Bill Text: FL S0886 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Parent and Student Rights

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-11 - Died on Calendar, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/HB 7029 (Ch. 2016-237) [S0886 Detail]

Download: Florida-2016-S0886-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2016                                     SB 886
       
       
        
       By Senator Benacquisto
       
       
       
       
       
       30-00637A-16                                           2016886__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to parent and student rights; amending
    3         s. 1002.20, F.S.; revising public school educational
    4         choice options available to students throughout the
    5         state to include CAPE Digital Tool certificates, CAPE
    6         industry certifications, and collegiate high school
    7         programs; authorizing parents of public school
    8         students to seek private educational choice options
    9         through the Florida Personal Learning Scholarship
   10         Accounts Program under certain circumstances;
   11         providing the right of a parent to know an estimated
   12         amount of money expended for the education of his or
   13         her child; requiring the Department of Education to
   14         provide each school district with such information;
   15         requiring the school districts to provide notification
   16         to parents; authorizing the information to be
   17         published in the student handbook or a similar
   18         publication; amending s. 1002.31, F.S.; deleting the
   19         definition of and provisions relating to the term
   20         “controlled open enrollment”; requiring each school
   21         district to establish a public school parental choice
   22         policy that authorizes parents to choose to enroll
   23         their child in and transport their child to any public
   24         school that has not reached capacity in the state;
   25         authorizing a school district to provide
   26         transportation to students who participate in the
   27         public school parental choice policy; prohibiting the
   28         displacement of certain students who participate in
   29         the public school parental choice policy; authorizing
   30         a student participating in the public school parental
   31         choice policy to remain at a school until a certain
   32         time; revising requirements for the public school
   33         parental choice plan; defining the term “capacity”;
   34         authorizing a parent to enroll and transport his or
   35         her child to a public school that has not reached
   36         capacity by a specified date; requiring the school
   37         district to report a student for purposes of the
   38         school district’s funding; amending s. 1002.33, F.S.;
   39         requiring a charter school with space available to be
   40         open to any student in the state; creating s.
   41         1003.3101, F.S.; requiring each school district board
   42         to establish a classroom teacher transfer process for
   43         parents, to approve or deny a transfer request within
   44         a certain timeframe, to notify a parent of a denial,
   45         and to post an explanation of the transfer process in
   46         the student handbook or a similar publication;
   47         amending s. 1012.42, F.S.; authorizing a parent of a
   48         child whose teacher is teaching outside the teacher’s
   49         field to request that the child be transferred to
   50         another classroom teacher within the school and grade
   51         in which the child is currently enrolled within a
   52         specified timeframe; specifying that a transfer does
   53         not provide a parent the right to choose a specific
   54         teacher; amending ss. 1002.38, 1002.451, and 1006.15,
   55         F.S.; conforming provisions to changes made by the
   56         act; providing an effective date.
   57          
   58  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   59  
   60         Section 1. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (6) of
   61  section 1002.20, Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection
   62  (25) is added to that section, to read:
   63         1002.20 K-12 student and parent rights.—Parents of public
   64  school students must receive accurate and timely information
   65  regarding their child’s academic progress and must be informed
   66  of ways they can help their child to succeed in school. K-12
   67  students and their parents are afforded numerous statutory
   68  rights including, but not limited to, the following:
   69         (6) EDUCATIONAL CHOICE.—
   70         (a) Public educational school choices.—Parents of public
   71  school students may seek whatever public educational school
   72  choice options that are applicable and available to students
   73  throughout the state in their school districts. These options
   74  may include public school parental choice controlled open
   75  enrollment, single-gender programs, lab schools, virtual
   76  instruction programs, charter schools, charter technical career
   77  centers, magnet schools, alternative schools, special programs,
   78  auditory-oral education programs, CAPE Digital Tool
   79  certificates, CAPE industry certifications, collegiate high
   80  school programs, advanced placement, dual enrollment,
   81  International Baccalaureate, International General Certificate
   82  of Secondary Education (pre-AICE), Advanced International
   83  Certificate of Education, early admissions, credit by
   84  examination or demonstration of competency, the New World School
   85  of the Arts, the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, and
   86  the Florida Virtual School. These options may also include the
   87  public educational school choice options of the Opportunity
   88  Scholarship Program and the McKay Scholarships for Students with
   89  Disabilities Program.
   90         (b) Private educational school choices.—Parents of public
   91  school students may seek private educational school choice
   92  options under certain programs.
   93         1. Under the McKay Scholarships for Students with
   94  Disabilities Program, the parent of a public school student with
   95  a disability may request and receive a McKay Scholarship for the
   96  student to attend a private school in accordance with s.
   97  1002.39.
   98         2. Under the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, the
   99  parent of a student who qualifies for free or reduced-price
  100  school lunch or who is currently placed, or during the previous
  101  state fiscal year was placed, in foster care as defined in s.
  102  39.01 may seek a scholarship from an eligible nonprofit
  103  scholarship-funding organization in accordance with s. 1002.395.
  104         3. Under the Florida Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts
  105  Program, the parent of a student with a qualifying disability
  106  may apply for a personal learning scholarship to be used for
  107  educational needs in accordance with s. 1002.385.
  108         (25) FISCAL TRANSPARENCY.—A parent has the right to know
  109  the average amount of money estimated to be expended from all
  110  local, state, and federal sources, for the education of his or
  111  her child, including operating and capital outlay expenses. The
  112  department shall annually provide each district the estimated
  113  amount of funding allocated for a student in the district by
  114  grade level and level of support. Each district must notify
  115  parents of the estimated amount of funding allocated for a
  116  student similar to their child, based upon grade level and level
  117  of support. The fiscal transparency notification may be included
  118  in the student handbook or a similar publication.
  119         Section 2. Section 1002.31, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  120  read:
  121         1002.31 Controlled open enrollment; Public school parental
  122  choice.—
  123         (1) As used in this section, “controlled open enrollment”
  124  means a public education delivery system that allows school
  125  districts to make student school assignments using parents’
  126  indicated preferential school choice as a significant factor.
  127         (1)(2) Each district school board shall establish a public
  128  school parental choice policy that authorizes a parent to choose
  129  to enroll his or her child in and transport his or her child to
  130  any public school in the state which has not reached capacity,
  131  including charter schools. This policy may offer controlled open
  132  enrollment within the public schools which is in addition to the
  133  existing choice programs, such as virtual instruction programs,
  134  magnet schools, alternative schools, special programs, advanced
  135  placement, and dual enrollment. The district may provide
  136  transportation to the students at the district’s discretion. A
  137  student assigned to a school may not be displaced by the public
  138  school parental choice policy included in the district’s plan.
  139  For the purposes of continuity of educational choice, a student
  140  may continue to attend the chosen school until the student
  141  completes the highest grade offered by the school.
  142         (2)(3) Each district school board offering controlled open
  143  enrollment shall adopt by rule and post on its website a public
  144  school parental choice controlled open enrollment plan that
  145  which must:
  146         (a) Adhere to federal desegregation requirements.
  147         (b) Include an application process required to participate
  148  in controlled open enrollment that allows parents to declare
  149  school preferences, including placement of siblings within the
  150  same school.
  151         (c) Provide a lottery procedure to determine student
  152  assignment and establish an appeals process for hardship cases.
  153         (c)(d) Afford parents of students in multiple session
  154  schools preferred access to controlled open enrollment.
  155         (d)(e) Maintain socioeconomic, demographic, and racial
  156  balance.
  157         (e)(f) Address the availability of transportation.
  158         (f) Maintain existing eligibility criteria for educational
  159  choice, pursuant to s. 1002.20(6)(a).
  160         (g) Identify schools that have not reached capacity. The
  161  term “capacity” means a level of capital outlay FTE enrollment
  162  in a school which exceeds 95 percent of the space and occupant
  163  design capacity of its nonrelocatable facilities. However, if a
  164  school’s initial design incorporated relocatable or modular
  165  instructional space, the term means a level of capital outlay
  166  FTE enrollment in a school which exceeds 95 percent of the space
  167  and occupant design capacity of its core facilities.
  168         (h) Provide preferential treatment to all of the following:
  169         1. Dependent children of active duty military personnel.
  170         2. Siblings who could attend the same school.
  171         3. Students residing in the district.
  172         4. Children who have been relocated due to a foster care
  173  placement.
  174         (3) Beginning in the 2017-2018 school year, or earlier if
  175  authorized by the district, a parent may choose to enroll his or
  176  her child in and transport his or her child to any public school
  177  that has not reached capacity, including charter schools, in any
  178  school district in this state. The school district shall accept
  179  the student and report the student for purposes of the
  180  district’s funding pursuant to the Florida Education Finance
  181  Program.
  182         (4) For a student in grades 9 through 12, interscholastic
  183  and intrascholastic extracurricular student activity eligibility
  184  may be impacted by choosing to attend a school other than the
  185  school assigned by the district.
  186         (5)(4) In accordance with the reporting requirements of s.
  187  1011.62, each district school board shall annually report the
  188  number of students exercising public school choice, by type of
  189  educational choice, in accordance with attending the various
  190  types of public schools of choice in the district, including
  191  schools such as virtual instruction programs, magnet schools,
  192  and public charter schools, according to rules adopted by the
  193  State Board of Education.
  194         (6)(5) For a school or program that is a public school of
  195  choice under this section, the calculation for compliance with
  196  maximum class size pursuant to s. 1003.03 is the average number
  197  of students at the school level.
  198         Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (10) of section
  199  1002.33, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  200         1002.33 Charter schools.—
  201         (10) ELIGIBLE STUDENTS.—
  202         (a) A charter school must shall be open to any student
  203  covered in an interdistrict agreement or residing in the school
  204  district in which the charter school is located; however, in the
  205  case of a charter lab school, the charter lab school must shall
  206  be open to any student eligible to attend the lab school as
  207  provided in s. 1002.32 or who resides in the school district in
  208  which the charter lab school is located. A charter school with
  209  space available must be open to any student in the state,
  210  pursuant to s. 1002.31. Any eligible student must shall be
  211  allowed interdistrict transfer to attend a charter school when
  212  based on good cause. Good cause includes shall include, but is
  213  not limited to, geographic proximity to a charter school in a
  214  neighboring school district.
  215         Section 4. Section 1003.3101, Florida Statutes, is created
  216  to read:
  217         1003.3101 Additional educational choice options.—Each
  218  school district board shall establish a transfer process for a
  219  parent to request his or her child be transferred to another
  220  classroom teacher. A school must approve or deny the transfer
  221  within 2 weeks after receiving a request. If a request for
  222  transfer is denied, the school must notify the parent and
  223  specify the reasons for the denial. An explanation of the
  224  transfer process must be made available in the student handbook
  225  or a similar publication.
  226         Section 5. Subsection (2) of section 1012.42, Florida
  227  Statutes, is amended to read:
  228         1012.42 Teacher teaching out-of-field.—
  229         (2) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—When a teacher in a district
  230  school system is assigned teaching duties in a class dealing
  231  with subject matter that is outside the field in which the
  232  teacher is certified, outside the field that was the applicant’s
  233  minor field of study, or outside the field in which the
  234  applicant has demonstrated sufficient subject area expertise, as
  235  determined by district school board policy in the subject area
  236  to be taught, the parents of all students in the class shall be
  237  notified in writing of such assignment. A parent who receives
  238  this notification may, after the October student membership
  239  survey, request that his or her child be transferred to another
  240  classroom teacher within the school and grade in which the
  241  student is currently enrolled. The school district shall grant
  242  the parent’s request and transfer the student to a different
  243  classroom teacher within a reasonable period of time, not to
  244  exceed 2 weeks. This subsection does not provide a parent the
  245  right to choose a specific teacher.
  246         Section 6. Paragraph (e) of subsection (3) of section
  247  1002.38, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  248         1002.38 Opportunity Scholarship Program.—
  249         (3) SCHOOL DISTRICT OBLIGATIONS.—
  250         (e) If the parent chooses to request that the student be
  251  enrolled in a higher-performing public school in the school
  252  district, transportation costs to the higher-performing public
  253  school shall be the responsibility of the school district. The
  254  district may utilize state categorical transportation funds or
  255  state-appropriated public educational school choice incentive
  256  funds for this purpose.
  257         Section 7. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) and paragraph
  258  (a) of subsection (6) of section 1002.451, Florida Statutes, are
  259  amended to read:
  260         1002.451 District innovation school of technology program.—
  261         (1) DISTRICT INNOVATION SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY.—
  262         (c) An innovation school of technology must be open to any
  263  student covered in an interdistrict agreement or residing in the
  264  school district in which the innovation school of technology is
  265  located. An innovation school of technology shall enroll an
  266  eligible student who submits a timely application if the number
  267  of applications does not exceed the capacity of a program,
  268  class, grade level, or building. If the number of applications
  269  exceeds capacity, all applicants shall have an equal chance of
  270  being admitted through a public random selection process.
  271  However, a district may give enrollment preference to students
  272  who identify the innovation school of technology as the
  273  student’s preferred choice pursuant to the district’s public
  274  school parental choice controlled open enrollment plan.
  275         (6) APPLICATION PROCESS AND PERFORMANCE CONTRACT.—
  276         (a) A district school board may apply to the State Board of
  277  Education for an innovation school of technology if the
  278  district:
  279         1. Has at least 20 percent of its total enrollment in
  280  public educational school choice programs or at least 5 percent
  281  of its total enrollment in charter schools;
  282         2. Has no material weaknesses or instances of material
  283  noncompliance noted in the annual financial audit conducted
  284  pursuant to s. 218.39; and
  285         3. Has received a district grade of “A” or “B” in each of
  286  the past 3 years.
  287         Section 8. Paragraphs (c), (d), and (e) of subsection (3)
  288  of section 1006.15, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
  289         1006.15 Student standards for participation in
  290  interscholastic and intrascholastic extracurricular student
  291  activities; regulation.—
  292         (3)
  293         (c) An individual home education student is eligible to
  294  participate at the public school to which the student would be
  295  assigned according to district school board attendance area
  296  policies or which the student could choose to attend pursuant to
  297  public school parental choice district or interdistrict
  298  controlled open enrollment provisions, or may develop an
  299  agreement to participate at a private school, in the
  300  interscholastic extracurricular activities of that school,
  301  provided the following conditions are met:
  302         1. The home education student must meet the requirements of
  303  the home education program pursuant to s. 1002.41.
  304         2. During the period of participation at a school, the home
  305  education student must demonstrate educational progress as
  306  required in paragraph (b) in all subjects taken in the home
  307  education program by a method of evaluation agreed upon by the
  308  parent and the school principal which may include: review of the
  309  student’s work by a certified teacher chosen by the parent;
  310  grades earned through correspondence; grades earned in courses
  311  taken at a Florida College System institution, university, or
  312  trade school; standardized test scores above the 35th
  313  percentile; or any other method designated in s. 1002.41.
  314         3. The home education student must meet the same residency
  315  requirements as other students in the school at which he or she
  316  participates.
  317         4. The home education student must meet the same standards
  318  of acceptance, behavior, and performance as required of other
  319  students in extracurricular activities.
  320         5. The student must register with the school his or her
  321  intent to participate in interscholastic extracurricular
  322  activities as a representative of the school before the
  323  beginning date of the season for the activity in which he or she
  324  wishes to participate. A home education student must be able to
  325  participate in curricular activities if that is a requirement
  326  for an extracurricular activity.
  327         6. A student who transfers from a home education program to
  328  a public school before or during the first grading period of the
  329  school year is academically eligible to participate in
  330  interscholastic extracurricular activities during the first
  331  grading period provided the student has a successful evaluation
  332  from the previous school year, pursuant to subparagraph 2.
  333         7. Any public school or private school student who has been
  334  unable to maintain academic eligibility for participation in
  335  interscholastic extracurricular activities is ineligible to
  336  participate in such activities as a home education student until
  337  the student has successfully completed one grading period in
  338  home education pursuant to subparagraph 2. to become eligible to
  339  participate as a home education student.
  340         (d) An individual charter school student pursuant to s.
  341  1002.33 is eligible to participate at the public school to which
  342  the student would be assigned according to district school board
  343  attendance area policies or which the student could choose to
  344  attend, pursuant to district or interdistrict public school
  345  parental choice controlled open-enrollment provisions, in any
  346  interscholastic extracurricular activity of that school, unless
  347  such activity is provided by the student’s charter school, if
  348  the following conditions are met:
  349         1. The charter school student must meet the requirements of
  350  the charter school education program as determined by the
  351  charter school governing board.
  352         2. During the period of participation at a school, the
  353  charter school student must demonstrate educational progress as
  354  required in paragraph (b).
  355         3. The charter school student must meet the same residency
  356  requirements as other students in the school at which he or she
  357  participates.
  358         4. The charter school student must meet the same standards
  359  of acceptance, behavior, and performance that are required of
  360  other students in extracurricular activities.
  361         5. The charter school student must register with the school
  362  his or her intent to participate in interscholastic
  363  extracurricular activities as a representative of the school
  364  before the beginning date of the season for the activity in
  365  which he or she wishes to participate. A charter school student
  366  must be able to participate in curricular activities if that is
  367  a requirement for an extracurricular activity.
  368         6. A student who transfers from a charter school program to
  369  a traditional public school before or during the first grading
  370  period of the school year is academically eligible to
  371  participate in interscholastic extracurricular activities during
  372  the first grading period if the student has a successful
  373  evaluation from the previous school year, pursuant to
  374  subparagraph 2.
  375         7. Any public school or private school student who has been
  376  unable to maintain academic eligibility for participation in
  377  interscholastic extracurricular activities is ineligible to
  378  participate in such activities as a charter school student until
  379  the student has successfully completed one grading period in a
  380  charter school pursuant to subparagraph 2. to become eligible to
  381  participate as a charter school student.
  382         (e) A student of the Florida Virtual School full-time
  383  program may participate in any interscholastic extracurricular
  384  activity at the public school to which the student would be
  385  assigned according to district school board attendance area
  386  policies or which the student could choose to attend, pursuant
  387  to district or interdistrict public school parental choice
  388  controlled open enrollment policies, if the student:
  389         1. During the period of participation in the
  390  interscholastic extracurricular activity, meets the requirements
  391  in paragraph (a).
  392         2. Meets any additional requirements as determined by the
  393  board of trustees of the Florida Virtual School.
  394         3. Meets the same residency requirements as other students
  395  in the school at which he or she participates.
  396         4. Meets the same standards of acceptance, behavior, and
  397  performance that are required of other students in
  398  extracurricular activities.
  399         5. Registers his or her intent to participate in
  400  interscholastic extracurricular activities with the school
  401  before the beginning date of the season for the activity in
  402  which he or she wishes to participate. A Florida Virtual School
  403  student must be able to participate in curricular activities if
  404  that is a requirement for an extracurricular activity.
  405         Section 9. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.