HB 1353 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1353-00
Page 1 of 12
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 early learning; amending s. 2
1002.61, F.S.; revising requirements for 3
prekindergarten instructors; amending s. 1002.67, 4
F.S.; prohibiting private prekindergarten provider and 5
public school curricula from using a coordinated 6
screening and progress monitoring program or other 7
specified methods for direct student instruction; 8
amending s. 1002.68, F.S.; authorizing alternative 9
methods for calculating program assessment composite 10
scores; requiring prekindergarten providers and public 11
schools to notify parents under certain circumstances; 12
revising exceptions for a good cause exemption; making 13
technical changes; amending s. 1002.71, F.S.; revising 14
the percentage of funds an early learning coalition 15
may retain and expend; amending s. 1002.82, F.S.; 16
revising the performance standards adopted by the 17
Department of Education relating to the Voluntary 18
Prekindergarten Education Program; amending s. 19
1002.83, F.S.; authorizing an early learning coalition 20
to appoint a certain additional board member; amendin g 21
s. 1002.89, F.S.; revising school readiness program 22
expenditures that are subject to certain cost 23
requirements; amending s. 1008.25, F.S.; providing 24
that certain Voluntary Prekindergarten Education 25
HB 1353 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1353-00
Page 2 of 12
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
Program students are eligible to receive instructional 26
support in early literacy skills through a specified 27
program; providing specifications for the program; 28
providing for funding for the program; providing an 29
effective date. 30
31
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 32
33
Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 1002.61, Florida 34
Statutes, is amended to read: 35
1002.61 Summer prekindergarten program delivered by public 36
schools and private prekindergarten providers. — 37
(4) Notwithstanding ss. 1002.55(3)(c)1. and 1002.63(4), 38
each public school a nd private prekindergarten provider must 39
have, for each prekindergarten class, at least one 40
prekindergarten instructor who is a certified teacher or holds 41
one of the educational credentials specified in s. 1002.55(4)(a) 42
or (b), or an educational credential specified in s. 43
1002.55(3)(c)1. as long as the instructor has completed the 44
early literacy micro -credential program under s. 1003.485 or has 45
an instructional support score of 3 or higher on a program 46
assessment conducted under s. 1002.68(2) or s. 1002.82( 2)(n). As 47
used in this subsection, the term "certified teacher" means a 48
teacher holding a valid Florida educator certificate under s. 49
1012.56 who has the qualifications required by the district 50
HB 1353 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1353-00
Page 3 of 12
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
school board to instruct students in the summer prekindergarte n 51
program. In selecting instructional staff for the summer 52
prekindergarten program, each school district shall give 53
priority to teachers who have experience or coursework in early 54
childhood education and have completed emergent literacy and 55
performance standards courses, as provided for in s. 56
1002.55(3)(c)2. 57
Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section 58
1002.67, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 59
1002.67 Performance standards and curricula. — 60
(2) 61
(b) Each private prekindergarten provider' s and public 62
school's curriculum must be developmentally appropriate and 63
must: 64
1. Be designed to prepare a student for early literacy and 65
provide for instruction in early math skills; 66
2. Develop students' background knowledge through a 67
content-rich and sequential knowledge building early literacy 68
curriculum; 69
3. Enhance the age-appropriate progress of students in 70
attaining the performance standards adopted by the department 71
under subsection (1); and 72
4. Support student learning gains through different iated 73
instruction that must shall be measured by the coordinated 74
screening and progress monitoring program under s. 1008.25(9). A 75
HB 1353 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1353-00
Page 4 of 12
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
private prekindergarten provider's or public school's curriculum 76
may not use the coordinated screening and progress monitoring 77
program, any other progress monitoring program, or an 78
instructional program that requires one student to one device 79
for direct student instruction. 80
Section 3. Paragraphs (a) and (c) of subsection (4), 81
paragraph (a) of subsection (5), and paragraph (d) of subsection 82
(6) of section 1002.68, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 83
1002.68 Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program 84
accountability.— 85
(4)(a) Beginning with the 2024-2025 2023-2024 program 86
year, the department shall adopt a methodology for calculating 87
each private prekindergarten provider's and public school 88
provider's performance metric, which must be based on a 89
combination of the following: 90
1. Program assessment composite scores under subsection 91
(2), which may be calculated differently, based on the 92
methodology adopted by the department, than the program 93
assessment composite score required for contracting in paragraph 94
(5)(a), and which must be weighted at no less than 50 percent. 95
2. Learning gains operationalized as change -in-ability 96
scores from the initial and final progress monitoring results 97
described in subsection (1). 98
3. Norm-referenced developmental learning outcomes 99
described in subsection (1). 100
HB 1353 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1353-00
Page 5 of 12
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
(c) The program assessm ent composite score in subsection 101
(5) and performance metric must be calculated for each private 102
prekindergarten or public school site. 103
(5)(a) Beginning with the 2024 -2025 program year, if a 104
private prekindergarten provider's or public school's 105
performance metric or designation does not maintain falls below 106
the minimum performance metric or designation, the early 107
learning coalition shall: 108
1. Require the provider or school to submit for approval 109
to the early learning coalition an improvement plan and 110
implement the plan. 111
2. Place the provider or school on probation. 112
3. Require the provider or school to take certain 113
corrective actions, including notifying the parent of each 114
student enrolled in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education 115
Program based on rul es adopted by the department and the use of 116
a curriculum approved by the department under s. 1002.67(2)(c) 117
and a staff development plan approved by the department to 118
strengthen instructional practices in emotional support, 119
classroom organization, instructi onal support, language 120
development, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, and 121
mathematical thinking. 122
(6) 123
(d) A good cause exemption may not be granted to any 124
private prekindergarten provider or public school that has any 125
HB 1353 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1353-00
Page 6 of 12
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
class I violations or three two or more of the same class II 126
violations, as defined by rule of the Department of Children and 127
Families, within the 2 years preceding the provider's or 128
school's request for the exemption. 129
Section 4. Subsection (7) of section 1002.71, Florida 130
Statutes, is amended to read: 131
1002.71 Funding; financial and attendance reporting. — 132
(7) The department shall require that administrative 133
expenditures be kept to the minimum necessary for efficient and 134
effective administration of the Voluntary Prekindergarte n 135
Education Program. Administrative policies and procedures shall 136
be revised, to the maximum extent practicable, to incorporate 137
the use of automation and electronic submission of forms, 138
including those required for child eligibility and enrollment, 139
provider and class registration, and monthly certification of 140
attendance for payment. A school district may use its automated 141
daily attendance reporting system for the purpose of 142
transmitting attendance records to the early learning coalition 143
in a mutually agreed -upon format. In addition, actions shall be 144
taken to reduce paperwork, eliminate the duplication of reports, 145
and eliminate other duplicative activities. Each early learning 146
coalition may retain and expend no more than 5.0 4.0 percent of 147
the funds paid by the coalition to private prekindergarten 148
providers and public schools under paragraph (5)(b). Funds 149
retained by an early learning coalition under this subsection 150
HB 1353 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1353-00
Page 7 of 12
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
may be used only for administering the Voluntary Prekindergarten 151
Education Program and may not be used for the school readiness 152
program or other programs. 153
Section 5. Paragraph (j) of subsection (2) of section 154
1002.82, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 155
1002.82 Department of Education; powers and duties. — 156
(2) The department shall: 157
(j) Monitor the alignment and consistency of the standards 158
and benchmarks developed and adopted by the department that 159
address the age-appropriate progress of children in the 160
development of school readiness skills. The standards for 161
children from birth to kinder garten entry in the school 162
readiness program must be aligned with the performance standards 163
adopted for children in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education 164
Program and must address the following domains: 165
1. Approaches to learning. 166
2. Cognitive developm ent and general knowledge. 167
3. Numeracy, language, and communication. 168
4. Physical development. 169
5. Executive functioning Self-regulation. 170
Section 6. Present subsections (5) through (16) of section 171
1002.83, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subs ections (6) 172
through (17), respectively, a new subsection (5) is added to 173
that section, and subsection (3) of that section is amended, to 174
read: 175
HB 1353 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1353-00
Page 8 of 12
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
1002.83 Early learning coalitions. — 176
(3) The Governor shall appoint the chair and two other 177
members of each early learning coalition, who must each meet the 178
qualifications of a private sector business member under 179
subsection (7) (6). In the absence of a governor -appointed 180
chair, the Commissioner of Education may appoint an interim 181
chair from the current early lear ning coalition board 182
membership. 183
(5) Each early learning coalition may choose to appoint an 184
additional public sector board member in order to include a 185
representative of local law enforcement. 186
Section 7. Subsection (4) of section 1002.89, Florida 187
Statutes, is amended to read: 188
1002.89 School readiness program; funding. — 189
(4) COST REQUIREMENTS. —Costs shall be kept to the minimum 190
necessary for the efficient and effective administration of the 191
school readiness program with the highest priority of 192
expenditure being direct services for eligible children. 193
However, no more than 5 percent of the funds allocated in 194
paragraph (1)(a) may be used for administrative costs and no 195
more than 22 percent of the funds allocated in paragraph (1)(a) 196
may be used in any fiscal year for any combination of 197
administrative costs, quality activities, and nondirect services 198
as follows: 199
(a) Administrative costs as described in 45 C.F.R. s. 200
HB 1353 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1353-00
Page 9 of 12
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
98.54, which shall include monitoring providers using the 201
standard methodology adopte d under s. 1002.82 to improve 202
compliance with state and federal regulations and law pursuant 203
to the requirements of the statewide provider contract adopted 204
under s. 1002.82(2)(m). 205
(b) Activities to improve the quality of child care as 206
described in 45 C.F.R. s. 98.53, which shall be limited to the 207
following: 208
1. Developing, establishing, expanding, operating, and 209
coordinating resource and referral programs specifically related 210
to the provision of comprehensive consumer education to parents 211
and the public to promote informed child care choices specified 212
in 45 C.F.R. s. 98.33. 213
2. Awarding grants and providing financial support to 214
school readiness program providers and their staff to assist 215
them in meeting applicable state requirements for the program 216
assessment required under s. 1002.82(2)(n), child care 217
performance standards, implementing developmentally appropriate 218
curricula and related classroom resources that support parent 219
engagement curricula, providing literacy supports, and providing 220
continued professional development through the Teacher Education 221
and Compensation Helps (TEACH) Scholarship Program under s. 222
1002.95 and training aligned to the early learning professional 223
development standards and career pathways under s. 1002.995, and 224
reimbursement for background screenings and training. Any grants 225
HB 1353 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1353-00
Page 10 of 12
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
awarded pursuant to this subparagraph must shall comply with ss. 226
215.971 and 287.058. 227
3. Providing training aligned with the early learning 228
professional development standards and career pathways under s. 229
1002.995, technical assistance, and financial support to school 230
readiness program providers, staff, and parents on standards, 231
child screenings, child assessments, the child development 232
research and best practices, developmentally appropriate 233
curriculum under s. 1002.82(2)(l), executive functioning 234
curricula, character development , teacher-child interactions, 235
age-appropriate discipline practices, health and safety, 236
nutrition, first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the 237
recognition of communicable diseases, a nd child abuse detection, 238
prevention, and reporting. 239
4. Providing, from among the funds provided for the 240
activities described in subparagraphs 1. -3., adequate funding 241
for infants and toddlers as necessary to meet federal 242
requirements related to expenditu res for quality activities for 243
infant and toddler care. 244
5. Improving the monitoring of compliance with, and 245
enforcement of, applicable state and local requirements as 246
described in and limited by 45 C.F.R. s. 98.40. 247
6. Responding to Warm -Line requests by providers and 248
parents, including providing developmental and health screenings 249
to school readiness program children. 250
HB 1353 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1353-00
Page 11 of 12
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
(c) Nondirect services as described in applicable Office 251
of Management and Budget instructions are those services not 252
defined as administrative, direct, or quality services that are 253
required to administer the school readiness program. Such 254
services include, but are not limited to: 255
1. Assisting families to complete the required application 256
and eligibility documentation. 257
2. Determining child and family eligibility. 258
3. Recruiting eligible child care providers. 259
4. Processing and tracking attendance records. 260
5. Developing and maintaining a statewide child care 261
information system. 262
263
As used in this paragraph, the term "nondirect service s" does 264
not include payments to school readiness program providers for 265
direct services provided to children who are eligible under s. 266
1002.87, administrative costs as described in paragraph (a), or 267
quality activities as described in paragraph (b). 268
Section 8. Paragraph (b) of subsection (5) of section 269
1008.25, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 270
1008.25 Public school student progression; student 271
support; coordinated screening and progress monitoring; 272
reporting requirements. — 273
(5) READING DEFICIENCY AND PARENTAL NOTIFICATION. — 274
(b) A Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program student 275
HB 1353 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1353-00
Page 12 of 12
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
who has attended at least 80 percent of the school year program 276
and who exhibits a substantial deficiency in early literacy 277
skills as identified by the performance standards adopted under 278
s. 1002.67(1)(a) and scores below the 20th percentile on based 279
upon the results of the administration of the final 280
administration of the coordinated screening and progress 281
monitoring under subsection (9) is shall be referred to the 282
local school district and may be eligible to receive early 283
literacy instructional support through a summer bridge program 284
the summer instruction in early literacy skills before 285
participating in kindergarten. The summer bridge program must 286
meet the requirements adopted by the department and consist of 4 287
hours of instruction per day for a minimum of 100 total hours. 288
Such early literacy skill instructional support must be paid for 289
with funds from the district's evidence -based reading 290
instruction allocation in accordance with s. 1003.4201 A student 291
with an individual education plan who has been retained pursuant 292
to paragraph (2)(g) and has demonstrated a substantial 293
deficiency in early literacy skills must receive instruction in 294
early literacy skills . 295
Section 9. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 296