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A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to career planning opportunities for 2
students; amending s. 446.0915, F.S.; requiring work -3
based learning opportunities to be scheduled at times 4
and locations to maximize student access and 5
participation; amending s. 1001.43, F.S.; providing 6
that a high school's annual career fair must provide 7
certain students the opportunity to meet and interview 8
with certain employers; amending s. 1003.4156, F.S.; 9
requiring a student's personalized academic and career 10
plan to be reviewed annually for a cert ain period of 11
time and signed by certain persons; requiring such 12
plan to be revised as necessary; creating s. 13
1004.0982, F.S.; providing definitions; requiring the 14
Board of Governors and the State Board of Education to 15
adopt regulations and rules, respecti vely, to enable 16
certain students to earn postsecondary credit and 17
career education clock hours for certain training and 18
education acquired while an apprentice or a 19
preapprentice; providing requirements for such 20
regulations and rules; requiring the Articula tion 21
Coordinating Committee to convene a workshop by a date 22
certain to develop a certain process; requiring a 23
specified office to provide administrative support to 24
the workgroup; providing for workgroup membership; 25
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requiring the workgroup to provide certai n 26
recommendations to the Board of Governors and the 27
State Board of Education by a date certain; requiring 28
such committee to review apprenticeship and 29
preapprenticeship programs and, annually, approve a 30
prioritized list of postsecondary course equivalencies 31
and the minimum postsecondary credit or career 32
education clock hours that must be awarded for certain 33
programs; requiring certain information to be included 34
in the statewide articulation agreement; requiring 35
state universities, Florida College System 36
institutions, and career centers to award 37
postsecondary credit or career education clock hours 38
for certain programs under certain circumstances; 39
providing that postsecondary credit and career 40
education clock hours are guaranteed to transfer to 41
other state universities, Florida College System 42
institutions, and career centers; providing an 43
effective date. 44
45
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 46
47
Section 1. Paragraphs (g), (h), and (i) of subsection (2) 48
of section 446.0915, Florida Statu tes, are redesignated as 49
paragraphs (h), (i), and (j), respectively, and a new paragraph 50
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(g) is added to that subsection to read: 51
446.0915 Work-based learning opportunities. — 52
(2) A work-based learning opportunity must meet all of the 53
following criteria: 54
(g) Be scheduled at such times and locations to maximize 55
student access and participation. 56
57
A work-based learning opportunity should prioritize paid 58
experiences, such as apprenticeship, preapprenticeship, and 59
diversified education programs. 60
Section 2. Paragraph (c) of subsection (14) of section 61
1001.43, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 62
1001.43 Supplemental powers and duties of district school 63
board.—The district school board may exercise the following 64
supplemental powers and duties as authori zed by this code or 65
State Board of Education rule. 66
(14) RECOGNITION OF ACADEMIC AND CAREER ACHIEVEMENT. — 67
(c) Beginning with the 2023 -2024 school year, Each 68
district school board shall require each high school within its 69
jurisdiction to host an annual c areer fair during the school 70
year and establish a process to provide students 16 years of age 71
or older in grades 11 and 12 the opportunity to meet or 72
interview during the career fair with potential employers that 73
offer paid work experiences for students, i ncluding registered 74
preapprenticeship and apprenticeship programs during the career 75
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fair. The career fair must be held on the campus of the high 76
school, except that a group of high schools in the district or a 77
group of districts may hold a joint career fai r at an 78
alternative location to satisfy the requirement in this 79
paragraph. A joint career fair must be held at a location 80
located within reasonable driving distance for students at all 81
participating schools. The career fair must be held during the 82
school day and may use Florida's online career planning and 83
work-based learning system as part of the career fair 84
activities. Alternatively, district school boards may consult 85
with local workforce development boards, advisory committees, 86
and business groups to det ermine free or cost-effective methods 87
to provide other career and industry networking opportunities 88
during the school day for secondary students and exposure for 89
elementary and secondary students to a representative variety of 90
industries, businesses, and c areers. 91
92
District school board policies and procedures may include 93
conducting assemblies or other appropriate public events in 94
which students sign actual or ceremonial documents accepting 95
scholarships or enrollment. The district school board may 96
encourage holding such events in an assembly or gathering of the 97
entire student body as a means of making academic and career 98
success and recognition visible to all students. 99
Section 3. Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section 100
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1003.4156, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 101
1003.4156 General requirements for middle grades 102
promotion.— 103
(1) In order for a student to be promoted to high school 104
from a school that includes middle grades 6, 7, and 8, the 105
student must successfully complete the following courses: 106
(e)1. One course in career and education planning to be 107
completed in grades 6, 7, or 8, which may be taught by any 108
member of the instructional staff. The course must be Internet -109
based, customizable to each student, and include research -based 110
assessments to assist students in determining educational and 111
career options and goals. In addition, the course must result in 112
a completed personalized academic and career plan for the 113
student, which must use, when available, Florida's online career 114
planning and work-based learning coordination system. The course 115
must teach each student how to access and update the plan and 116
encourage the student to access and update the plan at least 117
annually as the student progresses through middle school and 118
high school. The personalized academic and career plan must 119
emphasize the importance of entrepreneurship and employability 120
skills and must include information from the Department of 121
Commerce's economic security report under s. 445.07 and other 122
state career planning resources. The required personalized 123
academic and career plan must inform students of high school 124
graduation requirements, including a detailed explanation of the 125
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requirements for earning a high school diploma designation under 126
s. 1003.4285 and the career and technical e ducation pathway to 127
earn a standard high school diploma under s. 1003.4282(10); the 128
requirements for each scholarship in the Florida Bright Futures 129
Scholarship Program; state university and Florida College System 130
institution admission requirements; availab le opportunities to 131
earn college credit in high school, including Advanced Placement 132
courses; the International Baccalaureate Program; the Advanced 133
International Certificate of Education Program; dual enrollment, 134
including career dual enrollment; work -based learning 135
opportunities, including internships and preapprenticeship and 136
apprenticeship programs; and career education courses, including 137
career-themed courses and course sequences that lead to industry 138
certification pursuant to s. 1003.492 or s. 1008.44. The course 139
may be implemented as a stand -alone course or integrated into 140
another course or courses. 141
2. Beginning when a student enters high school, the 142
student's personalized academic and career plan must be reviewed 143
annually until the student graduates . The student's personalized 144
academic and career plan must be revised as necessary to 145
identify courses the student needs to take each year until the 146
student has completed all required core courses for his or her 147
plan. After completion of the annual review, the personalized 148
academic and career plan must be signed by the student; the 149
student's parent, legal guardian, or person standing in loco 150
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parentis to the student; and a school counselor. 151
Section 4. Section 1004.0982, Florida Statutes, is created 152
to read: 153
1004.0982 Postsecondary credit and career education clock 154
hours for apprenticeship and preapprenticeship programs. — 155
(1) As used in this section, the term: 156
(a) "Apprentice" has the same meaning as in s. 446.021(2). 157
(b) "Apprenticeship program" h as the same meaning as in s. 158
446.021(6). 159
(c) "Preapprentice" has the same meaning as in s. 160
446.021(1). 161
(d) "Preapprenticeship program" has the same meaning as in 162
s. 446.021(5). 163
(2) The Board of Governors shall adopt regulations and the 164
State Board of Education shall adopt rules that enable students 165
pursuing nontraditional pathways to earn a bachelor's degree or 166
certificate through uniform postsecondary credit and career 167
education clock hours across all Florida public postsecondary 168
educational institut ions for college-level training and 169
education acquired while an apprentice or a preapprentice. The 170
regulations and rules must include procedures for credential 171
evaluation and the uniform award of postsecondary credit or 172
career education clock hours, includ ing, but not limited to, 173
equivalency and alignment of apprenticeship and 174
preapprenticeship programs with appropriate postsecondary 175
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courses and course descriptions. 176
(3)(a) The Articulation Coordinating Committee shall 177
convene a workgroup by September 1, 2 025, to develop a process 178
for prioritizing and determining postsecondary course 179
equivalencies and the minimum postsecondary credit or career 180
education clock hours that must be awarded for apprenticeship or 181
preapprenticeship programs. 182
(b) The Office of K -20 Articulation shall provide 183
administrative support to the workgroup. 184
(4) The workgroup shall be composed of the following 185
members: 186
(a) The chair of the Articulation Coordinating Committee, 187
or his or her designee, who shall serve as the chair of the 188
workgroup. 189
(b) Four members representing academic affairs 190
administrators and faculty from state universities, appointed by 191
the chair of the Board of Governors. 192
(c) Four members representing academic affairs 193
administrators and faculty from Florida Colleg e System 194
institutions, appointed by the chair of the State Board of 195
Education. 196
(d) Four members representing faculty from career centers, 197
appointed by the chair of the State Board of Education. 198
(e) One member representing an apprenticeship sponsor, as 199
described in s. 446.071, appointed by the President of the 200
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Senate. 201
(f) One member representing an apprenticeship sponsor, as 202
described in s. 446.071, appointed by the Speaker of the House 203
of Representatives. 204
(g) The director of the State Apprenticeship Advisory 205
Council. 206
(5) The workgroup shall provide recommendations to the 207
Board of Governors and the State Board of Education by March 1, 208
2026, for approval at the next meeting of each board to allow 209
for adequate public notice. 210
(6) Upon approval of the workgroup's recommendations by 211
the Board of Governors and the State Board of Education, the 212
Articulation Coordinating Committee shall review the 213
apprenticeship and preapprenticeship programs to determine 214
postsecondary course equivalencies and the minimum postsecondary 215
credit or career education clock hours that must be awarded for 216
such programs in accordance with the approved process. 217
(7) Within 1 year after the approval of the workgroup's 218
recommendations under subsection (5), the Articulation 219
Coordinating Committee shall approve a prioritized list of 220
postsecondary course equivalencies and the minimum postsecondary 221
credit or career education clock hours that must be awarded for 222
apprenticeship and preapprenticeship programs. The Board of 223
Governors and the State Board of Education shall timely adopt 224
the list approved by the Articulation Coordinating Committee at 225
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the next meeting of each board to allow for adequate public 226
notice. The Articulation Coordinating Committee must update the 227
list annually. For the p urpose of statewide application, 228
postsecondary course equivalencies and the minimum postsecondary 229
credit or career education clock hours that must be awarded for 230
apprenticeship and preapprenticeship programs must be delineated 231
by the Board of Governors and the State Board of Education in 232
the statewide articulation agreement required under s. 233
1007.23(1). 234
(8) State universities, Florida College System 235
institutions, and career centers must award postsecondary credit 236
or career education clock hours for appren ticeship and 237
preapprenticeship programs based on the list adopted by the 238
Board of Governors and the State Board of Education under 239
subsection (7) if the postsecondary credit or career education 240
clock hours are applicable toward the student's degree or 241
certificate. State universities, Florida College System 242
institutions, and career centers may award additional 243
postsecondary credit or career education clock hours if 244
appropriate. Postsecondary credit or career education clock 245
hours awarded in accordance with m inimum postsecondary credit 246
and career education clock hour requirements, respectively, are 247
guaranteed to transfer to other state universities, Florida 248
College System institutions, and career centers. 249
Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 250