Senate Bill sb0500c1

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    Florida Senate - 2006                            CS for SB 500

    By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senator Wise





    590-1075-06

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the school grading system;

  3         amending s. 1008.34, F.S.; adding feeder

  4         pattern schools to the list of schools that

  5         receive a school grade; prescribing

  6         circumstances in which a feeder pattern exists;

  7         amending s. 1002.38, F.S.; authorizing students

  8         served by feeder pattern schools to participate

  9         in the Opportunity Scholarship Program;

10         amending s. 1008.36, F.S.; authorizing feeder

11         pattern schools to participate in the Florida

12         School Recognition Program; providing an

13         effective date.

14  

15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

16  

17         Section 1.  Subsection (3) of section 1008.34, Florida

18  Statutes, is amended to read:

19         1008.34  School grading system; district performance

20  grade.--

21         (3)  DESIGNATION OF SCHOOL PERFORMANCE GRADE

22  CATEGORIES.--A school that serves any combination of students

23  in kindergarten through grade 3 which does not receive a

24  school grade because its students are not tested and included

25  in the school grading system shall receive the school grade

26  designation of a feeder pattern school identified by the

27  Department of Education and verified by the school district. A

28  school feeder pattern exists if at least 60 percent of the

29  students in the school serving a combination of students in

30  kindergarten through grade 3 are scheduled to be assigned to

31  the graded school. School performance grade category

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    Florida Senate - 2006                            CS for SB 500
    590-1075-06




 1  designations itemized in subsection (2) shall be based on the

 2  following:

 3         (a)  Timeframes.--

 4         1.  School performance grade category designations

 5  shall be based on the school's current year performance and

 6  the school's annual learning gains.

 7         2.  A school's performance grade category designation

 8  shall be based on a combination of student achievement scores,

 9  student learning gains as measured by annual FCAT assessments

10  in grades 3 through 10, and improvement of the lowest 25th

11  percentile of students in the school in reading, math, or

12  writing on the FCAT, unless these students are performing

13  above satisfactory performance.

14         (b)  Student assessment data.--Student assessment data

15  used in determining school performance grade categories shall

16  include:

17         1.  The aggregate scores of all eligible students

18  enrolled in the school who have been assessed on the FCAT.

19         2.  The aggregate scores of all eligible students

20  enrolled in the school who have been assessed on the FCAT,

21  including Florida Writes, and who have scored at or in the

22  lowest 25th percentile of students in the school in reading,

23  math, or writing, unless these students are performing above

24  satisfactory performance.

25  

26  The Department of Education shall study the effects of

27  mobility on the performance of highly mobile students and

28  recommend programs to improve the performance of such

29  students. The State Board of Education shall adopt appropriate

30  criteria for each school performance grade category. The

31  criteria must also give added weight to student achievement in

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    Florida Senate - 2006                            CS for SB 500
    590-1075-06




 1  reading. Schools designated as performance grade category "C,"

 2  making satisfactory progress, shall be required to demonstrate

 3  that adequate progress has been made by students in the school

 4  who are in the lowest 25th percentile in reading, math, or

 5  writing on the FCAT, including Florida Writes, unless these

 6  students are performing above satisfactory performance.

 7         Section 2.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section

 8  1002.38, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

 9         1002.38  Opportunity Scholarship Program.--

10         (2)  OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY.--A public

11  school student's parent may request and receive from the state

12  an opportunity scholarship for the student to enroll in and

13  attend a private school in accordance with the provisions of

14  this section if:

15         (a)1.  By assigned school attendance area or by special

16  assignment, the student has spent the prior school year in

17  attendance at a public school, including a feeder pattern

18  school, which that has been designated pursuant to s. 1008.34

19  as performance grade category "F," failing to make adequate

20  progress, and that has had 2 school years in a 4-year period

21  of such low performance, and the student's attendance occurred

22  during a school year in which such designation was in effect;

23         2.  The student has been in attendance elsewhere in the

24  public school system and has been assigned to such school for

25  the next school year; or

26         3.  The student is entering kindergarten or first grade

27  and has been notified that the student has been assigned to

28  such school for the next school year.

29  

30  The provisions of this section shall not apply to a student

31  who is enrolled in a school operating for the purpose of

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    Florida Senate - 2006                            CS for SB 500
    590-1075-06




 1  providing educational services to youth in Department of

 2  Juvenile Justice commitment programs. For purposes of

 3  continuity of educational choice, the opportunity scholarship

 4  shall remain in force until the student returns to a public

 5  school or, if the student chooses to attend a private school

 6  the highest grade of which is grade 8, until the student

 7  matriculates to high school and the public high school to

 8  which the student is assigned is an accredited school with a

 9  performance grade category designation of "C" or better.

10  However, at any time upon reasonable notice to the Department

11  of Education and the school district, the student's parent may

12  remove the student from the private school and place the

13  student in a public school, as provided in subparagraph

14  (3)(a)2.

15         Section 3.  Subsection (3) of section 1008.36, Florida

16  Statutes, is amended to read:

17         1008.36  Florida School Recognition Program.--

18         (3)  All public schools, including charter schools and

19  feeder pattern schools, which that receive a school grade

20  pursuant to s. 1008.34 are eligible to participate in the

21  program.

22         Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

23  

24          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
25                              SB 500

26                                 

27  This committee substitute makes the following changes to the
    underlying bill:
28  
    --   Rewrites and reorganizes the bill by opening up different
29       sections of statute but makes no substantive changes; and

30  --   clarifies what is meant by "feeder pattern schools."

31  

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