVE SCORES FOR END-OF-COURSE (EOC) 123
ASSESSMENT.—The Commissioner of Education must identify one or 124
more comparative scores on assessments or exams and grades in 125
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courses that if achieved satisfy the graduation requirement that 126
a student pass for the Algebra I EOC assessment, including, but 127
not limited to, a score on the Mathematics Postsecondary 128
Education Readiness Test (P.E.R.T.), a score on the Mathematical 129
Reasoning portion of the General Educational Development test, 130
and a grade of "C" or higher in specified dual enrollment 131
courses. If the content or scoring procedures change for the EOC 132
assessment, new comparative scores must be determined. If new 133
comparative scores are not timely adopted, the last -adopted 134
comparative scores remain in effect until such time a s new 135
scores are adopted. The state board shall adopt comparative 136
scores in rule. 137
Section 5. (1) Beginning in the 2024 -2025 school year, 138
the Music-based Supplemental Content to Accelerate Learner 139
Engagement and Success (mSCALES) Pilot Program is creat ed within 140
the Department of Education for a period of 2 school years. The 141
purpose of the pilot program is to assist school districts that 142
participated in the Early Childhood Music Education Incentive 143
Program in using music -based supplemental materials thro ugh the 144
Muzology digital learning system to support the curriculum for 145
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) educational 146
courses for middle school students. 147
(2) The pilot program shall be open to the Alachua, 148
Marion, and Miami-Dade school districts. In order for a school 149
district to participate in the pilot program, the district 150
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school superintendent must annually certify to the department, 151
in a format prescribed by the department, that each 152
participating middle school class: 153
(a) Includes students who participated in the Early 154
Childhood Music Education Incentive Program. 155
(b) Uses music-based supplemental materials through the 156
Muzology digital learning system at least twice a week in STEM 157
educational courses. 158
(c) Is taught by certified mat hematics teachers. 159
(d) Complies with class size requirements under s. 160
1003.03. 161
(3)(a) The Commissioner of Education shall select school 162
districts for participation in the pilot program, subject to 163
legislative appropriation. Selected school districts sh all 164
annually receive $6 per full -time equivalent student 165
participating in the pilot program. 166
(b) To maintain eligibility for participation in the pilot 167
program, a selected school district must annually certify to the 168
department, in a format prescribed by the department, that each 169
participating middle school class meets the requirements of 170
subsection (2). If a selected school district fails to provide 171
the annual certification for a fiscal year, the school district 172
must return all funds received through the pilot program for 173
that fiscal year. 174
(4)(a) The University of Florida's College of Education 175
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shall evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program by 176
measuring the academic performance of participating students and 177
the success of the pilot program. The e valuation must include, 178
but is not limited to, a quantitative analysis of the 179
achievement of participating students and a qualitative 180
evaluation of participating students. 181
(b) The University of Florida's College of Education shall 182
provide: 183
1. Progress monitoring updates to the department and the 184
Legislature. 185
2. A comprehensive report on the results and efficacy of 186
the pilot program to the Governor, the President of the Senate, 187
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the University 188
of South Florida's Florida Center for Partnerships in Arts -189
Integrated Teaching (PAInT) by June 30, 2026. 190
(5) This section expires June 30, 2026. 191
Section 6. For the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the sum of 192
$680,000 in nonrecurring funds is appropriated from the General 193
Revenue Fund to the Department of Education to administer the 194
Music-based Supplemental Content to Accelerate Learner 195
Engagement and Success (mSCALES) Pilot Program. 196
Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 197