FL
Florida House Bill H0345

Florida 2025 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0345 Compare Versions

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1010 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
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1414 A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to student elopement; creating s. 2
1616 1003.211, F.S.; providing definitions; requiring 3
1717 public schools to create a School Staff Assistance for 4
1818 Emergencies (SAFE) Team and a school elopement plan; 5
19-providing requirements for the plan; providing for 6
20-membership and responsibilities of the SAFE team; 7
19+providing for membership and responsibilities of the 6
20+SAFE team; providing requirements for the plan; 7
2121 requiring the SAFE team to create student -specific 8
2222 elopement quick reference guides for certain studen ts; 9
2323 providing requirements for such guides; requiring 10
2424 public schools to annually submit their plans to the 11
2525 district school board; authorizing the State Board of 12
2626 Education to adopt rules; providing an effective date. 13
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2828 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 15
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3030 Section 1. Section 1003.211, Florida Statutes, is created 17
3131 to read: 18
3232 1003.211 School elopement plans. — 19
3333 (1) For purposes of this section, the term: 20
3434 (a) "Disability" means, for a student in kindergarten 21
3535 through grade 12, an autism spectrum disorder, as defined in the 22
3636 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth 23
3737 Edition, published by the American Psychiatric Association, or 24
3838 an intellectual disability, as defined in s. 393.063. 25
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4747 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
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5151 (b) "Elopement" means when a stu dent with disabilities 26
5252 wanders away, walks away, runs away, escapes, or otherwise 27
5353 leaves the supervision of school staff or leaves school grounds 28
5454 unsupervised or unnoticed before the end of his or her scheduled 29
5555 school day. 30
5656 (2) To ensure the safety of stu dents with disabilities at 31
5757 risk of elopement, each public school shall create a School 32
5858 Staff Assistance for Emergencies (SAFE) Team and a school 33
59-elopement plan. The plan must include procedures for immediately 34
60-contacting the student's parent if a student wit h disabilities 35
61-elopes. 36
62- (3) The school principal and assistant principal shall 37
63-serve on the SAFE Team and the school principal shall appoint at 38
64-least five other members to serve on the team. The SAFE Team 39
65-shall: 40
66- (a) Create and annually update the school elopement plan 41
67-and respond to all elopements. 42
68- (b) Provide training to all school personnel to 43
69-familiarize such personnel with the school elopement plan and 44
70-all necessary procedures. 45
71- (4)(a) If a student with disabilities is prone to 46
72-elopement, the SAFE Team, in coordination with the student's 47
73-parent, must create a student -specific elopement quick reference 48
74-guide. The elopement quick reference guide must include all of 49
75-the following: 50
59+elopement plan. 34
60+ (3) The school principal and assistant principal shall 35
61+serve on the SAFE Team and the school principal shall appoint at 36
62+least five other members to serve on the team. The SAFE Team 37
63+shall: 38
64+ (a) Create and annually update the school elopement plan 39
65+and respond to all elopements. 40
66+ (b) Provide training to all school personnel to 41
67+familiarize such pers onnel with the school elopement plan and 42
68+all necessary procedures, including, but not limited to, the 43
69+search grid established pursuant to paragraph (4)(a) and any 44
70+responsibilities of such personnel if an elopement occurs. 45
71+ (4) In developing the school elo pement plan, the SAFE Team 46
72+must include all of the following: 47
73+ (a) A search grid of the school campus and surrounding 48
74+areas. The search grid must include all bodies of water, 49
75+intersections, train tracks and stations, parks, playgrounds, 50
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8484 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
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88- 1. The student's identifying information. 51
89- 2. A current photograph o f the student. 52
90- 3. The student's level of communication. 53
91- 4. A list of the student's interests, behaviors, 54
92-preferences, and aversions. 55
93- 5. Any health considerations for the student. 56
94- 6. A list of any GPS technology that could be used to help 57
95-locate the student. 58
96- 7. A list of possible locations where the student may go 59
97-when eloping. 60
98- (b) The SAFE Team must distribute a student's elopement 61
99-quick reference guide to the student's parent and all relevant 62
100-school personnel. 63
101- (5) Each public school must annu ally provide its elopement 64
102-plan to the district school board. 65
103- (6) The state board may adopt rules to administer this 66
104-section. 67
105- Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 68
88+and other features that may present a greater risk for students 51
89+with disabilities at risk of elopement. 52
90+ (b) Procedures for school personnel to notify school 53
91+administrators if a student with disabilities elopes and 54
92+procedures for school personnel to immediately begin searc hing 55
93+for the student. The procedures must specify that upon 56
94+notification of an elopement, the SAFE Team must notify the 57
95+school resource officer or school safety officer and local law 58
96+enforcement. 59
97+ (c) Procedures for a coordinated response to an elopement, 60
98+including, but not limited to, announcing a Code Gray, which 61
99+will alert all school personnel to the elopement, and 62
100+immediately contacting the student's parent. 63
101+ (d) The names, positions, and contact information for all 64
102+members of the SAFE Team. 65
103+ (e) Other information or procedures that the SAFE Team, 66
104+district school board, or State Board of Education deems 67
105+necessary. 68
106+ (5)(a) If a student with disabilities is prone to 69
107+elopement, the SAFE Team, in coordination with the student's 70
108+parent, must create a stud ent-specific elopement quick reference 71
109+guide. The elopement quick reference guide must include all of 72
110+the following: 73
111+ 1. The student's identifying information. 74
112+ 2. A current photograph of the student. 75
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121+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
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125+ 3. The student's level of communication. 76
126+ 4. A list of the student's interests, behaviors, 77
127+preferences, and aversions. 78
128+ 5. Any health considerations for the student. 79
129+ 6. A list of any GPS technology that could be used to help 80
130+locate the student. 81
131+ 7. A list of possible locations where the student may go 82
132+within the search grid. 83
133+ (b) The SAFE Team must distribute a student's elopement 84
134+quick reference guide to the student's parent and all relevant 85
135+school personnel. 86
136+ (6) Each public school must annually provide its elopement 87
137+plan to the district school boa rd. 88
138+ (7) The state board may adopt rules to administer this 89
139+section. 90
140+ Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 91