Last week saw several new K-12 education bills filed that warrant board member attention. HB 0235/Prohibited Discrimination Based on Hairstyle (Driskell) was filed and has already advanced to the Education Administration Subcommittee—this bill would prohibit discrimination based on protected hairstyles in K-20 public education and specified private schools. Additionally, SB 0252 (Jones), an identical companion bill known as the “CROWN Act,” was filed addressing the same issue. Board members should also continue monitoring HB 0173/Parental Rights (Kendall), which has now moved to the Health & Human Services Committee and would significantly expand parental consent requirements for student surveys, questionnaires, and the use of biofeedback devices, while also creating new notification and opt-out provisions. Finally, HB 0283/School Zone and Pedestrian Safety (Alvarez) was recently filed, requiring traffic control devices in crosswalk design plans for school zones. Several bills from last week remain in their initial committee assignments with no significant movement.
November 3-7 marks another committee week here in Tallahassee; FSBA will continue to monitor new bills as they are filed. If you noticed a bill of particular interest to public education in Florida that was not included in this report below, please get in touch with Joe McGehee, Director of Advocacy & Legislative Services.
K-12 Education Bill Tracker provided by Dr. Kim McDougal, Arrow Group
