Bill Text: FL S0566 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2014-05-02 - Died in Messages [S0566 Detail]
Download: Florida-2014-S0566-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2014-05-02 - Died in Messages [S0566 Detail]
Download: Florida-2014-S0566-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2014 SB 566 By Senator Lee 24-00229D-14 2014566__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to the Florida Bright Futures 3 Scholarship Program; amending ss. 1009.534, 1009.535, 4 and 1009.536, F.S.; requiring a student, as a 5 prerequisite for the Florida Academic Scholars award, 6 the Florida Medallion Scholars award, or the Florida 7 Gold Seal Vocational Scholars award, to identify a 8 social or civic issue or a professional area of 9 interest and develop a plan for his or her personal 10 involvement in addressing the issue or learning about 11 the area; prohibiting the student from receiving 12 remuneration or academic credit for the volunteer 13 service work performed; providing examples of 14 volunteer service work; requiring that the hours of 15 volunteer service work performed be documented in 16 writing and the document be signed by the student, the 17 student’s parent or guardian, and a representative of 18 the organization for which the student performed the 19 volunteer service work; deleting obsolete provisions; 20 providing an effective date. 21 22 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 23 24 Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 1009.534, Florida 25 Statutes, is amended to read: 26 1009.534 Florida Academic Scholars award.— 27 (1) A student is eligible for a Florida Academic Scholars 28 award if he or shethe studentmeets the general eligibility 29 requirements for the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program 30 andthe student: 31 (a) Has achieved a 3.5 weighted grade point average as 32 calculated pursuant to s. 1009.531, or its equivalent, in high 33 school courses that are designated by the State Board of 34 Education as college-preparatory academic courses;and has 35 attained at least the score required underpursuant tos. 36 1009.531(6)(a) on the combined verbal and quantitative parts of 37 the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the Scholastic Assessment Test, or 38 the recentered Scholastic Assessment Test of the College 39 Entrance Examination, or an equivalent score on the ACT 40 Assessment Program; 41 (b) Has attended a home education program according to s. 42 1002.41 during grades 11 and 12,orhas completed the 43 International Baccalaureate curriculum but failed to earn the 44 International Baccalaureate Diploma, or has completed the 45 Advanced International Certificate of Education curriculum but 46 failed to earn the Advanced International Certificate of 47 Education Diploma, and has attained at least the score required 48 underpursuant tos. 1009.531(6)(a) on the combined verbal and 49 quantitative parts of the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the 50 Scholastic Assessment Test, or the recentered Scholastic 51 Assessment Test of the College Entrance Examination, or an 52 equivalent score on the ACT Assessment Program; 53 (c) Has been awarded an International Baccalaureate Diploma 54 from the International Baccalaureate Office or an Advanced 55 International Certificate of Education Diploma from the 56 University of Cambridge International Examinations Office; 57 (d) Has been recognized by the merit or achievement 58 programs of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation as a 59 scholar or finalist; or 60 (e) Has been recognized by the National Hispanic 61 Recognition Program as a scholar recipient. 62 63 TheAstudent must complete a program of volunteercommunity64 service work, as approved by the district school board, the 65 administrators of a nonpublic school, or the Department of 66 Education for home education program students, which mustshall67 include a minimum of 75 hours of service work for high school 68 students graduating in the 2010-2011 academic year and 100 hours 69 of service work for high school students graduating in the 2011 70 2012 academic year and thereafter. The student,andmust 71 identify a social or civic issue or a professional areaproblem72 that interests him or her, develop a plan for his or her 73 personal involvement in addressing the issue or learning about 74 the areaproblem, and, through papers or other presentations, 75 evaluate and reflect upon his or her experience. The student may 76 not receive remuneration or academic credit for the volunteer 77 service work performed. Such work may include, but is not 78 limited to, a business or government internship, work for a 79 nonprofit community service organization, or activity on behalf 80 of a candidate for public office. The hours of service work must 81 be documented in writing, and the document must be signed by the 82 student, the student’s parent or guardian, and a representative 83 of the organization for which the student performed the service 84 work. 85 Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 1009.535, Florida 86 Statutes, is amended to read: 87 1009.535 Florida Medallion Scholars award.— 88 (1) A student is eligible for a Florida Medallion Scholars 89 award if he or shethe studentmeets the general eligibility 90 requirements for the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program 91 andthe student: 92 (a) Has achieved a weighted grade point average of 3.0 as 93 calculated pursuant to s. 1009.531, or the equivalent, in high 94 school courses that are designated by the State Board of 95 Education as college-preparatory academic courses;and has 96 attained at least the score required underpursuant tos. 97 1009.531(6)(b) on the combined verbal and quantitative parts of 98 the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the Scholastic Assessment Test, or 99 the recentered Scholastic Assessment Test of the College 100 Entrance Examination, or an equivalent score on the ACT 101 Assessment Program; 102 (b) Has completed the International Baccalaureate 103 curriculum but failed to earn the International Baccalaureate 104 Diploma or has completed the Advanced International Certificate 105 of Education curriculum but failed to earn the Advanced 106 International Certificate of Education Diploma, and has attained 107 at least the score required underpursuant tos. 1009.531(6)(b) 108 on the combined verbal and quantitative parts of the Scholastic 109 Aptitude Test, the Scholastic Assessment Test, or the recentered 110 Scholastic Assessment Test of the College Entrance Examination, 111 or an equivalent score on the ACT Assessment Program; 112 (c) Has attended a home education program according to s. 113 1002.41 during grades 11 and 12 and has attained at least the 114 score required underpursuant tos. 1009.531(6)(b) on the 115 combined verbal and quantitative parts of the Scholastic 116 Aptitude Test, the Scholastic Assessment Test, or the recentered 117 Scholastic Assessment Test of the College Entrance Examination, 118 or an equivalent score on the ACT Assessment Program, if the 119 student’s parent cannot document a college-preparatory 120 curriculum as described in paragraph (a); 121 (d) Has been recognized by the merit or achievement program 122 of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation as a scholar or 123 finalist but has not completed theaprogram of volunteer 124communityservice work required underas provided ins. 125 1009.534; or 126 (e) Has been recognized by the National Hispanic 127 Recognition Program as a scholar, but has not completed thea128 program of volunteercommunityservice work required underas129provided ins. 1009.534. 130 131 TheAhigh schoolstudent graduating in the 2011-2012 academic 132 year and thereafter must complete at least 75 hoursa programof 133 volunteercommunityservice work approved by the district school 134 board, the administrators of a nonpublic school, or the 135 Department of Education for home education program students. The 136 student, whichshallinclude a minimum of 75 hours of service137work, andmust identify a social or civic issue or professional 138 areaproblemthat interests him or her, develop a plan for his 139 or her personal involvement in addressing the issue or learning 140 about the areaproblem, and, through papers or other 141 presentations, evaluate and reflect upon his or her experience. 142 The student may not receive remuneration or academic credit for 143 the volunteer service work performed. Such work may include, but 144 is not limited to, a business or government internship, work for 145 a nonprofit community service organization, or activity on 146 behalf of a candidate for public office. The hours of service 147 work must be documented in writing, and the document must be 148 signed by the student, the student’s parent or guardian, and a 149 representative of the organization for which the student 150 performed the service work. 151 Section 3. Subsection (1) of section 1009.536, Florida 152 Statutes, is amended to read: 153 1009.536 Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars award.—The 154 Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars award is created within 155 the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program to recognize and 156 reward academic achievement and career preparation by high 157 school students who wish to continue their education. 158 (1) A student is eligible for a Florida Gold Seal 159 Vocational Scholars award if he or shethe studentmeets the 160 general eligibility requirements for the Florida Bright Futures 161 Scholarship Program andthe student: 162 (a) Completes the secondary school portion of a sequential 163 program of studies that requires at least three secondary school 164 career credits. On-the-job training may not be substituted for 165 any of the three required career credits. 166 (b) Demonstrates readiness for postsecondary education by 167 earning a passing score on the Florida College Entry Level 168 Placement Test or its equivalent as identified by the Department 169 of Education. 170 (c) Earns a minimum cumulative weighted grade point average 171 of 3.0, as calculated pursuant to s. 1009.531, on all subjects 172 required for a standard high school diploma, excluding elective 173 courses. 174 (d) Earns a minimum unweighted grade point average of 3.5 175 on a 4.0 scale for secondary career courses that compose 176comprisingthe career program. 177 (e) Beginning with high school students graduating in the 178 2011-2012 academic year and thereafter, completes at least 30 179 hoursa programof volunteercommunityservice work approved by 180 the district school board, the administrators of a nonpublic 181 school, or the Department of Education for home education 182 program students. The student must identify, whichshallinclude183a minimum of 30 hours of service work, andidentifiesa social 184 or civic issue or a professional areaproblemthat interests him 185 or her, developdevelopsa plan for his or her personal 186 involvement in addressing the issue or learning about the area 187problem, and, through papers or other presentations, evaluate 188evaluatesand reflectreflectsupon his or her experience. The 189 student may not receive remuneration or academic credit for the 190 volunteer service work performed. Such work may include, but is 191 not limited to, a business or government internship, work for a 192 nonprofit community service organization, or activity on behalf 193 of a candidate for public office. The hours of service work must 194 be documented in writing, and the document must be signed by the 195 student, the student’s parent or guardian, and a representative 196 of the organization for which the student performed the service 197 work. 198 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.