FSBA Session Spotlight — April 18, 2017

Today was a very full day of consideration of significant bills, but one of today’s highlights was action on a bill in the Senate PreK-12 Education Appropriations Subcommittee. Senator Simmons proposed a lengthy amendment to SB 1552 (relating to the Best & Brightest Teacher and Principal Scholarships) that revises and adds components of current school improvement and accountability measures.  Senator Simmons characterized his amendment as a work in progress and as a first step in addressing the issue of improving low performing schools.  Senator Simmons stated that the amendment was offered with a sense of urgency to address this problem and because it seemed that the out of state charter school operators and strategies envisioned by the House in HB 5105 (relating to Schools of Hope) would be unable to fully address the needs of these schools and he emphasized the need to maintain school district oversight and responsibility for these schools to the extent possible under the Rules approved by the State Board of Education.

In brief, this amendment:

• Expands the existing early warning system so that strategies will apply to grades 1-8 (rather than only grades 6-8) and revises early warning indicators;
• Provides that an Educational Emergency exists when one or more district schools has a school grade of D or is in danger of earning a grade of F;
• In cases of an Educational Emergency, requires the board to pursue negotiations with the appropriate bargaining unit that must result in a memorandum of understanding that addresses the selection, placement, and expectations of instructional personnel and school administrators;
• Substantially revises the current list of intervention and support strategies for turnaround schools to provide that the available turnaround options include one or a combination of the following options, giving priority to the first three options:
  • Implement an extended school day with at least 1 hour of additional learning time;
  • Enter into a formal agreement with a nonprofit organization with tax exempt status to implement an integrated student support service model that provides students and families with access to wrap-around services, including, but not limited to, health services, after-school programs, drug-prevention programs, college and career readiness, and food and clothing banks. Districts implementing this option may be eligible for additional funding as provided in the General Appropriations Act.
  • Implement a principal autonomy program school, through a performance contract and in accordance with proposal elements, criteria, and timelines established by the state board specifically tailored for a turnaround school. A school district using this option for its turnaround school is eligible to participate in, and receive the benefits of, the principal autonomy program for only the turnaround school.
  • Contract as a conversion charter school or with an outside entity that has a demonstrated record of effectiveness to operate the school;
  • Reassign students to another school and monitor the progress of each reassigned student; and
  • Close the school and reopen the school as one or more charter schools, each with a governing board that has a demonstrated record of effectiveness.

The amendment provides a clear counter-point to the strategies outlined in HB 5105 and acknowledges the need for additional focused instruction time, wrap-around services, flexibility, and funding as integral parts of a turnaround plan. However, as Senator Simmons stated, this amendment is a “work in progress” and he invited discussion and suggestions for improvement.  Even so, the bill, as amended, received unanimous bipartisan approval by the Subcommittee today.  Please note that the bill still has two more committees of reference – the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Senate Rules Committee — where further changes could be considered.

As a Call to Action, we ask you share the amendment with your district staff and others and seek their feed-back, as appropriate.  We also urge you to contact the members of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on PreK-12 Education, and especially Senator Simmons, to express your support for this effort to assist struggling students and schools.

As usual, we have provided a report below on the bills of interest that were considered today as well as the meeting schedule and bills that will be under consideration tomorrow. Please note that SB 926 relating to Assessments will be under consideration in the Senate Rules Committee tomorrow afternoon.  This is the bill that was significantly amended earlier this month in the Senate Education Committee to include several provisions that FSBA supports. The bill is summarized below in our Coming Up Tomorrow tab (second to the last bill listed).

[toggle title=”Today’s Happenings – April 18, 2017“]

In the House Appropriations Committee meeting:

HB 1235 — Military and Veteran Support by C. Latvala – AMENDED; PASSED
The bill adds to and revises various benefits available to active duty service-members and veterans of the United States Armed Forces with regard to rental applications, veteran-owned businesses, employment of military spouses, and student veteran support. Specifically, the bill:

• Requires expedited processing of a housing rental application, if required, for a military service-member’s spouse and other adult dependents who plan to reside in the same rental unit;
• Requires the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs (FDVA) to create a website to streamline the procedure for applying for certification as a veteran business enterprise;
• Authorizes the Florida Supreme Court to admit the spouse of a military service-member to practice law in this state provided that the Florida Board of Bar Examiners certifies that the spouse meets certain criteria;
• Requires the Department of Education (DOE) to expedite the processing of educator certification requests for the spouse of a military service-member and extends the validity period of a temporary educator certificate for two additional years; and
• Provides legislative intent regarding the collaboration between the State Board of Education and the Board of Governors on issues related to academic credit for military training and coursework, student progression and success, and student services.

[NOTE: Today’s amendment provided an appropriation for the FDVA to create a website. This was the second of three committees of reference for this bill. The Senate companion bill – SB 1588 – is similar and has passed two of three committees of reference.]

In the Senate Session:
Bills on 2^nd Reading
SB 148 – Students Remaining on School Grounds During School Hours by Garcia – READ 2^ND TIME; PLACED ON 3^RD READING FOR 4/19/17
The bill authorizes district school boards to adopt policies for allowing students to leave school grounds during school hours, with some exceptions. Specifically, the bill:

• Clarifies that district school board procedures for granting permission for students to leave school grounds during school hours includes the school lunch period; and
• Provides that in a district that has more than 100,000 students in prekindergarten through grade 12, a school may not permit a student to leave school grounds for the lunch period unless the student’s parent has, in writing, consented for his or her child to leave school grounds during the lunch period for the school year.

[NOTE: The House companion bill – HB 85 – is similar but has not been heard in any of three committees of reference.]

In the House Session:
Bills on 2^nd Reading
HB 7085 – Workers’ Compensation by Burgess – READ 2^ND TIME; AMENDED; PLACED ON 3^RD READING
Workers’ compensation is the injured employee’s remedy for “compensable” workplace injuries. Employees generally cannot sue a covered employer for workplace injuries. Florida courts have recently found multiple parts of the workers’ compensation law unconstitutional in the areas of carrier paid injured worker attorney fees, time limits on temporary wage replacement benefits, and the right of an injured worker to pay for their own attorney. For these and other reasons, the Office of Insurance Regulation ordered a rate increase of 14.5% effective December 1, 2017. In order to comply with court rulings and also reduce costs, the bill makes the following changes to the workers’ compensation law:

• Permits direct payment of attorneys by or for claimants.
• Increases total combined temporary wage replacement benefits (TTD/TPD) from104 weeks to 260 weeks.
• Fills a benefit gap that happens when TTD/TPD ends, but the injured worker is not at overall maximum medical improvement and/or no overall permanent impairment rating.
• Allows a Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) to award an hourly fee that departs from the statutory percentage based attorney fee schedule.
  • This is only permitted if the statutory fee is less than 40% or greater than 125% of the hourly rate customarily charged in the local community by defense attorneys, with the JCC determining the relevant facts.
  • If the departure fee is allowed, the JCC determines the hourly rate, not to exceed $150 per hour, using statutory factors and the number of necessary attorney hours.
• Makes the injured worker responsible for any remaining attorney fees if required by their retainer agreement; the retainer agreements must be filed with the JCCs, but are not subject to JCC approval.
• Allows insurers to uniformly reduce premiums by no more than 5 percent, if they file an informational-only notice within 30 days, subject to regulatory oversight.
• Creates a mechanism to fill vacancies on the Three-Member Panel; grants the Panel authority to fill gaps in statutory reimbursement when adopting schedules of maximum reimbursement allowances for medical care.
• Requires a good faith effort by the claimant and their attorney to resolve disputes prior to filing a petition for benefits; mandates a specified notice regarding attorney fees be signed by the claimant; increases the requirements applicable to petitions for benefits; eliminates carrier paid attorney fees for services occurring before the filing a petition; attaches attorney fees 45 days (rather than 30 days) following the filing of a petition; requires a JCC to dismiss a petition for lack of specificity, without prejudice, within 10 days or 20 days, depending upon whether a hearing is required.
• Eliminates the charge based reimbursement of health care facility outpatient medical care in favor of reimbursing them at 200% (unscheduled care) and 160% (scheduled surgery) of Medicare. If no Medicare fee exists, then current reimbursement standards apply, which are incorporated into statute.
• Requires the authorization or denial of medical care authorization requests, unless there is a material deficiency.
• Provides for collecting additional information on attorney fees.

[NOTE: Today’s amendments were generally clarifying and technical amendments. The Senate companion bill – SB 1582 – is comparable and has passed two of three committees of reference.]

HB 599 – Public Works Projects by Williamson – READ 2^ND TIME; PLACED ON 3^RD READING
State contracts for construction projects that are projected to cost in excess of $200,000 must be competitively bid. Counties, municipalities, special districts, or other political subdivisions, including school board, seeking to construct or improve a public building must competitively bid the project if the estimated cost exceeds $300,000. The bill creates a new section of law relating to public works projects. The bill defines terms and prohibits the state or a political subdivision, except when required by state or federal law, from requiring a contractor, subcontractor, or material supplier or carrier engaged in a public works project to:

• Pay employees a predetermined amount of wages or prescribe any wage rate;
• Provide employees a specified type, amount, or rate of employee benefits;
• Control, limit, or expand staffing; or
• Recruit, train, or hire employees from a designated, restricted, or single source.

In addition, the bill provides that the state or a political subdivision that contracts for a public works project may not prohibit a contractor, subcontractor, or material supplier or carrier from submitting a bid on the project if such individual is otherwise qualified to do the work described. This provision does not apply to vendors that have been convicted of a public entity crime or have been found to have committed discrimination.  In addition, the bill’s prohibitions apply only to public works projects of which 50% or more of the cost will be paid from state-appropriated funds that were appropriated at the time of the competitive solicitation.
[NOTE: The Senate companion bill – SB 534 – is identical and has passed two of three committees of reference.]

HB 7101 – K-12 Education/Charter Schools by PreK-12 Innovation – READ 2^ND TIME; AMENDED; PLACED ON 3^RD READING
The bill makes several revisions to current policies relating to charter schools and related issues. The bill:

• Revises the date a sponsor must receive all charter school applications from August 1, to February 1, beginning in 2018, for a charter school to open 18 months later or at a time agreed to by the applicant and the sponsor.
• Removes the provision allowing a charter school applicant to submit a draft application to a sponsor for review.
• Increases the amount of time the sponsor has to approve or deny an application from 60 to 90 days.
• Requires the sponsor and the charter school governing board to use the standard charter contract which incorporates the approved application and any addenda approved with the application but specifies that any term or condition of a proposed contract that differs from the standard contract shall be presumed a limitation on charter school flexibility.
• Allows a high-performing charter school to establish more than one charter school a year only if it chooses to operate in and serve students from an area where a school is subject to differentiated accountability.
• Provides a high-performing charter school whose application has been denied a hearing by requiring that an appeal of such denial be brought before the Charter School Appeals Commission.
• Clarifies that a high-performing system may replicate a school in any district in the state and establishes a streamlined high-performing standard application form for replicating a high-performing charter school.
• Requires the high-performing standard application form to:
  • contain goals and objectives for improving and measuring student learning;
  • contain an annual financial plan for each year requested by the charter for operation of the school for up to 5 years;
  • disclose the name of each applicant, governing board member and all proposed education services providers, the name and sponsor of any charter school operated by each applicant, each governing board member and each proposed education services provider that has closed and the reasons for the closure and the academic and financial history of such charter schools, which the sponsor shall consider in deciding whether to approve or deny the application.
•  Deletes the list of specific services that charter school cooperative agreements may provide and instead allows charter schools to enter into cooperative agreements to further any educational, operational or administrative purposes in which participating charter schools share common interests. 
• Authorizes a nonprofit organization or municipality that operates a charter school to use unrestricted surplus operating funds, unrestricted surplus capital outlay funds, or unrestricted net assets identified in the charter school’s annual audit may be used for other charter schools in the district operated by the not-for-profit or municipal entity.
• Specifies language regarding administrative fees for charter schools, high-performing charter schools and charter school systems and removes the restrictions on eligible expenditures of the funds resulting from the difference between the total calculated amount of administrative fees and the amount the district may withhold.
• Requires charter schools to annually complete and submit a survey to rate the timeliness and effectiveness of administrative services provided by sponsors. The Department of Education must develop and administer the survey, compile the results by district and include them in the annual authorizer report. 
• Revises LEA eligibility status by removing the requirements that a system of charter schools include both conversion and non-conversion charter schools and the system does not contract with a for-profit service provider for management of school operations.
• Allows a charter school system’s governing board to be designated as an LEA for purposes of receiving federal funds for all schools within a school district that are established under the turnaround option and are under the jurisdiction of the governing board. 
• Removes the provision that charter school student performance data be compared to student performance data of traditional public schools. 
• Requires a high school to include, in its graduation rate, a student who transfers from the high school to a private school with which the school district has a contractual relationship.  
• Allows the use of concordant scores, in addition to assessment scores or comparable scores, in determining an alternative school’s school improvement rating. 
• Provides that any facility or portion of a facility used to house a charter school is exempt from ad valorem taxes.
• Provides that specified entities — including a library, community service, museum, performing arts, theatre, cinema, church, Florida College System institution, college, and university — may provide space to charter schools within their facilities under their preexisting zoning and land use designations and clarifies that the charter school within such entities shall not have to obtain any special exception, rezoning, land use charter, or other approval. 
• Removes the requirement that students at both traditional public schools and charter schools receive online instruction in a classroom setting in a blended learning course. 
• Revises the requirement that a student must be enrolled in grade 5 or 6 to be eligible to enroll in the College-Preparatory Boarding Academy Pilot Program to allow any student currently enrolled in grades 5-12 to be eligible to enter the program, if the operator determines that a seat is available.
• Requires school districts to provide Title I funds directly to all eligible schools and limits the amount of Title I funds that a district may withhold as follows:
  • 1% for parent involvement.
  • A necessary and reasonable amount for administration not to exceed 8%.
  • A reasonable and necessary amount to provide homeless programs, delinquent and neglected programs, and private school equitable services.
• Provides that all remaining Title I funds must be distributed to all eligible schools in accordance with federal law and regulation.
• Provides that schools may participate in district-wide or district sponsored initiatives by paying a proportionate share of Title I funds to the school district.
• Clarifies when the controlled open enrollment process applies to charter schools;
• Clarifies that charter schools, including their governing body and employees, are subject to the same waiver of sovereign immunity in tort actions as the state, state agencies and or subdivisions but clarifies that these protections do not extend to any for-profit entity contracted by the charter school or its governing body.
• Deletes language regarding federal funds that conflicts with federal requirements for the distribution of such funds;
• Renames the ACT Aspire assessment to the preliminary ACT;
• Removes the requirement that an eligible dual enrollment program be located and chartered in Florida and revises eligibility requirements for postsecondary institutions to participate in dual enrollment by requiring that the institution be accredited by any regional or national accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. DOE (rather than only the Commission of Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools or the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools); and
• Requires sponsors to notify a charter school if they intend to not renew a contract and provide the charter school with a hearing.

[NOTE: Today’s amendments addressed the use of unrestricted surplus funds by a non-profit or a municipality and tort liability.  This summary reflects these changes. The Senate companion bill – SB 1362 – is comparable, though not nearly as extensive as HB 7101.  It has passed one of three committees of reference.]

HB 15 – Educational Options by Sullivan – READ 2^ND TIME; AMENDED; PLACED ON 3^RD READING
The bill expands access to the Gardiner Scholarship Program (GSP) by:

• Including rare diseases, anaphylaxis, orthopedically impaired, deaf, visually impaired, dual sensory impaired, traumatic brain injured, other health impaired within the definition of disability or students medically diagnosed as hospital or homebound for more than six months;
• Providing that an IEP used to qualify for a scholarship does not need to be reviewed or revised within the past 12 months;
• Removing the requirement that a student be 3 or 4 years of age by September 1, before applying to the GSP;
• Allowing those who enter the program with a high-risk disability to remain in the program without being reassessed to document another eligible disability when they turn 6 years old; and
• Extending eligibility to any student who has an IEP written in Florida or in another state. A student with an IEP whose sole exceptionality is gifted is not eligible for a GSP.
• Including Florida hospitals as approved providers and expanding eligible uses of funds to include fees for services provided by:
• Members of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International; and
• A therapist certified by the Certification Board of Music Therapists or credentialed by the Art Therapy Credentials Boards.

The bill increases accountability by:

• Prohibiting parents, students or a provider of services from billing an insurance company, Medicaid or any other agency for the same services that are paid using GSP funds;
• Providing that a private school may not be eligible to participate in the program if its financial reports have consecutive years of material exceptions;
• Defining “inactive” to mean that no eligible expenditures have been made from the scholarship account and requiring that payments from the state into the account stop if the account has been inactive for two consecutive fiscal years. When an SFO verifies eligible expenditures have been made from the account, payments may resume based on available funds; and
• Providing that a scholarship account be closed and funds revert to the state (becoming available for other eligible students) if the account has been inactive for three consecutive years.
• Clarifies that, beginning with the 2017-2018 fiscal year, for students with a matrix, the GSP scholarship amount must be based on that matrix and revises the date that a private school’s agreed upon procedures report is due to the SFO annually by September 15.

 With regard to the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program (FTC), the bill

• Removes obsolete language regarding student eligibility and funding;
• Increases the base annual scholarship limits for students enrolled in eligible private schools from 82% of the unweighted FTE to:
  • 88% of unweighted FTE for grades K-5;
  • 92% of unweighted FTE for grades 6-8;
  • 96% of unweighted FTE for grades 9-12.
• Increases from $500 to $750 the amount of a transportation scholarship for a student who chooses a public school outside his or her district;
• Authorizes an SFO to make scholarship payments to eligible private schools by funds transfer. Payments must be approved by the parent before the funds are deposited and a parent may not designate an entity or individual associated with the participating private school as their attorney to approve a fund transfer.
• Permits a dependent child of a parent who is a member of the U.S. Armed Forces to apply for a scholarship at any time.
• Revises the date that a private school’s agreed upon procedures report is due to the SFO annually by September 15 and provides that a private school may be ineligible to participate if it has consecutive years of material exceptions identified in its report.
• Requires Department of Revenue to provide a copy of the denial or approval letter to the SFO within 10 days after approving or denying any of a specified list of transactions.

[NOTE: Today’s amendments restored the original due dates that specific reports must be submitted and revised the list of medical professionals that may diagnose a disability. This summary reflects the changes that were made today. The Senate companion bills – SB 902 & SB 1314 – are comparable and have passed one or more of their committees of reference.]

In the Senate PreK-12 Education Appropriations Subcommittee meeting:

SB 468 – Voluntary Prekindergarten Education by Stargel – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A CS
The bill revises provisions related to the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education (VPK) program and duties of the Just Read! Florida Office (Just Read! Florida). Specifically, the bill:

• Requires Just Read, Florida! to:
  • Train Voluntary Prekindergarten through grade 3 teachers, reading coaches, and school principals on effective research-based instructional strategies;
  •  Work with the Florida Center for Reading Research to develop and provide access to sequenced curriculum programming, instructional practices, and resources that help elementary schools use state-adopted instructional materials and content-rich texts to increase students’ background knowledge and literacy skills consistent with the state academic standards;
• Provides that the definition of a “public school prekindergarten provider” includes a charter school that is authorized to provide a prekindergarten program in its charter and that is eligible to deliver the school-year prekindergarten program or the summer prekindergarten program;
• Requires the Office of Early Learning (OEL) to determine eligibility for enrollment and reenrollment in the school year VPK program;
• Requires each early learning coalition (ELC) to coordinate with the OEL to assign student identification numbers to each student who enrolls in the program;
• Clarifies that the Department of Education (DOE) must adopt a single statewide kindergarten readiness screening that is a direct assessment of early literacy and numeracy skills;
• Requires private prekindergarten providers and public schools in the VPK program to provide parents with the results of the pre- and post- assessment within 10 days after the administering the assessment;
• Requires the results of the pre- and post- assessments to be reported at the aggregate level, distributed to the respective ELCs and school districts, and displayed on the OEL’s website within 30 days after the administration of the assessment;
• Beginning in the 2018-2019 school year, authorizes a child who is at risk of not attaining the performance standards specified in law to reenroll, at the request of the child’s parent, in one of the school-year programs offered by a provider that has met the adopted minimum readiness rate provided in law for the subsequent year. The prekindergarten program may report the child for funding purposes as a full-time equivalent student in the school-year program for which he or she is enrolled.

[NOTE:  The Committee took up a strike-all amendment that added duties to Just Read Florida!, revised definitions, revised timelines for re-enrollment, and removed an allocation.  This short summary reflects today’s changes.  This was the second of four committees of reference for this bill. The House companion bill – HB 757 – is similar and has passed one of three committees of reference.]

SB 808 – Maximum Class Size by Mayfield — PASSED
The bill revises the penalty calculation for public schools that fail to meet maximum class size requirements. Specifically, the bill:

• Modifies the penalty for exceeding maximum class size to be calculated at the school-wide average for all public schools, and
• Revises requirements for the compliance plan that noncompliant schools must submit to the Commissioner of Education.

[NOTE: This was the second of four committees of reference for this bill. The House companion bill – HB 591 – is similar, has passed all committees of reference, has passed the House, and has been sent to the Senate for consideration.]

SB 868 – Educational Options and Services by Baxley – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A CS
The bill expands educational options and services to prepare students for higher education and entry into the workforce. Specifically, the bill:

• Removes the eligibility criteria for students to participate in virtual instruction programs.
• Removes the requirement that student enrollment in a virtual instruction program be limited to a program provided by a school district or virtual charter school operated by the district in which the student resides.
• Clarifies that students with disabilities must be offered the option to pursue a scholar or merit designation, removes the option for a certificate of completion, and modifies the criteria to document mastery of academic and employment competencies.
• Requires an individualized progress monitoring plan be developed for all students in a juvenile justice education program, including those with disabilities.
• Adds the Chancellor of Career and Adult Education to the Higher Education Coordinating Council.
• Requires that any institution seeking initial or continued approval of a graduate-level teacher education program in a certification area that does not require a graduate degree must provide students the option to complete the initial preparation program at the bachelor’s level.
• Revises the dual enrollment program to clarify the description of career dual enrollment, authorize the Commissioner of Education to establish a statewide articulation agreement for the Florida Virtual School, and expand the rulemaking authority of the State Board of Education to specify rulemaking relating to student eligibility and participation, courses and programs, funding, and articulation agreements.
• Deems participants in on-the-job training activities administered by the Division of Blind Services and the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation as employees of the state for purposes of workers’ compensation coverage.

[NOTE: Today’s amendment was a technical amendment.  This was the second of three committees of reference for this bill. There is no direct House companion bill.]

SB 984 – Shared Use of Public School Playground Facilities by Bean – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A CS
The bill provides legislative intent to increase the number of school districts that open their playground facilities to community use outside of school hours to improve public access to recreational facilities and reduce the impact of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases on personal health and health care expenditures. Specifically, the bill:

• Establishes a Shared Use Task Force to identify barriers in creating shared use agreements and make recommendations to facilitate the shared use of school facilities generally and in high-need communities, specifies membership of the task force, and requires the task force to submit a report to the Legislature by October 1, 2017.
• Requires the Department of Education (DOE) to provide technical assistance to school districts regarding the shared use of school facilities.
• Requires DOE to establish guidelines for funding eligibility, if available, promote the availability of the funding statewide, provide technical assistance to applicants, evaluate applicants, determine allowable expenses, and disburse funding. If such funding is available, DOE must:
  • Annually post on its website and report to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives the expenditure of the funds used to administer these provisions;
  • Develop an application process for school districts to receive funding and specifies requirements the school district must meet;
  • Give funding priority to high-need communities.

[NOTE: Today’s amendment removed reference to available grant funding and revised DOE responsibilities to conform.  The short summary above reflects these changes.  This was the second of three committees of reference for this bill. The House companion bill – HB 1131 – is similar, has passed all committees of reference, and is on the House Calendar on 2^nd Reading.]

SB 1302 – Private School Student Participation in Extracurricular Activities by Gibson – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A CS
The bill revises eligibility requirements for certain private school students to participate in interscholastic or intra-scholastic sports. Specifically, the bill requires the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA), in cooperation with each district school board, to allow a student attending a private school that is not a member of the FHSAA to participate in interscholastic or intra-scholastic sports at a public school that a student could choose to attend pursuant to controlled open enrollment. [NOTE: Today’s amendment was a technical correction.  This was the second of four committees of reference for this bill. The House companion bill – HB 1109 – is similar, has passed all committees of reference, and is on the House Special Order Calendar.]

SB 1368 – Exceptional Students by Perry — PASSED
The bill removes the option for the school district receiving an exceptional student with a disability, who resides in a residential facility, to decline to provide or contract for educational instruction. In addition, the bill:

• Authorizes a parent to request and be granted permission for a student’s absence from school for treatment of autism spectrum disorder by a licensed health care practitioner.
• Requires each district school board to adopt an attendance policy authorizing a student’s absence for treatment of autism spectrum disorder.
• Revises an exemption relating to parental responsibility for nonattendance of a student to include treatment for autism spectrum disorder.

[NOTE: This was the second of four committees of reference for this bill. The House companion bill – HB 655 – is comparable, has passed all committees of reference, and is on the House Special Order Calendar.]

SB 1552 – Florida Best and Brightest Teacher and Principal Scholar Award Program by Simmons – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A CS
The bill provides eligibility criteria for a full-time classroom teacher and a full-time school administrator to qualify for the Award Program scholarship and for a newly hired full-time classroom teacher and full-time school administrator to qualify for a one-time hiring bonus. Specifically, the bill requires that to qualify for the Award Program a teacher or an administrator must:

• Be employed on an annual contract or probationary contract;
• Participate in the school district’s performance salary schedule;
• Meet one of the achievement requirements specified in the bill; and
• Meet one of the performance requirements specified in the bill, which include:
  • For existing teachers and administrators, a “highly effective” rating or commitment to working in a low-performing school for 3 years and a “highly effective” rating for 2 out of 3 years.
  • For newly hired teachers and administrators, graduation from or completion of a specified undergraduate program with a 3.0 grade point average, and commitment to working for three years in a Florida public school or critical teacher shortage area.

In addition, the bill requires the State Board of Education to expeditiously adopt rules to implement the Award Program.

[NOTE: Today’s amendment  added significant provisions relating to strategies to turn around low performing schools as a response to the provisions of HB 5105 relating to School Improvement/Schools of Hope (see discussion at the top of this report).  No changes were made to the provisions relating to the Best and Brightest Teacher and Principal Scholar Award Program.  This was the second of four committees of reference for this bill. There is no direct House companion bill but there are several bills that contain provisions comparable to the Best and Brightest provisions.]

SB 1598 – Education/Schools of Excellence/Certification/ by Brandes – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A CS
The bill establishes the Schools of Excellence Program to provide administrative flexibility to the state’s top schools and requires the State Board of Education to designate a school as a School of Excellence if the school’s percentage of possible points earned in its school grades calculation is in the 80th percentile or higher for schools within the same grade group (elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, or combination schools) for 2 of the last 3 school years. In order to qualify, the school must have data for each applicable school grade component. A school retains its designation as a School of Excellence for up to 3 years so long as it does not receive a school grade lower than a “B” during that span. The school may renew its designation for another 3 years if it remains in the 80th percentile or higher for 2 of the 3 years and does not receive a grade lower than a “B” in any of the years. A School of Excellence that receives a grade lower than “B” may not continue to be designated as a School of Excellence and loses its administrative flexibility during the remainder of the 3-year period. The bill provides the following administrative flexibilities to a School of Excellence:

• Exemption from any provision in law or rule that expressly requires a minimum period of daily or weekly instruction in a specified subject area.
• Principal autonomy under the Principal Autonomy Pilot Project Initiative (PAPPI).
• For instructional personnel, the substitution of 1 school year of employment at a School of Excellence for 20 inservice points toward the renewal of a professional certificate, up to 60 inservice points in a 5-year cycle.
• Exemption from district-set starting and stopping times for the school day.
• In addition, the bill grants to a principal newly assigned to a school with a school grade of “D” or “F” additional authority and responsibilities similar to those granted to principals at Schools of Excellence and at schools participating in the PAPPI. This section authorizes a school district to revoke the principal’s additional authority after the school year following the first school year the school achieves a school grade of “C” or higher.

The bill also addresses certification. The bill:

• Changes the name of the professional development certification and education competency program to the comprehensive teacher mentorship certification program;
• Requires DOE to issue a professional certificate to a temporary certificate holder who meets the requirements for a professional certificate, who completes a comprehensive teacher mentorship certification, and is rated highly effective under the district’s teacher evaluation system.
• Requires a comprehensive teacher mentorship certification program to include a mentorship and induction component, which must include, at minimum, weekly opportunities for mentoring and induction activities;
• Requires a teacher selected to serve as a peer mentor to complete specialized training in clinical supervision and participate in ongoing mentor training and requires this training be provided under the School Community Professional Development Act;
• Requires DOE to adopt standards for the approval of district developed comprehensive teacher mentorship certification programs by December 31, 2017 and specifies components of the program.
• Revises the list of acceptable means of demonstrating mastery of professional preparation and education competence certification requirements by adding enrollment in a state-approved teacher preparation program or a comprehensive teacher mentorship certification program within 90 days after the issuance of a temporary certificate.

In addition, the bill:

• Authorizes the Department of Corrections (DOC) to enter into a contract with a charter school, authorized to operate as part of the state’s program of public education, to provide education services for the Correctional Education Program.
• Removes a provision prohibiting state funds for the operation of postsecondary workforce programs from being used for the education of state or federal inmates;
• Specifies that a county in which a public or private postsecondary institution is located may authorize a public high school educational facility, including a charter school educational facility, which meets statutory requirements related to educational facilities, to be located on the postsecondary institution’s campus. In effect, this allows a county to authorize a public high school, unaffiliated with a postsecondary institution, to operate on a postsecondary institution’s campus.

[NOTE: Today’s amendments revise certification requirements, revises the authorized uses of funds for postsecondary workforce programs, and removes a provision relating to locating a high school on the campus of a postsecondary institution.  The short summary above reflects these changes.  This was the second of three committees of reference for this bill. The House companion – HB 1331 – is comparable, has passed all committees of reference, and is on the House Special Order Calendar.]

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[toggle title=”Coming Up Tomorrow – April 19, 2017“]

Please note that all of the meetings listed below may be viewed via live webcast on the Florida Channel. For real-time updates on these meetings and other legislative activities, please click HERE to access our Twitter feed.

The House Government Accountability Committee will meet (8:00 am-12:00 pm; 17 HOB) to consider the following item and others:

HB 139 – Local Tax Referenda by Ingoglia
The bill requires any referendum to levy a discretionary sales surtax, including a school infrastructure surtax, to be held during a general election or a primary election. If the referendum is held in a primary election, the referendum must be approved by 60 percent of electors voting on the ballot question. If the referendum is held in a general election, the referendum must be approved by a majority of electors voting on the ballot question. [NOTE: This is the last of three committees of reference for this bill. The Senate companion bill – SB 278 — is comparable and has passed two of three committees of reference.]

HB 1281 – Department of Management Services by Albritton
The bill creates the Statewide Procurement Efficiency Task Force, which includes a school board member, for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness and value of state and local procurement laws and policies to the taxpayers of the state and determining where inconsistencies in such laws and policies exist. The bill requires the task force to submit a final report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by July 1, 2018. Such report must, at a minimum, include recommendations for consideration by the Legislature to promote procurement efficiency, streamline procurement policies, establish best management practices, and encourage increased use of state term contracts. The bill provides that the task force terminates on December 31, 2018. [NOTE: This is the second of two committees of reference for this bill. The Senate companion bill – SB 1540 — is comparable and has passed two of three committees of reference.]

HB 1137 – Use of State Funds by Edwards
The bill revises the standard travel reimbursement rates applicable to all public officers, public employees, and other individuals whose travel is authorized and paid for by a public agency. The bill:

• Codifies the limit on the amount of actual expenses for lodging that may be reimbursed under certain circumstances set in 2016;
• Provides that when an employee of a state agency or the judicial branch is attending a meeting, conference, or convention organized or sponsored in whole or in part by a state agency or the judicial branch, the reimbursement for lodging expenses may not exceed $150 per day. However, an employee may expend his or her own funds for any lodging expenses in excess of the limit;
• Expands the current prohibitions on the use of state funds to include a prohibition on the use of state funds for the purchase of alcoholic beverages, and for the purchase of food or beverages for events related to state agency employee, board member, or vendor appreciation or recognition.

[NOTE: This is the last of three committees of reference for this bill. The Senate companion bill – SB 1668 — is comparable and has passed two of three committees of reference.]

HB 7065 – Local Government Fiscal Transparency by Ways & Means
The bill creates a new section of law — the “Local Government Fiscal Transparency Act” – to promote the fiscal transparency of local governments, including school boards, in their use of public funds. The bill requires easy public access to local government governing boards’ voting records related to tax increases and issuance of tax-supported debt (phased in over 4 years). The bill also requires easy online access to property tax TRIM notices and a 4-year history of property tax rates and amounts at the parcel level (phased in over 3 years). In addition, a 4-year history of property tax rates and total revenue generated at the jurisdiction level must be provided on government websites.

The bill requires additional public meetings and expands public notice requirements for local option tax increases, other than property taxes, and new long-term, tax-supported debt issuances. Public notices for proposed tax increases must contain information regarding the rate and total annual amount of revenue expected from a tax increase, the annual additional revenue expressed as a percent of annual general fund revenue, detailed explanation of intended uses of the levy, and an indication of whether or not the tax proceeds will be used to secure debt. Public notices for proposed new, long-term debt issuance must disclose the total lifetime costs of the debt, annual debt service, and effects of the new debt on a government’s debt affordability measures.

The bill requires local governments to conduct and consider a debt affordability analysis prior to approving the issuance of new, long-term tax-supported debt. The analysis would consist, at a minimum, of calculating a debt affordability ratio for the most recent five years and at least two projected years to gauge the effects of the proposed new debt issuance on the government’s debt service to revenue profile. The debt affordability ratio is the annual debt service for outstanding tax-supported debt divided by total annual revenues available to pay debt service on outstanding debt.

Under current law, local governments are required to have a CPA conduct an annual financial audit, if the Auditor General has not already scheduled an audit of the local government. The bill requires the auditor to report whether or not the local government is in compliance with the provisions of the new “Local Government Fiscal Transparency Act” and the Auditor General must request evidence of corrective action from local governments found not to be in compliance with the Act. Local governments must provide evidence that corrective action has been initiated within 45 days and evidence of completion within 180 days of such request. The Auditor General must report to the Legislative Auditing Committee local governments that do not take corrective action.

The bill revises the local government reporting requirements for economic development incentives. It requires each county and municipality to report to the Office of Economic and Demographic Research whether the incentive was provided directly to an individual business or by another entity on behalf of the local government and the source of local dollars, and any state or federal dollars obligated for the incentive. The bill also revises the classes of economic development incentives. It requires reporting on financial incentives; general assistance, services, and support; and business recruitment, retention, or expansion efforts.

[NOTE: This is the only committee of reference for this bill.  There is no Senate companion bill.]

The Senate will be in Session (10:00 am-12:00 pm; Senate Chamber) to consider the following items and others:
Bills on 3^rd Reading
SB 148 – Students Remaining on School Grounds During School Hours by Garcia
The bill authorizes district school boards to adopt policies for allowing students to leave school grounds during school hours, with some exceptions. Specifically, the bill:

• Clarifies that district school board procedures for granting permission for students to leave school grounds during school hours includes the school lunch period; and
• Provides that in a district that has more than 100,000 students in prekindergarten through grade 12, a school may not permit a student to leave school grounds for the lunch period unless the student’s parent has, in writing, consented for his or her child to leave school grounds during the lunch period for the school year.

[NOTE: The House companion bill – HB 85 – is similar but has not been heard in any of three committees of reference.]

Bills on 2^nd Reading
SB 1330 — Concealed Weapons and Firearms on Private School Property by Stargel
The bill provides that a person who is licensed to carry a concealed weapon or firearm under Florida law is not prohibited from carrying a concealed weapon or firearm on private school property during non-school hours, or during an event on that property that is not sanctioned by the school, if a religious institution is located on the property. [NOTE: The House companion bill – HB 849 – is similar, has passed all committees of reference, has passed the House, and has been sent to the Senate for consideration.  It is likely that these companion bills will be considered together.]

HB 392 – High School Graduation Requirements/Financial Literacy by Hukill
The bill creates the “Personal Financial Literacy Education Act” to specify financial literacy standards and instruction for students entering grade 9 in the 2017-2018 school year. Specifically, the bill revises the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards to establish requirements for financial literacy distinct from the existing financial literacy requirements specified under the economics curricular content within the standards for social studies. The bill also revises the requirements for a student to earn a standard high school diploma by:

• Establishing a separate one-half credit requirement in personal financial literacy;
• Deleting the requirement that the one-half credit in economics include financial literacy; and
• Reducing the number of required elective credits from eight to seven and one-half.

[NOTE: The House companion bill – HB 955 – is similar and has passed two of three committees of reference.]

The House will be in Session (1:00 pm – completion; House Chamber) to consider the following items and others:
Bills on 3^rd Reading
HB 7085 – Workers’ Compensation by Burgess
Workers’ compensation is the injured employee’s remedy for “compensable” workplace injuries. Employees generally cannot sue a covered employer for workplace injuries. Florida courts have recently found multiple parts of the workers’ compensation law unconstitutional in the areas of carrier paid injured worker attorney fees, time limits on temporary wage replacement benefits, and the right of an injured worker to pay for their own attorney. For these and other reasons, the Office of Insurance Regulation ordered a rate increase of 14.5% effective December 1, 2017. In order to comply with court rulings and also reduce costs, the bill makes the following changes to the workers’ compensation law:

• Permits direct payment of attorneys by or for claimants.
• Increases total combined temporary wage replacement benefits (TTD/TPD) from104 weeks to 260 weeks.
• Fills a benefit gap that happens when TTD/TPD ends, but the injured worker is not at overall maximum medical improvement and/or no overall permanent impairment rating.
• Allows a Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) to award an hourly fee that departs from the statutory percentage based attorney fee schedule.
  • This is only permitted if the statutory fee is less than 40% or greater than 125% of the hourly rate customarily charged in the local community by defense attorneys, with the JCC determining the relevant facts.
  • If the departure fee is allowed, the JCC determines the hourly rate, not to exceed $150 per hour, using statutory factors and the number of necessary attorney hours.
• Makes the injured worker responsible for any remaining attorney fees if required by their retainer agreement; the retainer agreements must be filed with the JCCs, but are not subject to JCC approval.
• Allows insurers to uniformly reduce premiums by no more than 5 percent, if they file an informational-only notice within 30 days, subject to regulatory oversight.
• Creates a mechanism to fill vacancies on the Three-Member Panel; grants the Panel authority to fill gaps in statutory reimbursement when adopting schedules of maximum reimbursement allowances for medical care.
• Requires a good faith effort by the claimant and their attorney to resolve disputes prior to filing a petition for benefits; mandates a specified notice regarding attorney fees be signed by the claimant; increases the requirements applicable to petitions for benefits; eliminates carrier paid attorney fees for services occurring before the filing a petition; attaches attorney fees 45 days (rather than 30 days) following the filing of a petition; requires a JCC to dismiss a petition for lack of specificity, without prejudice, within 10 days or 20 days, depending upon whether a hearing is required.
• Eliminates the charge based reimbursement of health care facility outpatient medical care in favor of reimbursing them at 200% (unscheduled care) and 160% (scheduled surgery) of Medicare. If no Medicare fee exists, then current reimbursement standards apply, which are incorporated into statute.
• Requires the authorization or denial of medical care authorization requests, unless there is a material deficiency.
• Provides for collecting additional information on attorney fees.

[NOTE: The Senate companion bill – SB 1582 – is comparable and has passed two of three committees of reference.]

HB 599 – Public Works Projects by Williamson
State contracts for construction projects that are projected to cost in excess of $200,000 must be competitively bid. Counties, municipalities, special districts, or other political subdivisions, including school board, seeking to construct or improve a public building must competitively bid the project if the estimated cost exceeds $300,000. The bill creates a new section of law relating to public works projects. The bill defines terms and prohibits the state or a political subdivision, except when required by state or federal law, from requiring a contractor, subcontractor, or material supplier or carrier engaged in a public works project to:

• Pay employees a predetermined amount of wages or prescribe any wage rate;
• Provide employees a specified type, amount, or rate of employee benefits;
• Control, limit, or expand staffing; or
• Recruit, train, or hire employees from a designated, restricted, or single source.

In addition, the bill provides that the state or a political subdivision that contracts for a public works project may not prohibit a contractor, subcontractor, or material supplier or carrier from submitting a bid on the project if such individual is otherwise qualified to do the work described. This provision does not apply to vendors that have been convicted of a public entity crime or have been found to have committed discrimination. The bill’s prohibitions apply only to public works projects of which 50% or more of the cost will be paid from state-appropriated funds that were appropriated at the time of the competitive solicitation. [NOTE: The Senate companion bill – SB 534 – is identical and has passed two of three committees of reference.]

HB 7101 – K-12 Education/Charter Schools by PreK-12 Innovation
The bill makes several revisions to current policies relating to charter schools and related issues. The bill:

• Revises the date a sponsor must receive all charter school applications from August 1, to February 1, beginning in 2018, for a charter school to open 18 months later or at a time agreed to by the applicant and the sponsor.
• Removes the provision allowing a charter school applicant to submit a draft application to a sponsor for review.
• Increases the amount of time the sponsor has to approve or deny an application from 60 to 90 days.
• Requires the sponsor and the charter school governing board to use the standard charter contract which incorporates the approved application and any addenda approved with the application but specifies that any term or condition of a proposed contract that differs from the standard contract shall be presumed a limitation on charter school flexibility.
• Allows a high-performing charter school to establish more than one charter school a year only if it chooses to operate in and serve students from an area where a school is subject to differentiated accountability.
• Provides a high-performing charter school whose application has been denied a hearing by requiring that an appeal of such denial be brought before the Charter School Appeals Commission.
• Clarifies that a high-performing system may replicate a school in any district in the state and establishes a streamlined high-performing standard application form for replicating a high-performing charter school.
• Requires the high-performing standard application form to:
  • contain goals and objectives for improving and measuring student learning;
  • contain an annual financial plan for each year requested by the charter for operation of the school for up to 5 years;
  • disclose the name of each applicant, governing board member and all proposed education services providers, the name and sponsor of any charter school operated by each applicant, each governing board member and each proposed education services provider that has closed and the reasons for the closure and the academic and financial history of such charter schools, which the sponsor shall consider in deciding whether to approve or deny the application.
• Deletes the list of specific services that charter school cooperative agreements may provide and instead allows charter schools to enter into cooperative agreements to further any educational, operational or administrative purposes in which participating charter schools share common interests.
• Authorizes a nonprofit organization or municipality that operates a charter school to use unrestricted surplus operating funds, unrestricted surplus capital outlay funds, or unrestricted net assets identified in the charter school’s annual audit may be used for other charter schools in the district operated by the not-for-profit or municipal entity.
• Specifies language regarding administrative fees for charter schools, high-performing charter schools and charter school systems and removes the restrictions on eligible expenditures of the funds resulting from the difference between the total calculated amount of administrative fees and the amount the district may withhold.
• Requires charter schools to annually complete and submit a survey to rate the timeliness and effectiveness of administrative services provided by sponsors. The Department of Education must develop and administer the survey, compile the results by district and include them in the annual authorizer report.
• Revises LEA eligibility status by removing the requirements that a system of charter schools include both conversion and non-conversion charter schools and the system does not contract with a for-profit service provider for management of school operations.
• Allows a charter school system’s governing board to be designated as an LEA for purposes of receiving federal funds for all schools within a school district that are established under the turnaround option and are under the jurisdiction of the governing board.
• Removes the provision that charter school student performance data be compared to student performance data of traditional public schools.
• Requires a high school to include, in its graduation rate, a student who transfers from the high school to a private school with which the school district has a contractual relationship.
• Allows the use of concordant scores, in addition to assessment scores or comparable scores, in determining an alternative school’s school improvement rating.
• Provides that any facility or portion of a facility used to house a charter school is exempt from ad valorem taxes.
• Provides that specified entities — including a library, community service, museum, performing arts, theatre, cinema, church, Florida College System institution, college, and university — may provide space to charter schools within their facilities under their preexisting zoning and land use designations and clarifies that the charter school within such entities shall not have to obtain any special exception, rezoning, land use charter, or other approval.
• Removes the requirement that students at both traditional public schools and charter schools receive online instruction in a classroom setting in a blended learning course.
• Revises the requirement that a student must be enrolled in grade 5 or 6 to be eligible to enroll in the College-Preparatory Boarding Academy Pilot Program to allow any student currently enrolled in grades 5-12 to be eligible to enter the program, if the operator determines that a seat is available.
• Requires school districts to provide Title I funds directly to all eligible schools and limits the amount of Title I funds that a district may withhold as follows:
  • 1% for parent involvement.
  • A necessary and reasonable amount for administration not to exceed 8%.
  • A reasonable and necessary amount to provide homeless programs, delinquent and neglected programs, and private school equitable services.
• Provides that all remaining Title I funds must be distributed to all eligible schools in accordance with federal law and regulation.
• Provides that schools may participate in district-wide or district sponsored initiatives by paying a proportionate share of Title I funds to the school district.
• Clarifies when the controlled open enrollment process applies to charter schools;
• Clarifies that charter schools, including their governing body and employees, are subject to the same waiver of sovereign immunity in tort actions as the state, state agencies and or subdivisions but clarifies that these protections do not extend to any for-profit entity contracted by the charter school or its governing body.
• Deletes language regarding federal funds that conflicts with federal requirements for the distribution of such funds;
• Renames the ACT Aspire assessment to the preliminary ACT;
• Removes the requirement that an eligible dual enrollment program be located and chartered in Florida and revises eligibility requirements for postsecondary institutions to participate in dual enrollment by requiring that the institution be accredited by any regional or national accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. DOE (rather than only the Commission of Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools or the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools); and
• Requires sponsors to notify a charter school if they intend to not renew a contract and provide the charter school with a hearing.

[NOTE: The Senate companion bill – SB 1362 – is comparable, though not nearly as extensive as HB 7101.  It has passed one of three committees of reference.]

HB 15 – Educational Options by Sullivan
The bill expands access to the Gardiner Scholarship Program (GSP) by:

• Including rare diseases, anaphylaxis, orthopedically impaired, deaf, visually impaired, dual sensory impaired, traumatic brain injured, other health impaired within the definition of disability or students medically diagnosed as hospital or homebound for more than six months;
• Providing that an IEP used to qualify for a scholarship does not need to be reviewed or revised within the past 12 months;
• Removing the requirement that a student be 3 or 4 years of age by September 1, before applying to the GSP;
• Allowing those who enter the program with a high-risk disability to remain in the program without being reassessed to document another eligible disability when they turn 6 years old; and
• Extending eligibility to any student who has an IEP written in Florida or in another state. A student with an IEP whose sole exceptionality is gifted is not eligible for a GSP.
• Including Florida hospitals as approved providers and expanding eligible uses of funds to include fees for services provided by:
• Members of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International; and
• A therapist certified by the Certification Board of Music Therapists or credentialed by the Art Therapy Credentials Boards.

 The bill increases accountability by:

• Prohibiting parents, students or a provider of services from billing an insurance company, Medicaid or any other agency for the same services that are paid using GSP funds;
• Providing that a private school may not be eligible to participate in the program if its financial reports have consecutive years of material exceptions;
• Defining “inactive” to mean that no eligible expenditures have been made from the scholarship account and requiring that payments from the state into the account stop if the account has been inactive for two consecutive fiscal years. When an SFO verifies eligible expenditures have been made from the account, payments may resume based on available funds; and
• Providing that a scholarship account be closed and funds revert to the state (becoming available for other eligible students) if the account has been inactive for three consecutive years.
• Clarifies that, beginning with the 2017-2018 fiscal year, for students with a matrix, the GSP scholarship amount must be based on that matrix and revises the date that a private school’s agreed upon procedures report is due to the SFO annually by September 15.

 With regard to the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program (FTC), the bill

• Removes obsolete language regarding student eligibility and funding;
• Increases the base annual scholarship limits for students enrolled in eligible private schools from 82% of the unweighted FTE to:
  • 88% of unweighted FTE for grades K-5;
  • 92% of unweighted FTE for grades 6-8;
  • 96% of unweighted FTE for grades 9-12.
• Increases from $500 to $750 the amount of a transportation scholarship for a student who chooses a public school outside his or her district;
• Authorizes an SFO to make scholarship payments to eligible private schools by funds transfer. Payments must be approved by the parent before the funds are deposited and a parent may not designate an entity or individual associated with the participating private school as their attorney to approve a fund transfer.
• Permits a dependent child of a parent who is a member of the U.S. Armed Forces to apply for a scholarship at any time.
• Revises the date that a private school’s agreed upon procedures report is due to the SFO annually by September 15 and provides that a private school may be ineligible to participate if it has consecutive years of material exceptions identified in its report.
• Requires Department of Revenue to provide a copy of the denial or approval letter to the SFO within 10 days after approving or denying any of a specified list of transactions.

[NOTE: The Senate companion bills – SB 902 & SB 1314 – are comparable and have passed one or more of their committees of reference.]

Bills on 2^nd Reading
HB 7057 – Civic Literacy by PreK-12 Quality
To bolster civics instruction in Florida and prepare students to be civically engaged, knowledgeable adults, the bill:

• Designates the month of September as “American Founders’ Month” and authorizes the Governor to issue a proclamation urging public and private organizations within the state to celebrate the month;
• Encourages all public schools to coordinate instruction on the founding fathers with “American Founders’ Month;”
• Requires the Just Read, Florida! Office to develop sequenced, content-rich programming to help elementary schools incorporate social studies, science, and fine arts content into literacy skills instruction;
• Provides that it is a priority of the K-20 public education system to prepare students to become civically engaged and knowledgeable adults who make positive contributions to their community;
• Requires students entering a Florida College System or State University System institution in 2018-2019 or thereafter to demonstrate competence in civic literacy either through a general education civics course or by passing an assessment adopted by the State Board of Education (SBE) or the Board of Governors (BOG); and
• Require the chairs of the SBE and BOG to jointly appoint a faculty committee to:
  • o develop a new course in civic literacy or revise an existing general education core course in American Government or American History to include civic literacy; and
  • o establish competencies and identify outcomes for the course.

[NOTE: The Senate companion bill – SB 1710 – is similar and has passed two of four committees of reference.]

HB 1331 – Education/Schools of Excellence/Certification by Grall
The bill requires the State Board of Education to designate a school as a School of Excellence if it has a school grades score in the 80th percentile or higher, statewide, for schools of its type (elementary, middle, high, or combination) for 2 of the last 3 school years. A school retains its designation for 3 years unless it earns a school grade lower than a “B” during that span. A school may renew its designation if it remains in the 80th percentile or higher for 2 of the 3 years and does not receive a grade lower than a “B.” The bill provides the following administrative flexibilities to a School of Excellence:

• Exemption from any provision in law or rule that expressly requires a minimum period of daily or weekly instruction in reading.
• The same autonomy over personnel and budgetary decisions for the school’s principal as provided to principals participating in the Principal Autonomy Pilot Project Initiative.
• Exemption from district-set starting and stopping times for the school day.
• Allowing a teacher to substitute 1 school year of employment at a School of Excellence for 20 inservice points toward the renewal of their professional certificate, up to 60 inservice points.
• Calculation for compliance with maximum class size at the school level rather than the classroom level.

The bill also addresses the issue of certification as follows:

• Provides that a temporary certificate holder who completes an approved professional development certification program and earns a highly effective rating will qualify for a renewable professional certificate without having to complete additional classwork or pass the Professional Education Test.
• Allows a charter schools and charter management organizations to offer a professional development certification and educator competence program and requires the mentorship and induction component of a program to, at a minimum, provide weekly opportunities for specified mentoring and induction activities. The mentorship and induction activities must be provided for a teacher’s first year in the program and may be provided until the teacher attains his or her professional certificate. The bill requires the DOE to adopt standards for approving a professional development certification and educator competence program, including the mentorship and induction component.
• Allows mentoring activities, including serving as a mentor, to count towards a teacher’s inservice requirements for certification renewal. The bill requires professional development activities to provide training to mentors. The bill requires model professional development programs disseminated by the DOE to include effective mentorship activities to new teachers and training to mentors.
• Streamlines the temporary certificate application process and revises provisions related to the expiration of a temporary certificate.

[NOTE: The Senate companion bill – SB 1598 – is comparable, has passed two of three committees of reference.]

HB 493 – Enhanced Safety for School Crossings by Toledo
The bill requires DOT to evaluate the viability and cost of establishing a uniform system for the designation of safe school crossing locations on arterial or collector roads within a one-mile radius of all schools. The bill requires DOT to report its findings to the Governor and Legislature before January 1, 2018.  [NOTE: The Senate companion bill – SB 1416 – is similar and has passed two of three committees of reference.]

HB 655 – Exceptional Student Instruction by Porter
Current law requires that, after receiving the notification that an exceptional student is located in a residential facility, the receiving school district must review the student’s IEP to determine if it can be implemented by the receiving school district or by a provider or facility under contract with the receiving school district. The receiving school district must:

• provide educational instruction to the student;
• contract with another provider or facility to provide the educational instruction;
• contract with the residential care facility in which the student resides to provide the educational instruction; or
• decline to provide or contract for educational instruction.

The bill removes the option for school districts receiving an exceptional student with a disability who resides in a residential facility to decline to provide or contract for educational instruction.  [NOTE: The Senate companion bill – SB 1368 – is comparable, has passed two of four committees of reference.]

HB 989 – Instructional Materials by Donalds
The bill provides for greater transparency in the district-level adoption process and more opportunities to review and challenge materials made available to students by:

• Allowing parents and residents of the county to provide the district school board evidence that an instructional material for adoption by the district does not meet the state criteria, contains prohibited content, or is otherwise inappropriate or unsuitable;
• Allowing county residents to contest the adoption of an instructional material and object to the use of a material made available to students;
• Requiring the process for contesting the adoption of an instructional material to provide for an impartial hearing officer and to provide certain procedural protections;
• Requiring school districts to discontinue use of a material found to be inappropriate or unsuitable;
• Requiring school districts to provide access to library materials upon written request;
• Requiring school districts to maintain a current list of purchased instructional materials on their websites;
• Requiring that instructional materials purchased using the instructional materials allocation be on the state-adopted list unless purchased through a district instructional materials program;
• Requiring that instructional materials purchased through a district instructional materials program meet the criteria for inclusion in the state-adopted list, be aligned to the state academic standards, and be consistent with course expectations and course descriptions;
• Eliminating the requirement that 50 percent of the instructional materials allocation be used to purchase electronic or digital materials; and
• Clarifying that a school district is responsible for the content of all materials made available to students, including those that may not meet the statutory definition of an instructional material.

The bill also specifies that an instructional material must be free of content that is pornographic or harmful to minors in order to be recommended for inclusion in the state-adopted list and that any material used in a classroom must also be free of such content. [NOTE: The Senate companion bill – SB 1210 – is comparable and has passed one of two committees of reference.]

HB 293 – Middle Grades by Burton
The bill directs the Florida Department of Education to issue a competitive solicitation for a contract to conduct a comprehensive study of states with high-performing students in grades 6 through 8 in reading and mathematics, based on the states’ performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The findings of the study and the recommendations to improve middle school study performance must be reported to the Governor, the State Board of Education, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by December 2017. The study must include a review of the following general topics:

• Academic expectations and instructional strategies.
• Attendance policies and student mobility issues.
• Teacher quality.
• Middle school administrator leadership and performance.
• Parental and community involvement.

In addition, the bill deletes the requirement for middle grade students to complete the career and education planning course.  [NOTE: The Senate companion bill – SB 360 – is comparable and has passed two of three committees of reference.]

HB 1109 – Private School Student / Extracurricular Activities by Antone
Current law provides that a student attending a private middle school or high school may participate in interscholastic or intrascholastic sports at a public school that is zoned for the physical address at which the student resides if the private school where the student is enrolled is not a member of the FHSAA and has an enrollment of less than 125 students. The bill revises private school student eligibility by allowing a student in a non-FHSAA member private school to participate in interscholastic or intrascholastic activities at the school where the student could choose to attend pursuant to controlled open enrollment provided the public school has not reached capacity as determined by the school board, in addition to the student’s zoned school which is currently permitted by law. [NOTE: The Senate companion bill – SB 1302 – is similar and has passed two of four committees of reference.]

HB 163 – Public Records by Burgess
The bill provides that a court must assess and award the reasonable costs of enforcement, including reasonable attorney fees, against the responsible agency if the court determines that:

• The agency unlawfully refused to permit the public record to be inspected or copied; and
• The complainant provided written notice identifying the public record request to the agency’s custodian of public records at least 5 days before filing the civil action.

The bill requires a court to determine whether a complainant made a public record request or participated in the civil action for an improper purpose. If the court determines there was an improper purpose, the bill prohibits the court from awarding the reasonable costs of enforcement, including attorney fees, to the complainant, and instead requires the court to award against the complainant and to the agency such reasonable costs incurred by the agency in responding to the civil action. [NOTE: The Senate companion bill – SB 80 – is similar, has passed the Senate, and has been placed on the House Special Order Calendar along with HB 163. It is likely that both will be taken up today.]

HB 127 – Public School Attendance Policies by Plasencia
The bill:

• Requires district school boards to adopt student absence policies regarding student appointments to receive autism spectrum disorder therapy, including but not limited to, applied behavioral analysis, speech therapy and occupational therapy;
• Allows a parent to request and be granted permission for a student’s absence resulting from an appointment to receive therapy provided by a licensed health care practitioner or a certified behavior analyst for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder; and
• Allows a student who is continually sick and repeatedly absent to satisfy nonattendance requirement by being under the supervision of a licensed health care practitioner or a certified behavior analyst for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder.

[NOTE: The Senate companion bill – SB 1128 – is similar but has not been heard in any of three committees of reference.]

HB 1111 – Teacher Certification by Plasencia
The bill revises the requirements for a district professional development certification and educator competence program. The bill:

• Provides that a temporary certificate holder who completes a Florida Department of Education (DOE) approved program and earns a highly effective rating will qualify for a renewable professional certificate without having to complete additional classwork or pass the Professional Education Test.
• Allows charter schools and charter management organizations to offer a professional development certification and educator competence program and requires the mentorship and induction component of the program to, at a minimum, provide weekly opportunities for mentoring and induction activities. The mentorship and induction activities must be provided for a teacher’s first year in the program and may be provided until the teacher attains his or her professional certificate.
• Requires the DOE to adopt standards for approving a professional development certification and educator competence program, including the mentorship and induction component.
• Allows mentoring activities, including serving as a mentor, to count towards a teacher’s inservice requirements for certification renewal.
• Requires professional development activities to provide training to mentors. The training must include components on teacher development, peer coaching, time management, and other related topics as determined by the DOE.
• Requires model professional development programs disseminated by the DOE to include effective mentorship activities to new teachers and training to mentors.
• Streamlines the temporary certificate application process and revises provisions related to the expiration of a temporary certificate.

[NOTE: The Senate companion bill – SB 1474 – is similar and has passed one of three committees of reference. The certification requirements in HB 1111 and SB 1474 are similar to those in HB 1331 and SB 1598.]

The Senate Transportation Committee will meet (1:30-3:30 pm; 401 SOB) to consider the following item and others:

SB 1622 – School Bus Safety by Passidomo
The bill creates the “Cameron Mayhew Act” to require a driver who illegally passes a stopped school bus resulting in death or serious bodily injury of another person to:

• Serve 120 community service hours in a trauma center or hospital.
• Participate in a victim’s impact panel or attend a Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) approved driver improvement course that relates to the rights of vulnerable road users relative to vehicles on the roadway.

The bill also imposes a $1,500 fine, a 1-year driver license suspension, and two additional points, for a total of 6 points added to a person’s driver license.  [NOTE: The House companion bill – HB 1239 – is identical, has passed all committees of reference, and is on the House Calendar on 2^nd Reading.]

The Senate Rules Committee will meet (4:00-6:00 pm; 110 SOB) to consider the following items and others:

SB 926 – Education/Assessments by Flores
The bill modifies provisions related to K-12 student assessments, the minority teacher education scholars program, early childhood development, intensive reading instruction, and visitation of schools by individual school board members.  The bill:

• Requires, beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, the English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics assessments for the specified grades to be administered no earlier than the last 3 weeks of the school year, as determined by district school board policy;
• Requires a school district to provide student performance results on statewide, standardized assessments to students’ parents and specified teachers in an easy-to-read and understandable format, and the report must include specified information;
• Requires a school district to provide student performance results on district-required local assessments to students’ teachers within one week after administering such assessments;
• Requires the Commissioner of Education to contract for an independent study to determine nationally recognized high school assessment alternatives for Florida Standards Assessment and Algebra I end-of-course (EOC) assessments for high school students and to submit a report on the findings of the study to the Governor and the Legislature by January 1, 2018;
• Requires the Commissioner to identify, by the first day of the 2017-2018 school year, concordant or comparative scores on specified articulated acceleration mechanisms, which satisfy high school graduation requirements and requires the scores of students who pass such assessment to be incorporated into the school grade calculations;
• Eliminates Geometry, Algebra II, and United States History EOC assessments for purposes of meeting high school graduation requirements and earning scholar designation on the standard high school diploma except that a student must take one statewide, standardized mathematics assessment in high school, which must be Algebra I, Geometry, or Algebra II;
• Eliminates the Civics EOC assessment for purposes of middle grades promotion;
• Requires the Commissioner to make available a non-electronic option for all statewide assessments to reduce the time spent on testing, increase instructional time for students, and ensure students demonstrate a mastery of standards assessed;
• Requires a district school superintendent to notify the commissioner that the district will use a non-electronic option for the entire district or for specific grade levels throughout the district by the beginning of the school year in which the non-electronic option is used;
• Requires the DOE to study each of the achievement levels used for statewide, standardized assessments to better communicate the meaning of such levels to students, parents, and teachers;
• For purposes of personnel evaluations, authorizes each school district to measure student learning growth using formulas developed by the commissioner;
• Expands the minority teacher education scholars program to authorize a student to use the program scholarship toward a graduate degree with a major in education, leading to an initial certification;
• Creates the Committee on Early Childhood Development, within the DOE, to develop a proposal for establishing and implementing a coordinated system focused on developmental milestones and outcomes for the school readiness program, the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program, and the Kindergarten Readiness Screener. The committee must submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature by December 1, 2017;
• Authorizes a school district to provide the required intensive reading instruction for a minimum of 90 minutes daily over the course of the school day to students who are retained in grade 3, and eliminates the requirement to provide such instruction for 90 continuous minutes daily; and
• Authorizes an individual member of a district school board to visit any district or charter school in his or her school district on any day and at any time, at his or her pleasure.

[NOTE: This is the last of two committees of reference for this bill.  There is no longer a direct House companion bill, but HB 773 has some comparable provisions.]

SB 1582 – Workers’ Compensation Insurance by Bradley
The bill amends several provisions relating to workers’ compensation law and the Insurance Code, which governs the rate making approval process for many, but not all, providers of workers’ compensation coverage. The bill:

• Codifies Westphal v. City of St. Petersburg,1 by increasing temporary total disability benefits and temporary partial disability benefits from 104 weeks to 260 weeks.
• Amends the attorney fee provision to require the Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) to consider certain factors in determining if the attorney fees should be increased or decreased, based on a maximum hourly rate of $250. The bill removes the criminal penalty for claimant attorneys receiving fees that are not approved by the JCCs, thereby allowing claimants to enter into retainer agreements. The bill eliminates the attorney fee cap of $1,500 on medical-only claims.
• Requires greater specificity in the information that must be provided in petitions for benefits filed with the Office of Judges of Compensation Claims (OJCC), such as the specific date of maximum medical improvement and the specific date that such permanent benefits are claimed to begin.
• Clarifies that deadlines within multiple provisions relating to medical care are based on business days, not calendar days. For example, the bill requires carriers to authorize or deny medical authorization requests within three business days.
• Revises the workers’ compensation rating law. Currently, Florida law requires carriers, or rating organization filing on their behalf, to file an administered rate or full rate. The bill implements loss costs rating, which requires each insurer to seek approval for rates based on aggregate claim information filed by a rating organization with individual company data (loss costs multipliers), being used for the final rate, subject to approval by the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR).
• Limits defense and cost containment expenses of insurers to 15 percent of incurred losses, and provides that excessive defense and cost containment fees must be returned to policyholders.
• Creates a presumption that firefighters who have multiple myeloma or non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma are presumed to have contracted one of these occupational diseases in the course and scope of employment. This provision will extend workers’ compensation benefits to firefighters who have either of these conditions.
• Provides and appropriation of $823,118 to the OIR and $24,720 to the Office of Judges of Compensation Claims.

[NOTE: This is the last of three committees of reference for this bill.  The House companion bill – HB 7085 – is comparable, has passed all committees of reference, and is on 3^rd Reading in the House.]

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