Florida Senate - 2014                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. PCS (532862) for CS for SB 1512
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì827068DÎ827068                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/23/2014           .                                
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       The Committee on Appropriations (Gardiner) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment 
    2  
    3         Delete lines 377 - 504
    4  and insert:
    5         2. Receive applications and determine student eligibility
    6  in accordance with the requirements of this section. The agency
    7  shall notify the Department of Education of the applicants for
    8  the program by February 15 before the school year in which the
    9  student intends to participate and indicate how the student will
   10  comply with regular school attendance pursuant to ss.
   11  1003.01(13) and 1003.23.
   12         3.Notify parents of their receipt of a scholarship on a
   13  first-come, first-served basis based upon the funds provided for
   14  this program in the General Appropriations Act.
   15         4.Establish a date by which a parent must confirm initial
   16  or continuing participation in the program and confirm the
   17  establishment or continuance of a personal learning scholarship
   18  account.
   19         5.Establish a date and process by which students on the
   20  wait list or late-filing applicants may be allowed to
   21  participate in the program during the school year, within the
   22  amount of funds provided for this program in the General
   23  Appropriations Act.
   24         6.Develop an ILSP, in consultation with the parent and the
   25  educational consultant, which documents the following:
   26         a.That the student has an eligible disability as defined
   27  in paragraph (2)(d).
   28         b.Learning goals and objectives for the student which are
   29  linked directly to how program funds will be spent for
   30  authorized services.
   31         c.How attendance requirements in s. 1003.21 will be met.
   32         d.How progress toward meeting the individual learning
   33  goals and objectives will be assessed and documented for
   34  purposes of continued participation in the program.
   35         7.Assign a funding category for each student that
   36  documents the nature and intensity of services that the student
   37  will need to meet the learning outcomes specified in his or her
   38  ILSP. The funding category determines the amount of the award
   39  for the student.
   40         8.Receive an administrative fee of up to 10 percent from
   41  the appropriation to operate the Florida Personal Learning
   42  Scholarship Accounts.
   43         9.Establish and maintain a separate account for each
   44  eligible student.
   45         10. Establish and maintain a list of approved providers
   46  pursuant to paragraph (2)(b).
   47         11.Verify eligible expenditures prior to the distribution
   48  of funds for any expenditures made pursuant to paragraphs (5)(a)
   49  and (b). The review of expenditures for services in paragraphs
   50  (5)(c) through (h) may be completed after the payment has been
   51  made.
   52         12. Develop a system for payment of benefits by electronic
   53  funds transfer, including, but not limited to, debit cards,
   54  electronic payment cards, or any other means of electronic
   55  payment that the agency deems to be commercially viable or cost
   56  effective. Commodities or services related to the development of
   57  such a system shall be procured by competitive solicitation
   58  unless they are purchased from a state term contract pursuant to
   59  s. 287.056.
   60         (b) The agency may contract for services.
   61         (14) FUNDING AND PAYMENT.—
   62         (a)Funding for the Florida Personal Learning Scholarship
   63  Accounts shall be provided in the General Appropriations Act,
   64  which shall specify the annual amount per funding category for
   65  public school students, private school students, home education
   66  students, students receiving a scholarship pursuant to s.
   67  1002.39 or s. 1002.395, and students participating in a private
   68  tutoring program.
   69         (b) Upon an eligible student’s graduation from an eligible
   70  postsecondary educational institution or after any period of 4
   71  consecutive years after high school graduation in which the
   72  student is not enrolled in an eligible postsecondary educational
   73  institution, the student’s personal learning scholarship account
   74  shall be closed, and any remaining funds shall revert to the
   75  state.
   76         (c) Moneys received pursuant to this section do not
   77  constitute taxable income to the eligible student or the parent
   78  of an eligible student.
   79         (15) OBLIGATIONS OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL.—The Auditor
   80  General shall conduct an annual financial and operational audit
   81  of accounts and records of the Florida Personal Learning
   82  Scholarship Accounts. As a part of this audit, the Auditor
   83  General shall verify, at a minimum, the total amount of students
   84  served and eligibility of reimbursement made by the agency and
   85  transmit that information to the agency.
   86         (16) LIABILITY.—The state is not liable for the award or
   87  any use of awarded funds under this section.
   88         (17) SCOPE OF AUTHORITY.—This section does not expand the
   89  regulatory authority of this state, its officers, or any school
   90  district to impose additional regulation on participating
   91  private schools, nonpublic postsecondary educational
   92  institutions, and private providers beyond those reasonably
   93  necessary to enforce requirements expressly set forth in this
   94  section.
   95         (18) RULES.—The Agency for Persons with Disabilities shall
   96  adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to administer
   97  this section.
   98         (19)IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE FOR THE 2014-2015 SCHOOL
   99  YEAR.—
  100         (a)The Agency for Persons with Disabilities shall, in
  101  consultation with an advisory work group, develop an ILSP and an
  102  ILSP process, funding category requirements, a system for
  103  payment of claims and providers, and a system to document and
  104  assess progress toward meeting the individual learning goals and
  105  objectives in the ILSP. The advisory work group shall make
  106  specific recommendations to the agency by October 1, 2014. The
  107  agency shall adopt rules to implement the recommendations of the
  108  advisory group by December 31, 2014. The Commissioner of
  109  Education, the executive director of the agency, the Chancellor
  110  of the State University System, and the director of the Division
  111  of Vocational Rehabilitation shall appoint staff to work on the
  112  advisory group with stakeholders.
  113         (b)Notwithstanding the provisions of this section related
  114  to notification and eligibility timelines, the agency may enroll
  115  parents in a statewide pilot program on a rolling schedule on a
  116  first-come, first-served basis, no later than February 1, 2015,
  117  within the amount of funds provided in the General
  118  Appropriations Act.
  119         (c) There is hereby appropriated for the 2014-2015 fiscal
  120  year to the Agency for Persons with Disabilities a sum of $18.4
  121  million from the Operations and Maintenance Trust Fund for the
  122  implementation of the Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts
  123  Program. From these funds, $1.5 million shall be allocated to
  124  the Agency for Persons with Disabilities for startup costs for
  125  planning and implementation of the pilot program. For the pilot
  126  program in the 2014-2015 fiscal year, the agency shall provide
  127  awards for eligible students which range from $5,000 to $19,000
  128  per recipient and shall be based on funding categories
  129  established by the agency. Public school students and students
  130  who receive a scholarship pursuant to ss. 1002.39 and 1002.395
  131  shall receive 50 percent of the designated amount for the
  132  student’s funding category.