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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 education; amending s. 1002.421, 2
F.S.; revising requirements for a private school to 3
participate in certain educational scholarship 4
programs; requiring the Department of Education to 5
suspend the payment of funds to participating private 6
schools under certain circumstances; amending s. 7
1011.62, F.S.; requiring the Legislature to determine 8
the base student allocation using the Consumer Price 9
Index; revising the minimum base salary for classroom 10
teachers; creating s. 1011.761, F.S.; creating the K-11
12 Classroom Technology Grant Program; requiring the 12
department to administer the program and establish an 13
application process; providing for the award of grants 14
and the amount of such gran ts; providing funding for 15
the program; authorizing the State Board of Education 16
to adopt rules; creating s. 1011.781, F.S.; creating 17
the K-12 Education Funding Task Force within the 18
department; providing the purpose of the task force; 19
providing for membership of the task force; providing 20
for the terms of task force members; providing 21
requirements for the selection of a chair, a quorum, 22
and meetings of the task force; authorizing task force 23
members to receive specified reimbursements; providing 24
the duties and responsibilities of the task force; 25
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requiring the task for ce to annually provide a report 26
to specified individuals and the public; providing 27
requirements for such report; providing an effective 28
date. 29
30
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 31
32
Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 1002.421, Florida 33
Statutes, is amended to read: 34
1002.421 State school choice scholarship program 35
accountability and oversight. — 36
(1) PRIVATE SCHOOL ELIGIBILITY AND OBLIGATIONS. —A private 37
school participating in an educational scholarship program 38
established pursuant to this chapter must be a private school as 39
defined in s. 1002.01 in this state, be registered, and be in 40
compliance with all requirements of this section in addition to 41
private school requirements outlined in s. 1002.42, specific 42
requirements identif ied within respective scholarship program 43
laws, and other provisions of Florida law that apply to private 44
schools, and must: 45
(a) Comply with the antidiscrimination provisions of 42 46
U.S.C. s. 2000d. 47
(b) Notify the department of its intent to participate in 48
a scholarship program. 49
(c) Notify the department of any change in the school's 50
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name, school director, mailing address, or physical location 51
within 15 days after the change. 52
(d) Provide to the department or scholarship -funding 53
organization all docum entation required for a student's 54
participation, including the private school's and student's 55
individual fee schedule, and attendance verification as required 56
by the department or scholarship -funding organization, prior to 57
scholarship payment. 58
(e) Annually complete and submit to the department a 59
notarized scholarship compliance statement certifying that all 60
school employees and contracted personnel with direct student 61
contact have undergone background screening pursuant to s. 62
435.12 and have met the scree ning standards as provided in s. 63
435.04. 64
(f) Demonstrate fiscal soundness and accountability by: 65
1. Being in operation for at least 3 school years or 66
obtaining a surety bond or letter of credit for the amount equal 67
to the scholarship funds for any quar ter and filing the surety 68
bond or letter of credit with the department. 69
2. Requiring the parent of each scholarship student to 70
personally restrictively endorse the scholarship warrant to the 71
school or to approve a funds transfer before any funds are 72
deposited for a student. The school may not act as attorney in 73
fact for the parent of a scholarship student under the authority 74
of a power of attorney executed by such parent, or under any 75
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other authority, to endorse a scholarship warrant or approve a 76
funds transfer on behalf of such parent. 77
(g) Meet applicable state and local health, safety, and 78
welfare laws, codes, and rules, including: 79
1. Firesafety. 80
2. Building safety. 81
(h) Employ or contract with teachers who hold 82
baccalaureate or higher degrees, have at least 3 years of 83
teaching experience in public or private schools, or have 84
special skills, knowledge, or expertise that qualifies them to 85
provide instruction in subjects taught. 86
(i) Maintain a physical location in the state at which 87
each student has regular and direct contact with teachers. 88
Regular and direct contact with teachers may be satisfied for 89
students enrolled in a personalized education program if 90
students have regular and direct contact with teachers at the 91
physical location at least 2 school days per week and the 92
student learning plan addresses the remaining instructional 93
time. 94
(j) Publish on the school's website, or provide in a 95
written format, information for parents regarding the school, 96
including, but not limited to, programs, ser vices, the 97
qualifications of classroom teachers, and a statement that a 98
parentally placed private school student with a disability does 99
not have an individual right to receive some or all of the 100
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special education and related services that the student would 101
receive if enrolled in a public school under the Individuals 102
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as amended. 103
(k) At a minimum, provide the parent of each scholarship 104
student with a written explanation of the student's progress on 105
a quarterly basis. 106
(l) Cooperate with a student whose parent chooses to 107
participate in the statewide assessments pursuant to s. 1008.22. 108
(m) Require each employee and contracted personnel with 109
direct student contact, upon employment or engagement to provide 110
services, to undergo a state and national background screening, 111
pursuant to s. 943.0542, by electronically filing with the 112
Department of Law Enforcement a complete set of fingerprints 113
taken by an authorized law enforcement agency or an employee of 114
the private school, a school district, or a private company who 115
is trained to take fingerprints and deny employment to or 116
terminate an employee if he or she fails to meet the screening 117
standards under s. 435.04. Results of the screening shall be 118
provided to the participating p rivate school. For purposes of 119
this paragraph: 120
1. An "employee or contracted personnel with direct 121
student contact" means any employee or contracted personnel who 122
has unsupervised access to a scholarship student for whom the 123
private school is responsible . 124
2. The costs of fingerprinting and the background check 125
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shall not be borne by the state. 126
3. Continued employment of an employee or contracted 127
personnel after notification that he or she has failed the 128
background screening under this paragraph shall c ause a private 129
school to be ineligible for participation in a scholarship 130
program. 131
4. An employee or contracted personnel holding a valid 132
Florida teaching certificate who has been fingerprinted pursuant 133
to s. 1012.32 is not required to comply with the pr ovisions of 134
this paragraph. 135
5. All fingerprints submitted to the Department of Law 136
Enforcement as required by this section shall be retained by the 137
Department of Law Enforcement in a manner provided by rule and 138
entered in the statewide automated biometri c identification 139
system authorized by s. 943.05(2)(b). Such fingerprints shall 140
thereafter be available for all purposes and uses authorized for 141
arrest fingerprints entered in the statewide automated biometric 142
identification system pursuant to s. 943.051. 143
6. The Department of Law Enforcement shall search all 144
arrest fingerprints received under s. 943.051 against the 145
fingerprints retained in the statewide automated biometric 146
identification system under subparagraph 5. Any arrest record 147
that is identified wit h the retained fingerprints of a person 148
subject to the background screening under this section shall be 149
reported to the employing school with which the person is 150
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affiliated. Each private school participating in a scholarship 151
program is required to particip ate in this search process by 152
informing the Department of Law Enforcement of any change in the 153
employment or contractual status of its personnel whose 154
fingerprints are retained under subparagraph 5. The Department 155
of Law Enforcement shall adopt a rule sett ing the amount of the 156
annual fee to be imposed upon each private school for performing 157
these searches and establishing the procedures for the retention 158
of private school employee and contracted personnel fingerprints 159
and the dissemination of search results . The fee may be borne by 160
the private school or the person fingerprinted. 161
7. Employees and contracted personnel whose fingerprints 162
are not retained by the Department of Law Enforcement under 163
subparagraphs 5. and 6. are required to be refingerprinted and 164
must meet state and national background screening requirements 165
upon reemployment or reengagement to provide services in order 166
to comply with the requirements of this section. 167
8. Every 5 years following employment or engagement to 168
provide services with a private school, employees or contracted 169
personnel required to be screened under this section must meet 170
screening standards under s. 435.04, at which time the private 171
school shall request the Department of Law Enforcement to 172
forward the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation 173
for national processing. If the fingerprints of employees or 174
contracted personnel are not retained by the Department of Law 175
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Enforcement under subparagraph 5., employees and contracted 176
personnel must electronically file a com plete set of 177
fingerprints with the Department of Law Enforcement. Upon 178
submission of fingerprints for this purpose, the private school 179
shall request that the Department of Law Enforcement forward the 180
fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for national 181
processing, and the fingerprints shall be retained by the 182
Department of Law Enforcement under subparagraph 5. 183
(n) Adopt policies establishing standards of ethical 184
conduct for educational support employees, instructional 185
personnel, and school adm inistrators. The policies must require 186
all educational support employees, instructional personnel, and 187
school administrators, as defined in s. 1012.01, to complete 188
training on the standards; establish the duty of educational 189
support employees, instructiona l personnel, and school 190
administrators to report, and procedures for reporting, alleged 191
misconduct by other educational support employees, instructional 192
personnel, and school administrators which affects the health, 193
safety, or welfare of a student; and inc lude an explanation of 194
the liability protections provided under ss. 39.203 and 768.095. 195
A private school, or any of its employees, may not enter into a 196
confidentiality agreement regarding terminated or dismissed 197
educational support employees, instructional personnel, or 198
school administrators, or employees, personnel, or 199
administrators who resign in lieu of termination, based in whole 200
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or in part on misconduct that affects the health, safety, or 201
welfare of a student, and may not provide the employees, 202
personnel, or administrators with employment references or 203
discuss the employees', personnel's, or administrators' 204
performance with prospective employers in another educational 205
setting, without disclosing the employees', personnel's, or 206
administrators' misconduct . Any part of an agreement or contract 207
that has the purpose or effect of concealing misconduct by 208
educational support employees, instructional personnel, or 209
school administrators which affects the health, safety, or 210
welfare of a student is void, is contrar y to public policy, and 211
may not be enforced. 212
(o) Before employing a person in any position that 213
requires direct contact with students, conduct employment 214
history checks of previous employers, screen the person through 215
use of the screening tools described in s. 1001.10(5), and 216
document the findings. If unable to contact a previous employer, 217
the private school must document efforts to contact the 218
employer. The private school may not employ a person whose 219
educator certificate is revoked, who is barred from r eapplying 220
for an educator certificate, or who is on the disqualification 221
list maintained by the department pursuant to s. 1001.10(4)(b). 222
(p) Require each owner or operator of the private school, 223
prior to employment or engagement to provide services, to 224
undergo level 2 background screening as provided under chapter 225
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435. For purposes of this paragraph, the term "owner or 226
operator" means an owner, operator, superintendent, or principal 227
of, or a person with equivalent decisionmaking authority over, a 228
private school participating in a scholarship program 229
established pursuant to this chapter. The fingerprints for the 230
background screening must be electronically submitted to the 231
Department of Law Enforcement and may be taken by an authorized 232
law enforcement agency or a private company who is trained to 233
take fingerprints. However, the complete set of fingerprints of 234
an owner or operator may not be taken by the owner or operator. 235
The owner or operator shall provide a copy of the results of the 236
state and national crim inal history check to the Department of 237
Education. The cost of the background screening may be borne by 238
the owner or operator. 239
1. Every 5 years following employment or engagement to 240
provide services, each owner or operator must meet level 2 241
screening standards as described in s. 435.04, at which time the 242
owner or operator shall request the Department of Law 243
Enforcement to forward the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of 244
Investigation for level 2 screening. If the fingerprints of an 245
owner or operator are not retained by the Department of Law 246
Enforcement under subparagraph 2., the owner or operator must 247
electronically file a complete set of fingerprints with the 248
Department of Law Enforcement. Upon submission of fingerprints 249
for this purpose, the owner or op erator shall request that the 250
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Department of Law Enforcement forward the fingerprints to the 251
Federal Bureau of Investigation for level 2 screening, and the 252
fingerprints shall be retained by the Department of Law 253
Enforcement under subparagraph 2. 254
2. Fingerprints submitted to the Department of Law 255
Enforcement as required by this paragraph must be retained by 256
the Department of Law Enforcement in a manner approved by rule 257
and entered in the statewide automated biometric identification 258
system authorized by s. 9 43.05(2)(b). The fingerprints must 259
thereafter be available for all purposes and uses authorized for 260
arrest fingerprints entered in the statewide automated biometric 261
identification system pursuant to s. 943.051. 262
3. The Department of Law Enforcement shall search all 263
arrest fingerprints received under s. 943.051 against the 264
fingerprints retained in the statewide automated biometric 265
identification system under subparagraph 2. Any arrest record 266
that is identified with an owner's or operator's fingerprints 267
must be reported to the owner or operator, who must report to 268
the Department of Education. Any costs associated with the 269
search shall be borne by the owner or operator. 270
4. An owner or operator who fails the level 2 background 271
screening is not eligible to par ticipate in a scholarship 272
program under this chapter. 273
5. In addition to the offenses listed in s. 435.04, a 274
person required to undergo background screening pursuant to this 275
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part or authorizing statutes may not have an arrest awaiting 276
final disposition fo r, must not have been found guilty of, or 277
entered a plea of nolo contendere to, regardless of 278
adjudication, and must not have been adjudicated delinquent for, 279
and the record must not have been sealed or expunged for, any of 280
the following offenses or any si milar offense of another 281
jurisdiction: 282
a. Any authorizing statutes, if the offense was a felony. 283
b. This chapter, if the offense was a felony. 284
c. Section 409.920, relating to Medicaid provider fraud. 285
d. Section 409.9201, relating to Medicaid fraud. 286
e. Section 741.28, relating to domestic violence. 287
f. Section 817.034, relating to fraudulent acts through 288
mail, wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic, or 289
photooptical systems. 290
g. Section 817.234, relating to false and fraudulent 291
insurance claims. 292
h. Section 817.505, relating to patient brokering. 293
i. Section 817.568, relating to criminal use of personal 294
identification information. 295
j. Section 817.60, relating to obtaining a credit card 296
through fraudulent means. 297
k. Section 817.61, rela ting to fraudulent use of credit 298
cards, if the offense was a felony. 299
l. Section 831.01, relating to forgery. 300
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m. Section 831.02, relating to uttering forged 301
instruments. 302
n. Section 831.07, relating to forging bank bills, checks, 303
drafts, or promissory notes. 304
o. Section 831.09, relating to uttering forged bank bills, 305
checks, drafts, or promissory notes. 306
p. Section 831.30, relating to fraud in obtaining 307
medicinal drugs. 308
q. Section 831.31, relating to the sale, manufacture, 309
delivery, or possession wi th the intent to sell, manufacture, or 310
deliver any counterfeit controlled substance, if the offense was 311
a felony. 312
6. At least 30 calendar days before a transfer of 313
ownership of a private school, the owner or operator shall 314
notify the parent of each schol arship student. 315
7. The owner or operator of a private school that has been 316
deemed ineligible to participate in a scholarship program 317
pursuant to this chapter may not transfer ownership or 318
management authority of the school to a relative in order to 319
participate in a scholarship program as the same school or a new 320
school. For purposes of this subparagraph, the term "relative" 321
means father, mother, son, daughter, grandfather, grandmother, 322
brother, sister, uncle, aunt, cousin, nephew, niece, husband, 323
wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, 324
brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, 325
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stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, or half 326
sister. 327
(q) Provide a report from an independent certified public 328
accountant who performs the agreed -upon procedures developed 329
pursuant to s. 1002.395(6)(q) if the private school receives 330
more than $250,000 in funds from scholarships awarded under this 331
chapter in a state fiscal year. A private school subject to this 332
subsection must annually submit the report by September 15 to 333
the scholarship-funding organization that awarded the majority 334
of the school's scholarship funds. The agreed -upon procedures 335
must be conducted in accordance with attestation standards 336
established by the A merican Institute of Certified Public 337
Accountants. 338
(r) Prohibit education support employees, instructional 339
personnel, and school administrators from employment in any 340
position that requires direct contact with students if the 341
personnel or administrators are ineligible for such employment 342
pursuant to this section or s. 1012.315, or have been terminated 343
or have resigned in lieu of termination for sexual misconduct 344
with a student. If the prohibited conduct occurs subsequent to 345
employment, the private school must report the person and the 346
disqualifying circumstances to the department for inclusion on 347
the disqualification list maintained pursuant to s. 348
1001.10(4)(b). 349
(s) Not be owned or operated by a person or an entity 350
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domiciled in, owned by, or in any way c ontrolled by a foreign 351
country of concern or foreign principal as defined in s. 352
288.860. A violation of this paragraph constitutes an imminent 353
threat to the health, safety, and welfare of the school's 354
students and to the public, sufficient to justify immed iate 355
suspension of payment of scholarship funds under paragraph 356
(3)(e), as well as denial, suspension, or revocation of a 357
school's participation in a scholarship program under paragraph 358
(3)(b). 359
(t) Publish on the school's website, and provide to 360
parents in a written format, a clear and easy to understand 361
disclosure of any conditions of attendance or policies of the 362
school that require compliance with: 363
1. Religious tenants. 364
2. A student code of conduct or dress code which specifies 365
grooming or hair style requirements. 366
3. Provisions related to sexual orientation or gender 367
identity. 368
(u) Beginning February 28, 2026, and annually on February 369
28 and thereafter, disclose to the school district the number of 370
vacant seats the school intends to offer to el igible scholarship 371
students during the subsequent school year. 372
(v) Disclose to the department when a student is 373
disenrolled by the school. This paragraph does not apply to a 374
student removed at a parent's choosing. 375
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(w) Return to the department or an eli gible nonprofit 376
scholarship-funding organization, as appropriate, a prorated 377
amount of funds, as determined by the department, for students 378
who disenroll from the private school midyear and enroll in a 379
public school, including a charter school. 380
381
The department shall suspend the payment of funds to a private 382
school that disenrolls, without the parents' consent, more than 383
25 percent of scholarship students within a single school year 384
or knowingly fails to comply with this subsection, and shall 385
prohibit the school from enrolling new scholarship students, for 386
1 fiscal year and until the school complies. If a private school 387
fails to meet the requirements of this subsection or has 388
consecutive years of material exceptions listed in the report 389
required under paragra ph (q), the commissioner may determine 390
that the private school is ineligible to participate in a 391
scholarship program. 392
Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) and subsection 393
(14) of section 1011.62, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 394
1011.62 Funds for operation of schools. —If the annual 395
allocation from the Florida Education Finance Program to each 396
district for operation of schools is not determined in the 397
annual appropriations act or the substantive bill implementing 398
the annual appropriations ac t, it shall be determined as 399
follows: 400
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(1) COMPUTATION OF THE BASIC AMOUNT TO BE INCLUDED FOR 401
OPERATION.—The following procedure shall be followed in 402
determining the annual allocation to each district for 403
operation: 404
(b) Determination of base student allocation. —The base 405
student allocation for the Florida Education Finance Program for 406
kindergarten through grade 12 shall be determined annually by 407
the Legislature and shall be that amount prescribed in the 408
current year's General Appropriations Act. The Legislature must 409
determine the base student allocation using the Consumer Price 410
Index. 411
(14) CLASSROOM TEACHER AND OTHER INSTRUCTIONAL PERSONNEL 412
SALARY INCREASE.—The Legislature shall annually apportion an 413
amount of funds provided in the Florida Education Finance 414
Program to assist school districts and charter schools in their 415
compliance with the requirement to meet that the minimum base 416
salary for full-time classroom teachers, as defined in s. 417
1012.01(2)(a), and certified p rekindergarten teachers funded in 418
the Florida Education Finance Program is at least $47,500 or to 419
provide salary increases to instructional personnel, as defined 420
in s. 1012.01(2)(a)-(d), in a manner that best meets the needs 421
of the school district or chart er school. This subsection does 422
not apply to substitute teachers. The amount and distribution 423
methodology for the funding shall be specified in the General 424
Appropriations Act. 425
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(a) The term "minimum base salary" means the lowest annual 426
base salary reported on the salary schedule for a full -time 427
classroom teacher. The minimum base salary must annually be 428
adjusted to be higher of: 429
1. The national average for a full -time classroom teacher; 430
or 431
2. Ten percent higher than the minimum base salary in the 432
salary schedule for the previous year. 433
434
A full-time classroom teacher may not receive a salary less than 435
the minimum base salary as adjusted by this subsection. 436
(b) A school district or charter school shall maintain the 437
minimum base salary achieved for classr oom teachers provided in 438
the prior fiscal year and may not reduce the salary increases in 439
any subsequent fiscal year. 440
(c) Before distributing any additional funds received over 441
the prior fiscal year, each school district and each charter 442
school shall develop a salary distribution plan that clearly 443
delineates the planned distribution of funds in accordance with 444
modified salary schedules, as necessary, for the implementation 445
of this subsection. 446
1. Each school district superintendent and each charter 447
school administrator must submit its proposed salary 448
distribution plan to the district school board or the charter 449
school governing body, as appropriate, for approval. 450
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2. Each school district shall submit the approved district 451
salary distribution plan and the approved salary distribution 452
plan for each charter school in the district to the department 453
by October 1 of each fiscal year. 454
(d) Beginning August 1, 2024, and each year thereafter, in 455
a format specified by the department, each school district shall 456
provide a report to the department that includes a detailed 457
summary explaining the school district's prior year's 458
expenditures pursuant to this subsection. The report must 459
include the amount of the increase to the minimum base salary 460
for classroom teachers an d the school district's salary schedule 461
for the prior fiscal year and the fiscal year in which the base 462
salary is increased. Each charter school governing board shall 463
submit the information required under this subparagraph to the 464
district school board for inclusion in the school district's 465
report to the department. 466
(e) Although district school boards and charter school 467
governing boards are not precluded from bargaining over wages, 468
the classroom teacher and other instructional personnel salary 469
increase must be used solely to comply with the requirements of 470
this subsection. A district school board or charter school 471
governing board that is unable to meet the reporting 472
requirements in paragraph (d) due to a collective bargaining 473
impasse must provide written no tification to the department or 474
the district school board, as applicable, detailing the reasons 475
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for the impasse with a proposed timeline and details for a 476
resolution. 477
Section 3. Section 1011.761, Florida Statutes, is created 478
to read: 479
1011.761 K-12 Classroom Technology Grant Program. —There is 480
established the K-12 Classroom Technology Grant Program to be 481
administered by the Department of Education. The purpose of the 482
program is to provide grants to K -12 public schools, including 483
charter schools, to enab le schools to purchase or update 484
technology within its classrooms or per student. 485
(1) The department shall establish an application process 486
for schools to apply for a grant through the program. Grants 487
shall be awarded on first come, first served basis. 488
(2) Funding for the program shall be as provided in the 489
General Appropriations Act. The amount of each grant award shall 490
be determined by the department. 491
(3) The State Board of Education may adopt rules to 492
administer this program. 493
Section 4. Section 1011.781, Florida Statutes, is created 494
to read: 495
1011.781 K-12 Education Funding Task Force. — 496
(1) The K-12 Education Funding Task Force, a task force as 497
defined in s. 20.03, is created within the Department of 498
Education to: 499
(a) Make recommendations t o identify and examine issues 500
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within nontraditional schools that receive state funds. 501
(b) Provide recommendations for increased transparency 502
with such schools. 503
(c) Provide recommendations for universal standards for 504
the use of public dollars in educati on. 505
(d) Provide recommendations for accountability measures 506
for nontraditional schools that fail to meet specified 507
requirements. 508
(2)(a) The task force shall be comprised of 16 members 509
appointed as follows: 510
1. Six members appointed by the Commission er of Education 511
as follows: 512
a. One member who is a behavioral health professional who 513
specializes in childhood behavioral disabilities. 514
b. One member who is a health professional who specializes 515
in childhood developmental disabilities. 516
c. One member who is a school safety specialist. 517
d. One member who is a certified school counselor, child 518
psychologist, or social worker. 519
e. One member who is an English for Speakers of Other 520
Languages representative. 521
f. One member who has experience with the stat e's academic 522
standards and curriculum transparency requirements. 523
2. The Chief Executive Officer of the Florida Association 524
of District School Superintendents or his or her designee. 525
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3. One member who is selected by the Florida Education 526
Association. 527
4. One member who is selected by the Minority Leader of 528
the House of Representatives. 529
5. One member who is selected by the Minority Leader of 530
the Senate. 531
6. Three members who are selected by the Speaker of the 532
House of Representatives. 533
7. Three members who are selected by the President of the 534
Senate. 535
(b) Members shall serve 4 -year terms. However, for the 536
purpose of staggered terms of the initial appointments, seven 537
members shall be appointed for 2 -year terms and nine members 538
shall be appointed for 4 -year terms. 539
(c) The chair of the task force shall be selected by a 540
majority vote of members. A majority of the members of the task 541
force constitutes a quorum. 542
(d) The task force shall meet as necessary to accomplish 543
its responsibilities or at the call of the chair and at a time 544
and a place designated by the chair. The task force may conduct 545
its meetings through teleconferences or other similar means. 546
Members of the task force are entitled to receive a 547
reimbursement for per diem and travel expenses purs uant to s. 548
112.061. 549
(3) The task force shall develop recommendations for 550
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establishing universal standards for the use of public funds in 551
the public education system and in nontraditional schools and 552
improve public integrity of such funding. 553
(4) The task force shall identify and examine: 554
(a) All nontraditional schools that receive state funds. 555
(b) The number of students disenrolled by such schools 556
receiving state funds. Such examination does not include 557
students who are disenrolled at the request of their parents. 558
(c) The number of students disenrolled from such schools 559
at the parents' request. 560
(d) The areas in which schools receiving state funds lack 561
transparency, including, but not limited to, such schools' high 562
school graduation rates, disclosu re of any conditions of 563
attendance or policies that require compliance with religious 564
tenants, student codes of conduct or dress codes which specify 565
grooming or hair style requirements, and policies related to 566
sexual orientation or gender identity. 567
(e) The impacts of the lack of transparency in the areas 568
identified in paragraph (d). 569
(f) The disciplinary data for such schools, including the 570
number of students expelled or suspended and the reasons for 571
such expulsions or suspensions. 572
(g) The quality of t he curricula and instructional 573
materials of such schools and the parental access to such 574
curricula and instructional materials. 575
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(h) The experience and credentials of educators at such 576
schools. 577
(i) Data of students enrolled at such schools, including 578
student achievement, learning gains, and acceleration success 579
data. 580
(j) Any information or data provided from parents of 581
students enrolled at such schools. 582
(k) Possible accountability measures for nontraditional 583
schools that fail to meet accountability m easures. 584
(5) The task force shall, beginning October 1, 2026, and 585
annually on October 1 thereafter, provide a report to the 586
Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House 587
of Representatives, and the Minority Leaders of the Senate and 588
the House of Representatives and make such report available to 589
the public. The report must include: 590
(a) A summary of the task force's activities and progress 591
in identifying and examining the information in subsection (4). 592
(b) Any statutory or rule changes necessary to accomplish 593
the goals of the task force. 594
(c) Proposed accountability measures for nontraditional 595
schools that receive state funds, including, but not limited to, 596
bond or surety requirements, assigning property to the state, 597
and the imposition of liens. 598
Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 599