Bill Text: FL S0468 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Voluntary Prekindergarten Education
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Failed) 2017-05-05 - Died in Appropriations [S0468 Detail]
Download: Florida-2017-S0468-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2017 SB 468
By Senator Stargel
22-00377B-17 2017468__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to voluntary prekindergarten
3 education; amending s. 1001.215, F.S.; requiring the
4 Just Read, Florida! Office to provide teachers,
5 reading coaches, and principals in prekindergarten
6 through grade 3 with specified training; amending s.
7 1002.53, F.S.; requiring each early learning coalition
8 to coordinate with the Office of Early Learning to
9 assign student identification numbers for the
10 Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program; amending
11 s. 1002.67, F.S.; requiring voluntary prekindergarten
12 providers to provide parents with pre- and post
13 assessment results within a specified timeframe;
14 providing for the reporting and distribution of the
15 results; requiring the office to determine eligibility
16 criteria for reenrollment; amending s. 1002.69, F.S.;
17 revising requirements for the adoption and use of the
18 statewide kindergarten screening; conforming cross
19 references; amending s. 1002.71, F.S.; authorizing a
20 child to reenroll in certain school-year programs
21 under certain circumstances; amending s. 1011.62,
22 F.S.; revising the date by which the Department of
23 Education must submit specified information regarding
24 the implementation of school district K-12
25 comprehensive reading plans to the Legislature;
26 providing an appropriation; providing an effective
27 date.
28
29 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
30
31 Section 1. Present subsections (3) through (11) of section
32 1001.215, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (4)
33 through (12), respectively, a new subsection (3) is added to
34 that section, and present subsection (3) of that section is
35 amended, to read:
36 1001.215 Just Read, Florida! Office.—There is created in
37 the Department of Education the Just Read, Florida! Office. The
38 office shall be fully accountable to the Commissioner of
39 Education and shall:
40 (3) Train Voluntary Prekindergarten through grade 3
41 teachers, reading coaches, and school principals on effective
42 research-based reading instructional strategies and
43 interventions for all students. Contingent upon legislative
44 appropriation, this training must be designed to be consistently
45 delivered statewide in an appropriate format. The office shall
46 collaborate with the Office of Early Learning to develop the
47 training.
48 (4)(3) Train grade 4-12 K-12 teachers and school principals
49 on effective content-area-specific reading strategies. For
50 secondary teachers, emphasis shall be on technical text. These
51 strategies must be developed for all content areas in the grade
52 4-12 K-12 curriculum.
53 Section 2. Paragraph (d) is added to subsection (4) of
54 section 1002.53, Florida Statutes, to read:
55 1002.53 Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program;
56 eligibility and enrollment.—
57 (4)
58 (d) Each early learning coalition shall coordinate with the
59 Office of Early Learning to assign student identification
60 numbers to each student who enrolls in the Voluntary
61 Prekindergarten Education Program.
62 Section 3. Paragraphs (a) and (c) of subsection (2) of
63 section 1002.67, Florida Statutes, are amended, paragraphs (d)
64 and (e) are added to subsection (3) of that section, present
65 subsection (4) of that section is redesignated as subsection
66 (5), and a new subsection (4) is added to that section, to read:
67 1002.67 Performance standards; curricula and
68 accountability.—
69 (2)(a) Each private prekindergarten provider and public
70 school may select or design the curriculum that the provider or
71 school uses to implement the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education
72 Program, except as otherwise required for a provider or school
73 that is placed on probation under paragraph (5)(c) (4)(c).
74 (c) The office shall review and approve curricula for use
75 by private prekindergarten providers and public schools that are
76 placed on probation under paragraph (5)(c) (4)(c). The office
77 shall maintain a list of the curricula approved under this
78 paragraph. Each approved curriculum must meet the requirements
79 of paragraph (b).
80 (3)
81 (d) Each private prekindergarten provider and public school
82 in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program shall provide
83 parents with the results of the pre- and post-assessments,
84 including any resources that might be helpful for their
85 students, within 10 days after administration of the assessment.
86 (e) The results of the pre- and post-assessments must be
87 reported at the aggregate level, distributed to the respective
88 early learning coalitions and school districts, and displayed on
89 the office’s website within 30 days after administration of the
90 assessment.
91 (4) The office shall determine the eligibility criteria for
92 enrollment, as authorized by s. 1002.71(4)(c), and for
93 reenrollment in the school year Voluntary Prekindergarten
94 Education Program.
95 Section 4. Subsections (1) and (2) and paragraphs (a), (e),
96 and (f) of subsection (7) of section 1002.69, Florida Statutes,
97 are amended to read:
98 1002.69 Statewide kindergarten screening; kindergarten
99 readiness rates; state-approved prekindergarten enrollment
100 screening; good cause exemption.—
101 (1) The department shall adopt a single statewide
102 kindergarten screening that assesses the readiness of each
103 student for kindergarten based upon the performance standards
104 adopted by the department under s. 1002.67(1) for the Voluntary
105 Prekindergarten Education Program. The department shall require
106 that each school district administer the statewide kindergarten
107 screening to each kindergarten student in the school district
108 within the first 30 school days of each school year. Nonpublic
109 schools may administer the statewide kindergarten screening to
110 each kindergarten student in a nonpublic school who was enrolled
111 in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program.
112 (2) The statewide kindergarten screening must shall provide
113 objective data concerning each student’s readiness for
114 kindergarten and progress in attaining the performance standards
115 adopted by the office under s. 1002.67(1), with an emphasis on
116 early literacy and numeracy skills. The screening must be a
117 direct assessment of these skills.
118 (7)(a) Notwithstanding s. 1002.67(5)(c)3. s.
119 1002.67(4)(c)3., the office, upon the request of a private
120 prekindergarten provider or public school that remains on
121 probation for 2 consecutive years or more and subsequently fails
122 to meet the minimum rate adopted under subsection (6) and for
123 good cause shown, may grant to the provider or school an
124 exemption from being determined ineligible to deliver the
125 Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program and receive state
126 funds for the program. Such exemption is valid for 1 year and,
127 upon the request of the private prekindergarten provider or
128 public school and for good cause shown, may be renewed.
129 (e) A private prekindergarten provider or public school
130 granted a good cause exemption shall continue to implement its
131 improvement plan and continue the corrective actions required
132 under s. 1002.67(5)(c)1. s. 1002.67(4)(c)1., including the use
133 of a curriculum approved by the office, until the provider or
134 school meets the minimum rate adopted under subsection (6).
135 (f) If a good cause exemption is granted to a private
136 prekindergarten provider who remains on probation for 2
137 consecutive years, the office shall notify the early learning
138 coalition of the good cause exemption and direct that the
139 coalition, notwithstanding s. 1002.67(5)(c)3. s.
140 1002.67(4)(c)3., not remove the provider from eligibility to
141 deliver the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program or to
142 receive state funds for the program, if the provider meets all
143 other applicable requirements of this part.
144 Section 5. Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (4) of
145 section 1002.71, Florida Statutes, to read:
146 1002.71 Funding; financial and attendance reporting.—
147 (4) Notwithstanding s. 1002.53(3) and subsection (2):
148 (c) A child who is at risk of not attaining the performance
149 standards specified by s. 1002.67(1) may reenroll in one of the
150 school-year programs, which is offered by a provider that has
151 met the adopted minimum readiness rate provided under s.
152 1002.69(6), for the subsequent year at the request of the
153 child’s parent. The prekindergarten program may report the child
154 for funding purposes as a full-time equivalent student in the
155 school-year program for which he or she is enrolled.
156
157 A child may reenroll only once in a prekindergarten program
158 under this section. A child who reenrolls in a prekindergarten
159 program under this subsection may not subsequently withdraw from
160 the program and reenroll, unless the child is granted a good
161 cause exemption under this subsection. The Office of Early
162 Learning shall establish criteria specifying whether a good
163 cause exists for a child to withdraw from a program under
164 paragraph (a), whether a child has substantially completed a
165 program under paragraph (b), and whether an extreme hardship
166 exists which is beyond the child’s or parent’s control under
167 paragraph (b).
168 Section 6. Paragraph (d) of subsection (9) of section
169 1011.62, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
170 1011.62 Funds for operation of schools.—If the annual
171 allocation from the Florida Education Finance Program to each
172 district for operation of schools is not determined in the
173 annual appropriations act or the substantive bill implementing
174 the annual appropriations act, it shall be determined as
175 follows:
176 (9) RESEARCH-BASED READING INSTRUCTION ALLOCATION.—
177 (d) Annually, by a date determined by the Department of
178 Education but before May 1, school districts shall submit a K-12
179 comprehensive reading plan for the specific use of the research
180 based reading instruction allocation in the format prescribed by
181 the department for review and approval by the Just Read,
182 Florida! Office created pursuant to s. 1001.215. The plan
183 annually submitted by school districts shall be deemed approved
184 unless the department rejects the plan on or before June 1. If a
185 school district and the Just Read, Florida! Office cannot reach
186 agreement on the contents of the plan, the school district may
187 appeal to the State Board of Education for resolution. School
188 districts shall be allowed reasonable flexibility in designing
189 their plans and shall be encouraged to offer reading
190 intervention through innovative methods, including career
191 academies. The plan format shall be developed with input from
192 school district personnel, including teachers and principals,
193 and shall allow courses in core, career, and alternative
194 programs that deliver intensive reading remediation through
195 integrated curricula, provided that the teacher is deemed highly
196 qualified to teach reading or is working toward that status. No
197 later than July 1 annually, the department shall release the
198 school district’s allocation of appropriated funds to those
199 districts having approved plans. A school district that spends
200 100 percent of this allocation on its approved plan shall be
201 deemed to have been in compliance with the plan. The department
202 may withhold funds upon a determination that reading instruction
203 allocation funds are not being used to implement the approved
204 plan. The department shall monitor and track the implementation
205 of each district plan, including conducting site visits and
206 collecting specific data on expenditures and reading improvement
207 results. By December February 1 of each year, the department
208 shall report its findings from the previous school year to the
209 Legislature.
210 Section 7. For the 2017-2018 fiscal year, the sum of $10
211 million from the General Revenue Fund is appropriated to the
212 Department of Education for the development of training for
213 Voluntary Prekindergarten through grade 3 teachers, reading
214 coaches, and school principals on research-based reading
215 instructional strategies and interventions.
216 Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.
