Florida Senate - 2025 CS for SB 1708 By the Committee on Education Pre-K - 12; and Senators Calatayud and Gruters 581-03085-25 20251708c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to education; amending s. 1002.333, 3 F.S.; revising the definition of the term 4 persistently low-performing school; authorizing 5 certain entities to report their students directly to 6 the Department of Education; making a technical 7 change; revising the procedure followed by schools of 8 hope in seeking to use certain school district 9 educational facilities; authorizing schools of hope in 10 certain counties to colocate with other public schools 11 in certain facilities; requiring that students 12 enrolled in schools of hope be included in specified 13 school district calculations; prohibiting a rental or 14 leasing fee from being charged to a school of hope; 15 requiring maintenance of a facility to be provided to 16 a school of hope at a mutually agreeable cost not to 17 exceed a specified amount; providing requirements for 18 a mutual management agreement; requiring a school of 19 hope to receive noninstructional services from a 20 school district on a pro rata basis; providing an 21 effective date. 22 23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 24 25 Section 1.Paragraph (c) of subsection (1), paragraph (a) 26 of subsection (6), paragraphs (a) and (d) of subsection (7), and 27 paragraph (c) of subsection (11) of section 1002.333, Florida 28 Statutes, are amended to read: 29 1002.333Persistently low-performing schools. 30 (1)DEFINITIONS.As used in this section, the term: 31 (c)Persistently low-performing school means a school 32 that falls into any of the following categories: 33 1.A school that Has earned three grades lower than a C, 34 pursuant to s. 1008.34, in at least 3 of the previous 5 years 35 that the school received a grade and has not earned a grade of 36 B or higher in the most recent 2 school years;, and 37 2.A school that Was closed pursuant to s. 1008.33(4) 38 within 2 years after the submission of a notice of intent; or 39 3.Was in the bottom 10 percent of schools statewide for 40 student performance on the grade 3 statewide, standardized 41 English Language Arts assessment or the grade 4 statewide, 42 standardized Mathematics assessment in at least 2 of the 43 previous 3 years. 44 (6)STATUTORY AUTHORITY. 45 (a)A school of hope or a nonprofit entity that operates 46 more than one school of hope through a performance-based 47 agreement with a school district may be designated as a local 48 education agency by the department, if requested, for the 49 purposes of receiving federal funds and, in doing so, accepts 50 the full responsibility for all local education agency 51 requirements and the schools for which it will perform local 52 education agency responsibilities. 53 1.A nonprofit entity designated as a local education 54 agency may directly report its students to the department in 55 accordance with the definitions in s. 1011.61 and pursuant to 56 the departments procedures and timelines. 57 2.Students enrolled in a school established by a hope 58 operator designated as a local educational agency are not 59 eligible students for purposes of calculating the district grade 60 pursuant to s. 1008.34(5). 61 (7)FACILITIES. 62 (a)A school of hope shall use facilities that comply with 63 the Florida Building Code, except for the State Requirements for 64 Educational Facilities. A school of hope that uses school 65 district facilities must comply with the State Requirements for 66 Educational Facilities only if the school district and the hope 67 operator have entered into a mutual management plan for the 68 reasonable maintenance of such facilities. The mutual management 69 plan shall contain a provision by which the district school 70 board agrees to maintain the school facilities in the same 71 manner as its other public schools within the district. The 72 local governing authority may shall not adopt or impose any 73 local building requirements or site-development restrictions, 74 such as parking and site-size criteria, student enrollment, and 75 occupant load, that are addressed by and more stringent than 76 those found in the State Requirements for Educational Facilities 77 of the Florida Building Code. A local governing authority must 78 treat schools of hope equitably in comparison to similar 79 requirements, restrictions, and site planning processes imposed 80 upon public schools. The agency having jurisdiction for 81 inspection of a facility and issuance of a certificate of 82 occupancy or use shall be the local municipality or, if in an 83 unincorporated area, the county governing authority. If an 84 official or employee of the local governing authority refuses to 85 comply with this paragraph, the aggrieved school or entity has 86 an immediate right to bring an action in circuit court to 87 enforce its rights by injunction. An aggrieved party that 88 receives injunctive relief may be awarded reasonable attorney 89 fees and court costs. 90 (d)1.No later than January 1, the department shall 91 annually provide to school districts a list of all underused, 92 vacant, or surplus facilities owned or operated by the school 93 district as reported in the Florida Inventory of School Houses. 94 A school district may provide evidence to the department that 95 the list contains errors or omissions within 30 days after 96 receipt of the list. By each April 1, the department shall 97 update and publish a final list of all underused, vacant, or 98 surplus facilities owned or operated by each school district, 99 based upon updated information provided by each school district. 100 A hope operator establishing a school of hope may submit to a 101 school district a notice of intent to use, and the school 102 district must negotiate an agreement authorizing the use of, an 103 educational facility identified in this paragraph at no cost or 104 at a mutually agreeable cost not to exceed $600 per student. A 105 hope operator using a facility pursuant to this paragraph may 106 not sell or dispose of such facility without the written 107 permission of the school district. For purposes of this 108 subparagraph paragraph, the term underused, vacant, or surplus 109 facility means an entire facility or portion thereof which is 110 not fully used or is used irregularly or intermittently by the 111 school district for instructional or program use. 112 2.A school of hope located in a county as defined in s. 113 125.011(1) may colocate with another public school in any 114 facility that has a utilization rate of less than 50 percent or 115 a surplus of at least 500 student stations if the combined total 116 enrollment of the school does not exceed the capacity of the 117 facility. Students enrolled in the school of hope must be 118 included in the school districts total capital outlay full-time 119 equivalent membership for purposes of s. 1013.62 and for 120 calculating the Public Education Capital Outlay maintenance 121 funds or any other maintenance funds for the facility. A rental 122 or leasing fee may not be charged, but the use, operation, and 123 maintenance of such facility must be provided to the school of 124 hope at a mutually agreeable cost, not to exceed $600 per 125 student, pursuant to a mutual management agreement negotiated 126 with the district school board. The agreement must include 127 provisions related to student ages and grade levels, student and 128 school safety requirements, supervision authority, applicable 129 school board rules, and emergency shelter protocols. To avoid 130 unnecessary duplication, the school of hope shall receive 131 noninstructional services from the school district on a pro rata 132 basis based on the number of students enrolled. 133 (11)STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION AUTHORITY AND OBLIGATIONS. 134 Pursuant to Art. IX of the State Constitution, which prescribes 135 the duty of the State Board of Education to supervise the public 136 school system, the State Board of Education shall: 137 (c)Resolve disputes between a hope operator and a school 138 district arising from a performance-based agreement, a mutual 139 management agreement, or a contract between a charter operator 140 and a school district under the requirements of s. 1008.33. The 141 Commissioner of Education shall appoint a special magistrate who 142 is a member of The Florida Bar in good standing and who has at 143 least 5 years experience in administrative law. The special 144 magistrate shall hold hearings to determine facts relating to 145 the dispute and to render a recommended decision for resolution 146 to the State Board of Education. The recommendation may not 147 alter in any way the provisions of the performance-based 148 agreement under subsection (5). The special magistrate may 149 administer oaths and issue subpoenas on behalf of the parties to 150 the dispute or on his or her own behalf. Within 15 calendar days 151 after the close of the final hearing, the special magistrate 152 shall transmit a recommended decision to the State Board of 153 Education and to the representatives of both parties by 154 registered mail, return receipt requested. The State Board of 155 Education must approve or reject the recommended decision at its 156 next regularly scheduled meeting that is more than 7 calendar 157 days and no more than 30 days after the date the recommended 158 decision is transmitted. The decision by the State Board of 159 Education is a final agency action that may be appealed to the 160 District Court of Appeal, First District in accordance with s. 161 120.68. A charter school may recover attorney fees and costs if 162 the State Board of Education determines that the school district 163 unlawfully implemented or otherwise impeded implementation of 164 the performance-based agreement pursuant to this paragraph. 165 Section 2.This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.