Today’s agenda includes just two committee meetings. Of particular interest, the Senate Appropriations Committee will consider its version of an omnibus education bill — SB 7070 — that expands public and private school choice programs and addresses a variety of other issues. An 85-page strike-all amendment has been filed to this controversial bill, so a lively and lengthy debate on the bill is likely. Other bills of interest under consideration today include bills relating to early learning, personnel, workforce education, and safety. Today’s schedule is posted below and will be updated to show the outcome on these bills as soon as possible after each meeting concludes.
Please note that there are no committee meetings or floor sessions scheduled for Friday, April 19, so the next issue of the Session Spotlight will be available next week.
[toggle title=”Committee Meetings – April 18, 2019“]
Please note that all of the meetings listed below may be viewed in real time via live webcast on the Florida Channel or may be viewed later in the Florida Channel Video Library. Also note that clicking on the Committee/Subcommittee names linked below provides access to membership, meeting packets, and other committee information; clicking on the bill numbers linked below provides access the bill summary, analysis, related bills, and other information.
In the Senate Appropriations Committee:
SB 7070 – K-12 Education by Education – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE (CS)
The bill was substantially amended by a strike-all amendment and subsequent amendments. The Florida Association of District School Superintendents (FADSS) prepared a comparison of this bill and the two House bills that address these issues — SB 7070 and HB 7075 & HB 7095 – as they stood prior to today’s amendments and has since updated that comparison to show changes made by the original strike-all amendment. The earlier comparison is available HERE and the updated comparison is available HERE. Four additional amendments further revised the strike- all amendment and are not reflected in the updated comparison. These amendments:
- Revise the strike-all amendment relating to the Turnaround School Supplemental Services Allocation to authorize a school district to enter into a formal agreement with a nonprofit organization that has 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 programs, and food and clothing banks.
- Add a new provision to the strike-all amendment to provide districts with greater flexibility in meeting SREF requirements that provides that a district school board may, with a majority (rather than supermajority) vote adopt a resolution to implement one or more of the exceptions to the educational facilities construction requirements under SREF and removes the requirement of a cost-benefit analysis and other requirements to access this flexibility.
- Add a new provision to the strike-all amendment relating to charter schools to provide that the charter agreement may include a provision requiring the charter school to be held responsible for all costs incurred by the district in connection with complaints to the Office of Civil Rights or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
- Revise the strike-all amendment relating to educator certification requirements to provide that only a person who serves as a classroom teacher must demonstrate mastery of general knowledge, thus exempting counselors, media specialists, and others from meeting this requirement.
SB 190 – Education/Bright Futures by Stargel – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A CS
The bill was substantially amended by a strike-all amendment and subsequent amendments to address a variety of post-secondary issues other than Bright Futures Scholarships. Of interest to school districts, the bill:
- Removes the requirement that students enroll in a Florida postsecondary education institution within a certain number of years of graduation from high school in order to be eligible for a Bright Futures Scholarship.
- Specifies the eligibility of a student, who enrolls in the pilot program at the University of Florida, to receive an award during the fall term.
- Expands Bright Futures Scholarship Program to include the Florida Gold Seal CAPE Scholarship.
- Removes a limitation of 45 semester credit hours or the equivalent for an annual award for the scholarship program.
- Expands the eligibility for an initial award of a scholarship to include students who earn a high school diploma from a private school.
- Extends the annual deadline, from August 31 to December 31, for when a student who graduates from high school midyear must apply for the scholarship.
- Requires each school district to annually provide to each high school student in grade 11 or 12 (rather than all high school students) a complete and accurate Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Evaluation Report and Key.
- Provides that, for students needing additional time to complete the requirements for a Bright Futures Scholarship, if the student completes the requirements by December 31, the student must receive the award for the full academic year, including the fall term.
- Revises the examination score requirements for award eligibility for Academic Scholars and Medallion Scholars to align the SAT and ACT examination scores with the SAT national percentile rank specified in law and requires the FDOE to publish ongoing updates to the examination scores.
- Provides that a student who receives an award and is subsequently determined ineligible due to updated grade or hour information may not receive a disbursement for a subsequent term, unless the student successfully restores the award.
- Removes the $15 million annual cap on industry certification performance funding for both Florida College System institutions and school district workforce education programs.
- Establishes, subject to appropriation and administered by FDOE, the Florida Apprenticeship Grant (FLAG) program to provide grants to high schools, career centers, charter technical career centers, Florida College System institutions, and other authorized entities to establish new apprenticeship or pre-apprenticeship programs and expand existing programs.
SB 536 – 911 Services by Brandes – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A CS
The bill seeks to implement recommendations of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission. As amended, the bill:
- Requires the Technology Program within the Department of Management Services (Office) to develop a plan by February 1, 2020, to upgrade 911 public safety answering points (PSAP) within the state to allow the transfer of an emergency call from one local, multijurisdictional, or regional E911 system to another local, multijurisdictional, or regional E911 system in the state.
- Requires each sheriff, in collaboration with all first responder agency heads in his or her county, to facilitate the development and execution of written interlocal agreements between all primary first responder agencies within the county.
- Provides that each such agreement must:
- Establish written protocols that outline circumstances and public safety emergencies under which a PSAP will directly provide notice of an emergency by radio to the on-duty personnel of a first responder agency for which the PSAP does not provide primary dispatch functions.
- Require the PSAP to have direct radio contact with primary first responder agencies and their dispatchers, for which the PSAP may reasonably receive 911 communications, without having to transfer a 911 communication to another PSAP or dispatch center for dispatch.
- Provides that each PSAP must be capable of immediately broadcasting 911 communications or public safety information over the primary radio dispatch channels of each first responder agency in the county it serves, where the PSAP may reasonably receive 911 calls in the first responder’s service area. If a county or jurisdiction has multiple PSAPs, each PSAP must have this capability.
SB 770 – Workforce Education by Hutson – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A CS
The bill was substantially amended by a strike-all amendment and subsequent amendments that removed several controversial provisions. In brief, the bill:
- Requires the FDOE to publish an annual report on apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs.
- Provides that apprenticeship agreements cannot invalidate any special provision for veterans, minority persons, or women in the standards, apprenticeship qualifications, or operation of the program that is not otherwise prohibited by law, executive order, or authorized regulation.
- Provides that, beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, a student is eligible to complete an alternative pathway to earning a standard high school diploma through the Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathway option that requires the student’s successful completion of at least 18 credits and earning at least a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale. The 18 credits include four credits in English Language Arts, four credits in mathematics, three credits in science, three credits in social studies, two credits in career and technical education, and two credits in work-based learning programs. The student must also take the statewide, standardized Geometry EOC assessment, Biology I EOC assessment, and United States History EOC assessment.
- Modifies the 24-credit pathway for earning a standard high school diploma to provide:
- A student who earns an industry certification may earn two mathematics credits by successfully completing Algebra I through two full-year courses and provides that the student must be advised by an academic advisor designated by the school principal that the student may need to earn one additional mathematics credit to fulfill the requirements for admission to a state university.
- A student who earns a computer science credit may substitute the credit for up to one credit of the mathematics requirement, with the exception of Algebra I and Geometry, if the commissioner identifies the computer science credit as being equivalent in rigor to the mathematics credit. An identified computer science credit may not be used to substitute for both a mathematics and a science credit.
- A student who earns an industry certification in 3D rapid prototype printing may satisfy up to two credits of the mathematics requirement, with the exception of Algebra I, if the commissioner identifies the certification as being equivalent in rigor to the mathematics credit or credits.
- Requires students to take a career education planning course for promotion to high school and requires each student that takes the course to receive an academic and career plan.
- Requires district school boards to declare a “College and Career Decision Day” to recognize high school seniors and encourage them to prepare for college and pursue advanced career pathways.
- Requires the FDOE to provide assistance to specified entities when notifying students, parents, and members of the community about apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship opportunities.
- Authorizes school districts to issue an adjunct teaching certificate for a full-time teaching position, but specifies that such certificates are valid for a period of three years and are not renewable. The bill also specifies reporting requirements for school districts.
- Creates the “Strengthening Alignment between Industry and Learning to 60” Initiative and establishing a statewide attainment goal to increase the percentage of working-age adults who hold a high-value postsecondary certificate, degree, or training experience to 60 percent by the year 2030.
- Creates the Florida Apprenticeship Grant Program to provide competitive grants to expand and enhance apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs.
- Revising the social studies standards to include financial literacy as a separate subject and removes the requirement that the half credit in economics include financial literacy
- Provides that, beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, all school districts must offer a financial literacy course consisting of at least one-half credit as an elective.
SB 1098 – Sales Tax Refund for Eligible Job Training Organizations by Lee – PASSED
The bill:
- Provides that an eligible job training organization may apply for a refund of 10 percent of the sales tax the organization remitted to the Department of Revenue (DOR) on its sales of donated goods during the previous state fiscal year.
- Requires the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) to determine an applicant’s eligibility for the sales tax refund and certify the eligibility of organizations that meet the specified requirements.
- Provides that the total amount of sales tax refunds issued may not exceed $2 million in any state fiscal year.
- Limits the use of a sales tax refund issued to an eligible job training organization to the following purposes:
- Growth in employment hours;
- Job training and employment services to low-income persons, individuals who have workplace disadvantages, or individuals with barriers to employment; or
- Job training and employment services for veterans.
- Requires the job training organization to annually report eligibility information to the DEO, including how the previously issued refund was used.
- Authorizes the DOR to audit any refund within four years of the refund and subjects the overpayment of a refund or a refund issued to an ineligible job training organization to repayment.
SB 1164 – Post-Secondary Fee Waivers by Gainer
The bill:
- Provides that a FCS institution that serves counties directly impacted by a hurricane, and whose enrollment decreases by more than 10 percent as a result of such impact, may waive the out-of-state fees for the purpose of recruiting students for a period of three years, beginning 180 days after the date on which the hurricane directly impacted the counties served by the FCS institution.
- Provides that a student who qualifies for the hurricane-related out-of-state fee waiver is eligible to receive the waiver for up to 110 percent of the number of credit hours required for the degree or certificate program in which the student is enrolled.
- Specifies that such student may not disenroll from the FCS institution for more than one semester.
- Provides that each FCS institution must report to the State Board of Education the number and value of all hurricane-related out-of-state fee waivers granted annually.
- Provides that out-of-state students enrolled under the hurricane-related out-of-state fee waiver must not be included in the FCS institutions’ enrollment totals by the Education Estimating Conference on Florida College System Enrollment.
SB 1444 – Education/Disqualification of Employees by Diaz – PASSED
The bill:
- Provides safeguards to help protect students by requiring the creation of a state disqualification list to be maintained by the FDOE which must include the following information:
- The name of any individual who has been placed on the list by the Education Practices Commission (EPC) pursuant to law, or whose educator certificate has been permanently revoked by the EPC.
- The name of any private school owners or operators who have been permanently disqualified from participation in a state scholarship program by the DOE.
- Requires the DOE to provide authorized staff of school districts, charter schools, the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, and private schools that accept state scholarship program students with electronic access to the DOE’s disqualification list.
- Prohibits any individual on the disqualification list from earning an educator certificate or being employed in any position which requires direct contact with students in any public school, charter school, or private school that accepts state scholarship money.
- Provides the DOE and EPC with authority to place individuals on the disqualification list for certain purposes.
- Requires the DOE to immediately investigate, under certain circumstances, any legally sufficient complaint that involves the misconduct by an employee or contracted personnel in a public school, charter school or private school that receives state scholarship funds.
SB 1456 – Office of Early Learning by Perry — PASSED
The bill establishes professional development standards and career pathways for early childhood teachers and school readiness program providers. The bill requires the Office of Early Learning to:
- Identify early learning career pathways for early childhood teachers;
- Develop professional development training and course standards for school readiness program providers; and
- Integrate early learning professional development pathways into existing preservice and inservice training requirements.
In the House Commerce Committee:
HB 441 – 911 Services by DuBose – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A CS
- The bill seeks to implement recommendations of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission. As amended, the bill:
- Requires each county to develop a countywide implementation plan addressing text-to-911 services and enact the plan by January 1, 2022.
- Requires the Technology Program within the Department of Management Services (Office) to develop a plan by February 1, 2020, to upgrade 911 public safety answering points (PSAP) within the state to allow the transfer of an emergency call from one local, multijurisdictional, or regional E911 system to another local, multijurisdictional, or regional E911 system in the state.
- Requires each sheriff, in collaboration with all first responder agency heads in his or her county, to facilitate the development and execution of written interlocal agreements between all primary first responder agencies within the county.
- Provides that each such agreement must:
- Establish written protocols that outline circumstances and public safety emergencies under which a PSAP will directly provide notice of an emergency by radio to the on-duty personnel of a first responder agency for which the PSAP does not provide primary dispatch functions.
- Require the PSAP to have direct radio contact with primary first responder agencies and their dispatchers, for which the PSAP may reasonably receive 911 communications, without having to transfer a 911 communication to another PSAP or dispatch center for dispatch.
- Provides that each PSAP must be capable of immediately broadcasting 911 communications or public safety information over the primary radio dispatch channels of each first responder agency in the county it serves, where the PSAP may reasonably receive 911 calls in the first responder’s service area. If a county or jurisdiction has multiple PSAPs, each PSAP must have this capability.
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