TODAY’S HAPPENINGS In the House Economic Affairs Committee: HB 147 – Concrete Masonry Education by Caldwell – PASSED WITH A CS Creates Florida Concrete Masonry Education Council, Inc.; requires council to operate under written contract with DEO; provides powers & duties of council; provides restrictions; provides for appointment & terms of governing board of council;…
UPDATE ON SB 1528 RELATING TO CHARTER SCHOOLS As we reported yesterday, a confusing series of strike-all, substitute, and late-filed amendments made it difficult to determine exactly what the outcome was when the Senate Education Appropriations considered this bill on Wednesday. We promised an update on this bill once we were able to sort through…
LEGISLATIVE SESSION SCHEDULE In observance of Passover and Easter, neither the House nor the Senate plan to hold any meetings next week – April 14-18, 2014. When legislators return to Tallahassee April 21, only 11 days will remain in the regular Legislative Session. During these final two weeks of the session, there will be few…
FSBA LEGISLATIVE SESSION REVIEW WORKSHOPS After the end of the 2014 Legislative Session adjourns, FSBA will conduct our usual series of Legislative Session Review Workshops at various locations around the state. These Workshops provide a comprehensive analysis of education appropriations and details of the education related bills that were approved during the 2014 Legislative Session. …
BUDGET UPDATE Last week, the House and Senate chambers considered and amended their respective versions of the state budget. The next step in this process is for Conference Committees to be appointed to work out the differences between the two versions. Each chamber appoints a separate conference committee to work on each section of the…
TODAY’S HAPPENINGS In the House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee: HB 753 – School Safety by Stube – PASSED WITH A CS Provides exception to prohibition on possession of firearms or other specified devices on school property or other specified areas for authorized concealed weapon or firearm licensees as designated by school principals or district superintendents; provides…
TODAY’S HAPPENINGS In the House Education Committee: HB 7033 – Middle Grades Education by K-12 – PASSED WITH A CS Requires school that includes certain grades to include information in its school improvement plan & implement early warning system to identify students in need of additional academic support; includes middle grades schools under provisions prohibiting…
TODAY’S HAPPENINGS In the House Education Appropriations Subcommittee: HB 921 – Instructional Materials / Adoption by M. Gaetz – PASSED WITH A CS Revises provisions relating to review, selection, & adoption of instructional materials; requires instructional materials to be in digital format; provides duties of district school boards relating to district-adopted instructional materials & requisition…
BUDGET UPDATE We have prepared a detailed side-by-side comparison of the House and Senate Education Budgets for your review. In addition, the House has released a full FEFP Summary that provides district-by-district information on their budget. We have posted both of these items with Boarder-Line Issue 5 in our 2014 Legislative Session Resource Center at…
TODAY’S HAPPENINGS In the House Judiciary Committee: HB 139 – Coaches / Organized Youth Sports by S. Jones – PASSED; PLACED ON CALENDAR ON 2ND READING Revises definition of term “athletic coach”; expands provisions relating to athletic coaches for independent sanctioning authorities to require such authorities to conduct specified background screening of certain coaches of…