Bill Text: FL S0244 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: High School Academic Advisors

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Failed) 2019-05-03 - Died in Education [S0244 Detail]

Download: Florida-2019-S0244-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2019                                     SB 244
       
       
        
       By Senator Hutson
       
       
       
       
       
       7-00668A-19                                            2019244__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to high school academic advisors;
    3         amending s. 1001.42, F.S.; requiring schools that
    4         serve students in grades 9 through 12 to designate
    5         academic advisors; providing parameters for academic
    6         advising; requiring students who meet specified
    7         criteria to meet with an academic advisor within a
    8         specified timeframe; providing an effective date.
    9          
   10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   11  
   12         Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (18) of section
   13  1001.42, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   14         1001.42 Powers and duties of district school board.—The
   15  district school board, acting as a board, shall exercise all
   16  powers and perform all duties listed below:
   17         (18) IMPLEMENT SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY.
   18  Maintain a system of school improvement and education
   19  accountability as provided by statute and State Board of
   20  Education rule. This system of school improvement and education
   21  accountability shall be consistent with, and implemented
   22  through, the district’s continuing system of planning and
   23  budgeting required by this section and ss. 1008.385, 1010.01,
   24  and 1011.01. This system of school improvement and education
   25  accountability shall comply with the provisions of ss. 1008.33,
   26  1008.34, 1008.345, and 1008.385 and include the following:
   27         (b) Early warning system.—
   28         1. A school that serves any students in kindergarten
   29  through grade 8 shall implement an early warning system to
   30  identify students in such grades who need additional support to
   31  improve academic performance and stay engaged in school. The
   32  early warning system must include the following early warning
   33  indicators:
   34         a. Attendance below 90 percent, regardless of whether
   35  absence is excused or a result of out-of-school suspension.
   36         b. One or more suspensions, whether in school or out of
   37  school.
   38         c. Course failure in English Language Arts or mathematics
   39  during any grading period.
   40         d. A Level 1 score on the statewide, standardized
   41  assessments in English Language Arts or mathematics or, for
   42  students in kindergarten through grade 3, a substantial reading
   43  deficiency under s. 1008.25(5)(a).
   44  
   45  A school district may identify additional early warning
   46  indicators for use in a school’s early warning system. The
   47  system must include data on the number of students identified by
   48  the system as exhibiting two or more early warning indicators,
   49  the number of students by grade level who exhibit each early
   50  warning indicator, and a description of all intervention
   51  strategies employed by the school to improve the academic
   52  performance of students identified by the early warning system.
   53         2. A school that serves students in grades 9 through 12
   54  shall designate at least one academic advisor from the school
   55  based team described in subparagraph 3. The academic advisor
   56  shall advise students on alternative career pathways, graduation
   57  pathways, available industry certifications, available
   58  apprenticeship preparation, and available technical training.
   59  Any student who has a cumulative grade point average that falls
   60  below 2.0 shall meet with his or her school’s designated
   61  academic advisor during the first semester in which his or her
   62  grade point average falls below 2.0 and any subsequent semesters
   63  in which his or her grade point average remains below 2.0 to
   64  discuss alternative pathways to graduation.
   65         3.2. A school-based team responsible for implementing the
   66  requirements of this paragraph shall monitor the data from the
   67  early warning system. The team may include a school
   68  psychologist. When a student exhibits two or more early warning
   69  indicators, the team, in consultation with the student’s parent,
   70  shall determine appropriate intervention strategies for the
   71  student unless the student is already being served by an
   72  intervention program at the direction of a school-based,
   73  multidisciplinary team. Data and information relating to a
   74  student’s early warning indicators must be used to inform any
   75  intervention strategies provided to the student.
   76         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.