Bill Text: FL S2262 | 2010 | Regular Session | Engrossed
Bill Title: Charter Schools [SPSC]
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-04-30 - Died on Calendar [S2262 Detail]
Download: Florida-2010-S2262-Engrossed.html
CS for SB 2262 First Engrossed 20102262e1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to charter schools; amending s. 3 1002.33, F.S.; revising requirements for providing 4 financial statements to the sponsor of a charter 5 school; authorizing a governing body to oversee 6 multiple charter schools; providing requirements for 7 designation as a high-performing charter school; 8 authorizing a high-performing charter school to 9 increase enrollment and receive capital outlay funds; 10 authorizing a newly approved charter school operated 11 by a high-performing education service provider to 12 receive a 15-year initial charter and become a high 13 performing charter school; providing requirements for 14 retention of designation as a high-performing charter 15 school; authorizing preference for enrollment in a 16 charter school-in-the-workplace and a charter school 17 in-a-municipality for certain students; authorizing a 18 nonprofit organization to operate multiple charter 19 schools as a network of affiliated schools; revising 20 requirements for the establishment of a charter 21 school-in-the-workplace; providing that a charter 22 school-in-the-workplace is eligible for capital outlay 23 funding if it meets specified requirements; removing a 24 reporting requirement relating to student assessment 25 data; requiring the Office of Program Policy Analysis 26 and Government Accountability to conduct a study 27 comparing the funding of charter schools with 28 traditional public schools and examining certain 29 funding and costs; requiring recommendations to the 30 Governor and Legislature, if warranted, for improving 31 the accountability and equity of the funding system 32 for charter schools; creating s. 1002.46, F.S.; 33 providing for the establishment of charter virtual 34 schools; providing requirements for participation in 35 the program; providing requirements for student 36 eligibility; providing for funding; providing 37 exceptions from certain requirements; providing an 38 effective date. 39 40 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 41 42 Section 1. Paragraphs (g) and (i) of subsection (9), 43 paragraph (d) of subsection (10), paragraph (b) of subsection 44 (15), and paragraph (b) of subsection (21) of section 1002.33, 45 Florida Statutes, are amended, and paragraph (q) is added to 46 subsection (9) of that section, to read: 47 1002.33 Charter schools.— 48 (9) CHARTER SCHOOL REQUIREMENTS.— 49 (g) In order to provide financial information that is 50 comparable to that reported for other public schools, charter 51 schools are to maintain all financial records that constitute 52 their accounting system: 53 1. In accordance with the accounts and codes prescribed in 54 the most recent issuance of the publication titled “Financial 55 and Program Cost Accounting and Reporting for Florida Schools”; 56 or 57 2. At the discretion of the charter school governing board, 58 a charter school may elect to follow generally accepted 59 accounting standards for not-for-profit organizations, but must 60 reformat this information for reporting according to this 61 paragraph. 62 63 Charter schools shall provide annual financial report and 64 program cost report information in the state-required formats 65 for inclusion in district reporting in compliance with s. 66 1011.60(1). Charter schools that are operated by a municipality 67 or are a component unit of a parent nonprofit organization may 68 use the accounting system of the municipality or the parent but 69 must reformat this information for reporting according to this 70 paragraph. A charter school shall provide a monthly financial 71 statement to the sponsor, unless the charter school is 72 designated as a high-performing charter school under paragraph 73 (q), in which case the high-performing charter school shall 74 provide a quarterly financial statement. Themonthlyfinancial 75 statement required under this paragraph shall be in a form 76 prescribed by the Department of Education. 77 (i) The governing body of the charter school shall exercise 78 continuing oversight over charter school operations. A governing 79 body may oversee more than one charter school in more than one 80 school district. 81 (q)1. For purposes of this paragraph, the term: 82 a. “Entity” means a municipality or other public entity as 83 authorized by law to operate a charter school; a private, not 84 for-profit, s. 501(c)(3) status corporation; or a private, for 85 profit corporation. 86 b. “High-performing education service provider” means an 87 entity that: 88 (I) Operates at least two high-performing charter schools 89 in this state; 90 (II) Has received a school grade of “A” or “B” during the 91 previous 3 years for at least 75 percent of the charter schools 92 operated by the entity in this state; and 93 (III) Has not received a school grade of “F” during any of 94 the previous 3 years for any charter school operated by the 95 entity in this state. 96 2. A charter school shall be designated as a high 97 performing charter school if during each of the previous 3 years 98 the charter school: 99 a. Received a school grade of “A” or “B”; 100 b. Received an unqualified opinion on each financial audit 101 required under s. 218.39; and 102 c. Did not receive a financial audit that revealed one or 103 more of the conditions set forth in s. 218.503(1). 104 3. A high-performing charter school may: 105 a. Increase the school’s student enrollment once per year 106 by up to 25 percent more than the capacity authorized pursuant 107 to paragraph (10)(h). 108 b. Receive charter school capital outlay funds under s. 109 1013.62. A high-performing charter school is not required to 110 comply with s. 1013.62(1)(a)1.-3. but must comply with all other 111 requirements of s. 1013.62 in order to receive charter school 112 capital outlay funds as provided in this sub-subparagraph. 113 4. A high-performing education service provider may submit 114 an application pursuant to subsection (6) to establish and 115 operate a new charter school that will replicate one or more of 116 the provider’s existing high-performing charter schools. Upon 117 approval of the application by the sponsor, the new charter 118 school shall be granted an initial charter for a term of 15 119 years and be designated as a high-performing charter school. The 120 15-year charter is subject to annual review and may be 121 terminated during its term pursuant to subsection (8). 122 5.a. A charter school that is designated as a high 123 performing charter school may retain such designation pursuant 124 to: 125 (I) Subparagraph 2. if the school’s governing board, by 126 July 1 of each year, demonstrates in writing to the school’s 127 sponsor that the charter school continues to meet the 128 requirements of subparagraph 2. 129 (II) Subparagraph 4. during the school’s initial 3 years of 130 operation if the entity operating the school continues to meet 131 the definition of a high-performing education service provider 132 under sub-subparagraph 1.b. After the high-performing charter 133 school has operated for 3 years, the school must comply with 134 sub-sub-subparagraph (I) in order to retain its designation as a 135 high-performing charter school. 136 b. The high-performing charter school designation shall be 137 removed if the charter school does not meet the requirements of 138 sub-subparagraph a. 139 (10) ELIGIBLE STUDENTS.— 140 (d) A charter school may give enrollment preference to the 141 following student populations: 142 1. Students who are siblings of a student enrolled in the 143 charter school. 144 2. Students who are the children of a member of the 145 governing board of the charter school. 146 3. Students who are the children of an employee of the 147 charter school. 148 4. Students who are the children of an employee of a 149 business or corporation that is in partnership with a charter 150 school-in-the-workplace or students who are the children of a 151 resident of a municipality that operates a charter school-in-a 152 municipality pursuant to subsection (15). 153 (15) CHARTER SCHOOLS-IN-THE-WORKPLACE; CHARTER SCHOOLS-IN 154 A-MUNICIPALITY.— 155 (b) A charter school-in-the-workplace may be established 156 when a business partner or a municipality: 157 1. Provides one of the following: 158 a. Access to atheschool facility to be used; 159 b. Resources that materially reduce the cost of 160 constructing a school facility; 161 c. Land for a school facility; or 162 d. Resources to maintain a school facility; 163 2. Enrolls students based upon a random lottery that 164 involves all of the children of employees of that business, 165 corporation, or within that municipality,or corporationwho are 166 seeking enrollment, as provided for in subsection (10); and 167 3. Enrolls students according to the racial/ethnic balance 168 provisions described in subparagraph (7)(a)8. 169 170 A charter school-in-the-workplace is eligible for charter school 171 capital outlay funding if it meets the requirements in s. 172 1013.62. Any portion of a facility used for a public charter 173 school shall be exempt from ad valorem taxes, as provided for in 174 s. 1013.54, for the duration of its use as a public school. 175 (21) PUBLIC INFORMATION ON CHARTER SCHOOLS.— 176 (b)1. The Department of Education shall report student 177 assessment data pursuant to s. 1008.34(3)(c) which is reported 178 to schools that receive a school grade or student assessment 179 data pursuant to s. 1008.341(3) which is reported to alternative 180 schools that receive a school improvement rating to each charter 181 school that: 182 a. Does not receive a school grade pursuant to s. 1008.34 183 or a school improvement rating pursuant to s. 1008.341; and 184 b. Serves at least 10 students who are tested on the 185 statewide assessment test pursuant to s. 1008.22. 186 2. The charter school shall report the information in 187 subparagraph 1. to each parent of a student at the charter 188 school,the parent of a child on a waiting list for the charter189school,the district in which the charter school is located, and 190 the governing board of the charter school. This paragraph does 191 not abrogate the provisions of s. 1002.22, relating to student 192 records, or the requirements of 20 U.S.C. s. 1232g, the Family 193 Educational Rights and Privacy Act. 194 3.a. Pursuant to this paragraph, the Department of 195 Education shall compare the charter school student performance 196 data for each charter school in subparagraph 1. with the student 197 performance data in traditional public schools in the district 198 in which the charter school is located and other charter schools 199 in the state. For alternative charter schools, the department 200 shall compare the student performance data described in this 201 paragraph with all alternative schools in the state. The 202 comparative data shall be provided by the following grade 203 groupings: 204 (I) Grades 3 through 5; 205 (II) Grades 6 through 8; and 206 (III) Grades 9 through 11. 207 b. Each charter school shall provide the information 208 specified in this paragraph on its Internet website and also 209 provide notice to the public at large in a manner provided by 210 the rules of the State Board of Education. The State Board of 211 Education shall adopt rules to administer the notice 212 requirements of this subparagraph pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 213 120.54. The website shall include, through links or actual 214 content, other information related to school performance. 215 Section 2. (1) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and 216 Government Accountability (OPPAGA) shall conduct a study 217 comparing the funding of charter schools with traditional public 218 schools and shall: 219 (a) Identify the school districts that distribute funds 220 generated by the capital improvement millage authorized pursuant 221 to s. 1011.71(2), Florida Statutes, to charter schools and the 222 use of such funds by the charter schools. 223 (b) Determine the amount of funds that would be available 224 to charter schools if school districts equitably distribute to 225 district schools, including charter schools, funds generated by 226 the capital improvement millage authorized pursuant to s. 227 1011.71(2), Florida Statutes. 228 (c) Examine the costs associated with supervising charter 229 schools and determine if the 5 percent administrative fee for 230 administrative and educational services for charter schools 231 covers the costs associated with the provision of the services. 232 (2) OPPAGA shall make recommendations, if warranted, for 233 improving the accountability and equity of the funding system 234 for charter schools based on the findings of the study. The 235 results of the study shall be provided to the Governor, the 236 President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of 237 Representatives no later than January 1, 2011. 238 Section 3. Section 1002.46, Florida Statutes, is created to 239 read: 240 1002.46 Charter virtual school.— 241 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—A charter virtual school shall be part 242 of the state’s program of public education. 243 (2) VIRTUAL INSTRUCTION.—A provider of virtual instruction 244 that has been approved by the Department of Education pursuant 245 to s. 1002.45 and that has a charter school agreement approved 246 by a district school board pursuant to s. 1002.33 may be 247 established as a charter virtual school as provided in this 248 section and may provide virtual instruction to students who 249 reside in the district in which the charter is granted. 250 (3) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—A charter virtual school must 251 meet the requirements of program definitions, provider 252 qualifications, virtual instruction, contract requirements, 253 student participation, and assessment and accountability as 254 provided in s. 1002.45(1)(a) and (b), (2), (3), (4), (6), and 255 (8). 256 (4) STUDENT ELGIBILITY.—A charter virtual school may enroll 257 a student who resides in the school district in which the 258 charter is granted and meets the requirements of s. 259 1002.45(5)(a), (b), or (c). 260 (5) FUNDING.—Funding for a charter virtual school shall be 261 through the Florida Education Finance Program as follows: 262 (a) A full-time equivalent student shall be reported as 263 required under s. 1011.61(1)(c)1.b.(III) or (IV). 264 (b) A charter virtual school shall report its full-time 265 equivalent students to the school district in which the charter 266 is granted in the manner prescribed by the Department of 267 Education. 268 (c) School districts shall report charter virtual school 269 full-time equivalent students to the Department of Education in 270 the manner prescribed by the department and the eligible FTE 271 shall be funded through the Florida Education Finance Program. 272 (d) For each eligible full-time equivalent student reported 273 by a charter virtual school and funded in the Florida Education 274 Finance Program, the school district shall receive an annual 275 allocation for operation which is equivalent to the funds per 276 unweighted student as provided to the Florida Virtual School. 277 This amount shall be included in the basic amount to be included 278 for operation under the Florida Education Finance Program for 279 each district; however, these payments and full-time equivalent 280 students may not be used for any other calculation under the 281 Florida Education Finance Program. The school district may 282 retain an administrative fee pursuant to s. 1002.33(20)(a) prior 283 to the distribution of funds to the charter virtual school. 284 (6) EXCEPTIONS.—A charter virtual school is not required to 285 meet the educational facilities or student transportation 286 requirements for charter schools under s. 1002.33. 287 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.
