TODAY’S HAPPENINGS
In the House Economic Affairs Committee:
HB 1361 – Growth Management by La Rosa – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE (CS)
Revises provisions regarding developments of regional impact; revises certain provisions regarding recommended orders & final orders. [NOTE: Today’s amendments authorize the governing body of a county to employ tax increment financing and provide for comprehensive plan amendments and land development regulations in the Apalachicola Bay Area of critical state concern to be reviewed and approved by the state land planning agency.]
In the House State Affairs Committee:
HB 1219 – Veterans’ Employment by Raburn — PASSED
Requires state agencies, & authorizes political subdivisions of state, to develop & implement veterans’ recruitment plan; requires DMS to collect specified data & include such data in its annual workforce report & on its website; provides applicability.
HB 7103 – Date for Convening the 2018 Legislative Session by Gov. Operations — PASSED
Fixes date for convening 2018 Regular Session of the Legislature as January 9, 2018.
In the Senate Session:
Bills on 2nd Reading:
SB 1004 – Public Records/Security Systems by Hays – READ 2ND TIME; PLACED ON 3RD READING FOR 2/23/16
Revising exceptions to a public records exemption; providing exceptions to a public records exemption, etc.
SB 7040 – Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act – READ 2ND TIME; AMENDED; PLACED ON 3RD READING FOR 2/23/16
Providing implementation of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act through a 4-year plan; deleting a provision authorizing an optional federal partner to fulfill certain state planning and reporting requirements; revising the entities required to collaborate with CareerSource Florida, Inc., to establish certain performance accountability measures; requiring CareerSource Florida, Inc., to establish regional planning areas subject to certain requirements by a certain date, etc.
SB 468 – Computer Coding Instruction by Ring – TEMPORARILY POSTPONED; RETAINED ON CALENDAR
Requiring high schools to offer computer coding courses; requiring the Commissioner of Education to identify the computer coding courses that satisfy two credits of foreign language instruction under certain circumstances; requiring Florida College System institutions and state universities to recognize the credits as foreign language credits, etc.
SB 752 – Public Records/Agency Inspector General by Abruzzo — READ 2ND TIME; PLACED ON 3RD READING FOR 2/23/16
Providing an exemption from public records requirements for certain identifying and location information of current or former personnel employed in an agency’s office of inspector general or internal audit department whose duties include auditing or investigating certain activities that could lead to criminal prosecution or administrative discipline, and the spouses and children thereof; providing for future legislative review and repeal of the exemption; providing a statement of public necessity, etc.
In the House Session:
Bills on 3rd Reading:
HB 7017 – Career and Adult Education by Higher Education – READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE HOUSE
Revises provisions relating to apprenticeships & job-training programs, high school equivalency programs, Higher Education Coordinating Council, applied technology diploma programs, adult general education programs, CAPE digital tool certificates, & career centers; creates Florida Apprenticeship Grant (FLAG) & Rapid Response Grant programs; provides appropriations.
HB 7043 – Education Funding by Education – READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE HOUSE
Creates Florida College System Performance-based Incentive for Florida College System institutions & Florida Best and Brightest Teacher Scholarship Program; revises provisions relating to preeminent state research universities program, state university system performance-based incentives, & teacher liability insurance.
HB 119 – Educational Facilities by Bileca – READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE HOUSE
Provides for school district construction flexibility; authorizes exceptions to educational facilities construction requirements under certain circumstances.
SB 7016 – Interstate Compact / Military Children by Military Affairs – READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE HOUSE; PASSED THE LEGISLATURE
Provides for payment of annual dues for Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children & future repeal of sections relating to compact; abrogates 2016 repeal of sections relating to compact.
HB 7029 – School Choice by Choice & Innovation – READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE HOUSE
Revises provisions relating to charter schools, virtual education, Credit Acceleration Program, FEFP, educator professional development, & charter school capital outlay funding; creates High Impact Charter Network. [NOTE:The bill was amended on 2nd Reading to add to the list of students to whom a charter school may give enrollment preference to include the employees of certain municipalities and to add a requirement that, in order to be eligible for PECO funds, a charter school must be located in the State of Florida. The bill contains several provisions that will enhance charter school accountability and transparency, but also contains some provisions that detract from school district authority, planning, and budgeting.]
HB 669 – Educational Choice by Sprowls – READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE HOUSE
Provides additional duties of internal auditor for school districts; revises list of public & private educational choice options available to students; requires certain syllabi be provided to parents & contain certain information; requires school districts to provide & publish certain information; revises controlled open enrollment process; requires school district to establish process for parent to request that his or her child be transferred to another classroom teacher; revises components of Credit Acceleration Program; requires DOE to contract with FPU for certain purposes; provides appropriation. [NOTE: The bill was amended on 2nd Reading to provide that the capacity of a charter school shall be determined by the charter school’s governing board and to remove a provision stating that enrollment preferences provided pursuant to a donation of land or funding agreement executed before July 1, 2016, shall take priority over the enrollment provisions of the bill. This second provision was removed because it was deemed unnecessary since the school board is responsible for determining capacity and should take such transactions into account when determining capacity. The bill presents several significant logistical hurdles that will impede implementation.]
HB 837 – McKay Scholarship Program by Bileca — READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE HOUSE
Provides certain students enrolled in John M. McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program are exempt from specific provisions & scholarship awards are not subject to specified funding calculations; creates transition-to-work program for specific students enrolled in program; provides for requirements & participation.
HB 1305 – Student Health / Emergency Allergy Treatment by Eagle — READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE HOUSE
Revises definition of “authorized entity”; authorizes public school or private school to receive for free or purchase at fair market value or at reduced prices supply of epinephrine auto-injectors from certain entities.
HB 287 – Principal Autonomy Pilot Program by Diaz — READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE HOUSE
Creates Principal Autonomy Pilot Program Initiative; provides requirements for participation, exemptions, professional development, funding, rulemaking, & reporting; provides authorization period for participation in program; provides for renewal or revocation of authorization to participate in program; requires district school boards participating in program to provide certain funding allocations; provides additional authority & responsibilities of principal of participating school; provides appropriation.
HB 1155 – Membership Associations by Eisnaugle — READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE HOUSE
Defines “membership association”; requires membership association to file annual report with Legislature; specifies contents of report; prohibits membership association from expending public funds on litigation against state; requires Auditor General to audit membership associations. [NOTE: FSBA is opposed to this bill.]
HB 1003 – Re-employment / School District Personnel by Sullivan — READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE HOUSE
Revises provisions relating to reemployment of retirees as instructional personnel on contractual basis.
HB 189 – Teacher Certification by Diaz — READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE HOUSE
Provides alternative requirements for earning professional educator certificate covering certain grades.
HB 1365 – Competency-Based Education by Rodrigues — READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE HOUSE
Creates Competency-Based Education Pilot Program; provides for program participation, application requirements, exemption from specified rules, student funding, & duties of DOE.
HB 719 – Education Personnel by Spano — READ 2ND TIME; PLACED ON 3RD READING FOR 2/18/16
Revises provisions relating to mandatory reports of child abuse, abandonment, & abuse, confidentiality of reports & records in cases of child abuse or neglect, teacher recruitment & retention, educator liability insurance, Education Practices Commission, & complaints against teachers & administrators; requires DOE to approve school leader preparation programs; provides program requirements.
SB 350 – Online Procurement by Montford — READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE HOUSE; PASSED THE LEGISLATURE
Authorizes specified educational institutions to make purchases through online procurement system, electronic auction service, or other efficient procurement tool.
HB 835 – Home Education by Eisnaugle — READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE HOUSE
Revises provisions relating to home education programs, nonenrollment & nonattendance cases, dual enrollment programs, & Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars award.
HB 833 – Public School Recess by Plasencia — READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE HOUSE
Requires district school board to provide students in certain grades with certain amount of free-play recess per day; provides that free-play recess may not be withheld for specified reasons.
HB 705 – Interpreters / Hearing Impaired by Berman — READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE HOUSE
Requires SBE to establish standards for educational interpreters & school districts to notify parents if an individual providing interpreter services does not meet SBE standards & report to DOE information regarding individuals providing interpreter services.
In the Senate Appropriations Committee:
SB 684 – Choice in Sports by Gaetz — AMENDED; PASSED WITH A CS
Revising public school choice options available to students to include CAPE digital tools, CAPE industry certifications, and collegiate high school programs; authorizing parents of public school students to seek private educational choice options through the Florida Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts Program under certain circumstances; revising student eligibility requirements for participating in high school athletic competitions; authorizing public schools to provide transportation to students participating in open enrollment; requiring each district school board and charter school governing board to authorize a parent to have his or her child who is not subject to a current expulsion or suspension order to participate in controlled open enrollment; requiring the school district to report the student for purposes of the school district’s funding; authorizing a school district to provide transportation to such students; requiring that each district school board adopt and publish on its website a controlled open enrollment process; specifying criteria for the process; prohibiting a school district from delaying or preventing a student who participates in controlled open enrollment from being immediately eligible to participate in certain activities; defining the term “eligible to participate”; prohibiting a school district from delaying or preventing a student who participates in open controlled enrollment from being immediately eligible to participate in certain activities; authorizing a transfer student to immediately participate in interscholastic or intrascholastic activities under certain circumstances; prohibiting a school district or the FHSAA from declaring a transfer student ineligible under certain circumstances; requiring the FHSAA to allow a private school to maintain full membership in the association or to join by sport; prohibiting the FHSAA from discouraging a private school from maintaining membership in the FHSAA and another athletic association; authorizing the FHSAA to allow a public school to apply for consideration to join another athletic association; specifying penalties for recruiting violations; requiring a school to forfeit a competition in which a student who was recruited by specified adults participated; revising circumstances under which a student may be declared ineligible; requiring student ineligibility to be established by a preponderance of the evidence. [NOTE: The bill was amended by a Proposed Committee Substitute (PCS). This short summary reflects the changes made to the bill. In effect, this bill combines most of the provisions of SB FSBA has significant concerns about the logistics of implementing the provisions of the bill.]
SB 806 – Homebound & Hospitalized Students by Legg — PASSED
Requiring school districts to provide instruction to homebound or hospitalized students; requiring the State Board of Education to adopt rules related to student eligibility, methods of providing instruction to homebound or hospitalized students, and the initiation of services; requiring each school district to enter into an agreement with certain hospitals within its district by a specified date, etc.
SB 834 – Minimum Term School Funding by Detert — PASSED
Revising the term “full-time student” to delete references to membership in a double-session school or a school that uses a specified experimental calendar; clarifying how “full time equivalency” is calculated for students in schools that operate for less than the minimum term, etc.
SB 894 – Education Personnel by Detert – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A CS
Authorizing certain employees or agents of the Department of Education to have access to certain reports and records; authorizing rather than requiring the Department of Education to sponsor a job fair meeting certain criteria; providing requirements regarding liability insurance for students performing clinical field experience; abrogating the scheduled expiration of the educator liability insurance program, etc.
SB 1026 – High School Athletics by Simmons – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A CS
Requiring the FHSAA to allow a private school to join the association as a full-time member or to join by sport; prohibiting the FHSAA from discouraging a private school from maintaining membership in the FHSAA and another athletic association; authorizing the FHSAA to allow a public school to apply for consideration to join another athletic association; prohibiting the FHSAA from taking any retributory or discriminatory action against specified schools; authorizing the Commissioner of Education to identify other associations in compliance with specified provisions; providing a process for resolving student eligibility disputes. [NOTE: The bill was amended by a PCS. This short summary reflects the changes made to the bill. One significant change is that the amended bill has removed a provision requiring any special event fees, sanctioning fees, or contest receipts collected annually by the FHSAA to not exceed the actual cost of performing the function that is the basis of the fee.]
SB 1426 – Membership Associations by Stargel — PASSED
Requiring membership associations to file an annual report with the Legislature; prohibiting a membership association from using public funds for certain litigation; requiring the Auditor General to conduct certain audits annually, etc. [NOTE: FSBA is opposed to this bill.]
SB 7058 – Child Care & Development Grant by Education PreK-12 – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A CS
Providing an exception from a prohibition against the use of information in the Department of Children and Families central abuse hotline for employment screening of certain child care personnel; revising the definition of the term “screening” for purposes of child care licensing requirements; requiring the Department of Children and Families and local licensing agencies to electronically post certain information relating to child care and school readiness providers; revising the prioritization of participation in school readiness programs, etc.
COMING UP TOMORROW
There are no legislative meetings of interest scheduled for tomorrow. We will send you our Weekly Video Update and our next issue of the Daily Update on Monday, February 22.
I hope you find this information useful. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Ruth
Ruth Haseman Melton
Director of Government Relations
Florida School Boards Association
Office: 850 / 414-2578
Cell: 850 / 509-6411
Email: melton@fsba.org
