Bill Text: FL S0140 | 2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Education
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-15 - Referred to Education Pre-K - 12; Community Affairs; Rules [S0140 Detail]
Download: Florida-2025-S0140-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2025 SB 140
By Senator Gaetz
1-00571B-25 2025140__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to education; amending s. 1002.33,
3 F.S.; revising which persons or entities may apply for
4 a conversion charter school; authorizing a
5 municipality to apply for a job engine charter under
6 certain conditions; providing the purpose of a job
7 engine charter; providing requirements for a job
8 engine charter; amending s. 1013.15, F.S.; requiring a
9 school board to submit a 5-year plan to the Department
10 of Education before occupying purchased or acquired
11 real property; requiring that the plan be updated and
12 submitted to the department annually; prohibiting a
13 school board from purchasing or acquiring real
14 property if enrollment in the school district has
15 declined in the preceding 5-year period; requiring a
16 school board to dispose of real property, deemed by
17 the State Board of Education to be surplus; requiring
18 that surplus real property be given priority for
19 conversion for specified purposes; requiring the State
20 Board of Education to adopt rules and procedures;
21 providing an effective date.
22
23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
24
25 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (3) and paragraph
26 (c) of subsection (15) of section 1002.33, Florida Statutes, are
27 amended to read:
28 1002.33 Charter schools.—
29 (3) APPLICATION FOR CHARTER STATUS.—
30 (b) An application for a conversion charter school must
31 shall be made by the district school board, the principal,
32 teachers, parents whose children are enrolled, and/or the school
33 advisory council at an existing public school that has been in
34 operation for at least 2 years before prior to the application
35 to convert. A public school-within-a-school that is designated
36 as a school by the district school board may also apply submit
37 an application to convert to charter status. An application
38 submitted proposing to convert an existing public school to a
39 charter school must shall demonstrate the support of at least 50
40 percent of the teachers employed at the school and 50 percent of
41 the parents voting whose children are enrolled at the school
42 voting, provided that a majority of the parents eligible to vote
43 participate in the ballot process, according to rules adopted by
44 the State Board of Education. A district school board denying an
45 application for a conversion charter school shall provide notice
46 of denial to the applicants in writing within 10 days after the
47 meeting at which the district school board denied the
48 application. The notice must articulate in writing the specific
49 reasons for denial and must provide documentation supporting
50 those reasons. A private school, parochial school, or home
51 education program is shall not be eligible for charter school
52 status.
53 (15) CHARTER SCHOOLS-IN-THE-WORKPLACE; CHARTER SCHOOLS-IN
54 A-MUNICIPALITY.—
55 (c)1. A charter school-in-a-municipality designation may be
56 granted to a municipality that possesses a charter; enrolls
57 students based upon a random lottery that involves all of the
58 children of the residents of that municipality who are seeking
59 enrollment, as provided for in subsection (10); and enrolls
60 students according to the racial/ethnic balance provisions
61 described in subparagraph (7)(a)8. When a municipality has
62 submitted charter applications for the establishment of a
63 charter school feeder pattern, consisting of elementary, middle,
64 and senior high schools, and each individual charter application
65 is approved by the sponsor, such schools must shall then be
66 designated as one charter school for all purposes listed
67 pursuant to this section. Any portion of the land and facility
68 used for a public charter school is shall be exempt from ad
69 valorem taxes, as provided for in s. 1013.54, for the duration
70 of its use as a public school.
71 2. A municipality located in a school district that has
72 received a grade below an “A” from the department pursuant to s.
73 1008.34(5) for 5 consecutive years may seek a charter under
74 subparagraph 1. If granted, such a charter may be designated a
75 “job engine charter.” The purpose of a job engine charter school
76 is to attract job-producing entities to the municipality. The
77 charter must require the municipality to:
78 a. Provide an annual report to the sponsor which will be
79 made publicly available and include investments made to attract
80 and maintain job-producing entities, such as private-sector
81 industries, in the municipality.
82 b. Include the provision of exceptional student education
83 administration services, pursuant to subparagraph (20)(a)1.
84 c. Require the use of sufficient security technology to
85 ensure a secure facility.
86 d. Prohibit students who transfer to a job engine charter
87 school from participating in a high school athletic competition
88 during their first year of enrollment.
89 e. Notwithstanding paragraph (8)(e), accept responsibility
90 for all debts incurred by the job engine charter school.
91 Section 2. Subsection (5) is added to section 1013.15,
92 Florida Statutes, to read:
93 1013.15 Lease, rental, and lease-purchase of educational
94 plants, ancillary plants, and auxiliary facilities and sites.—
95 (5) Before occupying purchased or acquired real property, a
96 school board shall, in a public meeting, submit a 5-year plan
97 for the proposed use of the real property, taking into
98 consideration enrollment growth, demographic shifts, and changes
99 in curriculum. The plan must be updated and submitted to the
100 Department of Education annually.
101 (a) A school board is prohibited from purchasing or
102 acquiring real property, if enrollment in the school district
103 has declined in the preceding 5-year period. If such a decline
104 has occurred, a school board must dispose of real property,
105 deemed by the State Board of Education to be surplus.
106 (b) Surplus real property must be given priority for
107 conversion to affordable housing for teachers, first responders,
108 or military servicemembers; charter school facilities; or the
109 use of a local government for the development of a recreational
110 facility.
111 (c) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules and
112 procedures to implement this paragraph.
113 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.
