Florida Senate - 2015                                    SB 1552
       
       
        
       By Senator Benacquisto
       
       
       
       
       
       30-00726B-15                                          20151552__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to parent and student rights; amending
    3         s. 1002.20, F.S.; providing the right of a parent to
    4         know the average amount of money expended for the
    5         education of his or her child; requiring the
    6         Department of Education to provide each school
    7         district with such information and requiring the
    8         school districts to provide notification to parents;
    9         authorizing the information to be published in the
   10         student handbook or a similar publication; conforming
   11         a provision to changes made by the act; amending s.
   12         1002.31, F.S.; deleting the definition of and
   13         provisions relating to controlled open enrollment;
   14         requiring each school district to instead establish a
   15         public school parental choice policy that allows
   16         students to attend any public school that has not
   17         reached capacity in their district; requiring
   18         assignments to be made on a first-come, first-served
   19         basis; defining the term “capacity” for the purposes
   20         of a district school board public school parental
   21         choice plan; authorizing a parent to enroll his or her
   22         child in any public school that has not reached
   23         capacity in the state; amending s. 1002.33, F.S.;
   24         requiring a charter school with space available to be
   25         open to any student in the state; amending s.
   26         1002.451, F.S.; conforming a provision to changes made
   27         by the act; creating s. 1003.3101, F.S.; requiring
   28         each school district board to establish a classroom
   29         teacher transfer process for parents, approve or deny
   30         a request within a certain timeframe, and post an
   31         explanation of the transfer process in the student
   32         handbook; amending s. 1006.15, F.S.; conforming
   33         provisions to changes made by the act; amending s.
   34         1012.42, F.S.; authorizing a parent who receives
   35         notification that a teacher is teaching outside his or
   36         her field to request that his or her child be
   37         transferred to another classroom teacher within the
   38         school and grade in which the child is currently
   39         enrolled; providing an effective date.
   40          
   41  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   42  
   43         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (6) and paragraph
   44  (a) of subsection (13) of section 1002.20, Florida Statutes, are
   45  amended, and subsection (25) is added to that section, to read:
   46         1002.20 K-12 student and parent rights.—Parents of public
   47  school students must receive accurate and timely information
   48  regarding their child’s academic progress and must be informed
   49  of ways they can help their child to succeed in school. K-12
   50  students and their parents are afforded numerous statutory
   51  rights including, but not limited to, the following:
   52         (6) EDUCATIONAL CHOICE.—
   53         (a) Public school choices.—Parents of public school
   54  students may seek whatever public school choice options that are
   55  applicable and available to students in their school districts.
   56  These options may include public school parental choice
   57  controlled open enrollment, single-gender programs, lab schools,
   58  virtual instruction programs, charter schools, charter technical
   59  career centers, magnet schools, alternative schools, special
   60  programs, auditory-oral education programs, advanced placement,
   61  dual enrollment, International Baccalaureate, International
   62  General Certificate of Secondary Education (pre-AICE), Advanced
   63  International Certificate of Education, early admissions, credit
   64  by examination or demonstration of competency, the New World
   65  School of the Arts, the Florida School for the Deaf and the
   66  Blind, and the Florida Virtual School. These options may also
   67  include the public school choice options of the Opportunity
   68  Scholarship Program and the McKay Scholarships for Students with
   69  Disabilities Program.
   70         (13) STUDENT RECORDS.—
   71         (a) Parent rights.—Parents have rights regarding the
   72  student records of their children, including the right of
   73  access, the right of waiver of access, the right to challenge
   74  and hearing, and the right of privacy, in accordance with the
   75  provisions of s. 1002.22.
   76         (25) FISCAL TRANSPARENCY.—A parent has the right to know
   77  the average amount of money estimated to be expended from all
   78  sources, state, local, and federal, for the education of his or
   79  her child, including operating and capital outlay expenses. The
   80  department shall annually provide each district the estimated
   81  amount of funding allocated for a student in the district by
   82  grade level and level of support. Each district must notify
   83  parents of the estimated amount of funding allocated for a
   84  student similar to their child, based upon grade level and level
   85  of support. The fiscal transparency notification may be included
   86  in the student handbook or a similar publication.
   87         Section 2. Section 1002.31, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   88  read:
   89         1002.31 Controlled open enrollment; Public school parental
   90  choice.—
   91         (1) As used in this section, “controlled open enrollment”
   92  means a public education delivery system that allows school
   93  districts to make student school assignments using parents’
   94  indicated preferential school choice as a significant factor.
   95         (1)(2) Each district school board shall establish a public
   96  school parental choice policy that authorizes a parent to choose
   97  to enroll his or her child in and transport his or her child to
   98  any public school that has not reached capacity, including
   99  charter schools, in the district. This policy may offer
  100  controlled open enrollment within the public schools which is in
  101  addition to the existing choice programs, such as virtual
  102  instruction programs, magnet schools, alternative schools,
  103  special programs, advanced placement, and dual enrollment.
  104         (2)(3) Each district school board offering controlled open
  105  enrollment shall adopt by rule and post on its website a public
  106  school parental choice controlled open enrollment plan which
  107  must:
  108         (a) Adhere to federal desegregation requirements.
  109         (b) Include an application process required to participate
  110  in public school parental choice controlled open enrollment that
  111  allows parents to declare school preferences, including
  112  placement of siblings within the same school.
  113         (c) Assign students on a first-come, first-served basis
  114  based upon the date and time complete applications are received
  115  by the school district Provide a lottery procedure to determine
  116  student assignment and establish an appeals process for hardship
  117  cases.
  118         (d) Afford parents of students in multiple session schools
  119  preferred access to controlled open enrollment.
  120         (e) Maintain socioeconomic, demographic, and racial
  121  balance.
  122         (f) Address the availability of transportation.
  123         (g) Define the term “capacity” as a school in which the
  124  capital outlay FTE enrollment exceeds 95 percent of the space
  125  and occupant design capacity of its nonrelocatable facilities.
  126  However, if a school’s initial design incorporated relocatable
  127  or modular instructional space, the term “capacity” shall mean a
  128  school in which the capital outlay FTE enrollment exceeds 95
  129  percent of the space and occupant design capacity of its core
  130  facilities.
  131         (3) A parent may choose to enroll his or her child in and
  132  transport his or her child to any public school that has not
  133  reached capacity, including charter schools, in any school
  134  district in the state. The school district shall accept the
  135  student and report the student for purposes of the district’s
  136  funding pursuant to the Florida Education Finance Program.
  137         (4) For a student in grades 9 through 12, interscholastic
  138  and intrascholastic extracurricular student activity eligibility
  139  may be impacted by choosing to attend a school other than the
  140  school assigned by the district.
  141         (5)(4) In accordance with the reporting requirements of s.
  142  1011.62, each district school board shall annually report the
  143  number of students attending the various types of public schools
  144  of choice in the district, including schools such as virtual
  145  instruction programs, magnet schools, and public charter
  146  schools, according to rules adopted by the State Board of
  147  Education.
  148         (6)(5) For a school or program that is a public school of
  149  choice under this section, the calculation for compliance with
  150  maximum class size pursuant to s. 1003.03 is the average number
  151  of students at the school level.
  152         Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (10) of section
  153  1002.33, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  154         1002.33 Charter schools.—
  155         (10) ELIGIBLE STUDENTS.—
  156         (a) A charter school must shall be open to any student
  157  covered in an interdistrict agreement or residing in the school
  158  district in which the charter school is located; however, in the
  159  case of a charter lab school, the charter lab school must shall
  160  be open to any student eligible to attend the lab school as
  161  provided in s. 1002.32 or who resides in the school district in
  162  which the charter lab school is located. A charter school with
  163  space available must be open to any student in the state,
  164  pursuant to s. 1002.31(2). Any eligible student must shall be
  165  allowed interdistrict transfer to attend a charter school when
  166  based on good cause. Good cause includes shall include, but is
  167  not limited to, geographic proximity to a charter school in a
  168  neighboring school district.
  169         Section 4. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section
  170  1002.451, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  171         1002.451 District innovation school of technology program.—
  172         (1) DISTRICT INNOVATION SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY.—
  173         (c) An innovation school of technology must be open to any
  174  student covered in an interdistrict agreement or residing in the
  175  school district in which the innovation school of technology is
  176  located. An innovation school of technology shall enroll an
  177  eligible student who submits a timely application if the number
  178  of applications does not exceed the capacity of a program,
  179  class, grade level, or building. If the number of applications
  180  exceeds capacity, all applicants shall have an equal chance of
  181  being admitted through a public random selection process.
  182  However, a district may give enrollment preference to students
  183  who identify the innovation school of technology as the
  184  student’s preferred choice pursuant to the district’s public
  185  school parental choice controlled open enrollment plan.
  186         Section 5. Section 1003.3101, Florida Statutes, is created
  187  to read:
  188         1003.3101Additional school choice options.—Each school
  189  district board shall establish a transfer process for a parent
  190  to request his or her child be transferred to another classroom
  191  teacher. A school must grant or deny the transfer within 2 weeks
  192  after receiving a request. If a request for transfer is denied,
  193  the school shall notify the parent and specify the reasons for a
  194  denial. An explanation of the transfer process must be made
  195  available in the student handbook or a similar publication.
  196         Section 6. Paragraphs (c), (d), and (e) of subsection (3)
  197  of section 1006.15, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
  198         1006.15 Student standards for participation in
  199  interscholastic and intrascholastic extracurricular student
  200  activities; regulation.—
  201         (3)
  202         (c) An individual home education student is eligible to
  203  participate at the public school to which the student would be
  204  assigned according to district school board attendance area
  205  policies or which the student could choose to attend pursuant to
  206  public school parental choice district or interdistrict
  207  controlled open enrollment provisions, or may develop an
  208  agreement to participate at a private school, in the
  209  interscholastic extracurricular activities of that school,
  210  provided the following conditions are met:
  211         1. The home education student must meet the requirements of
  212  the home education program pursuant to s. 1002.41.
  213         2. During the period of participation at a school, the home
  214  education student must demonstrate educational progress as
  215  required in paragraph (b) in all subjects taken in the home
  216  education program by a method of evaluation agreed upon by the
  217  parent and the school principal which may include: review of the
  218  student’s work by a certified teacher chosen by the parent;
  219  grades earned through correspondence; grades earned in courses
  220  taken at a Florida College System institution, university, or
  221  trade school; standardized test scores above the 35th
  222  percentile; or any other method designated in s. 1002.41.
  223         3. The home education student must meet the same residency
  224  requirements as other students in the school at which he or she
  225  participates.
  226         4. The home education student must meet the same standards
  227  of acceptance, behavior, and performance as required of other
  228  students in extracurricular activities.
  229         5. The student must register with the school his or her
  230  intent to participate in interscholastic extracurricular
  231  activities as a representative of the school before the
  232  beginning date of the season for the activity in which he or she
  233  wishes to participate. A home education student must be able to
  234  participate in curricular activities if that is a requirement
  235  for an extracurricular activity.
  236         6. A student who transfers from a home education program to
  237  a public school before or during the first grading period of the
  238  school year is academically eligible to participate in
  239  interscholastic extracurricular activities during the first
  240  grading period provided the student has a successful evaluation
  241  from the previous school year, pursuant to subparagraph 2.
  242         7. Any public school or private school student who has been
  243  unable to maintain academic eligibility for participation in
  244  interscholastic extracurricular activities is ineligible to
  245  participate in such activities as a home education student until
  246  the student has successfully completed one grading period in
  247  home education pursuant to subparagraph 2. to become eligible to
  248  participate as a home education student.
  249         (d) An individual charter school student pursuant to s.
  250  1002.33 is eligible to participate at the public school to which
  251  the student would be assigned according to district school board
  252  attendance area policies or which the student could choose to
  253  attend, pursuant to district or interdistrict public school
  254  parental choice controlled open-enrollment provisions, in any
  255  interscholastic extracurricular activity of that school, unless
  256  such activity is provided by the student’s charter school, if
  257  the following conditions are met:
  258         1. The charter school student must meet the requirements of
  259  the charter school education program as determined by the
  260  charter school governing board.
  261         2. During the period of participation at a school, the
  262  charter school student must demonstrate educational progress as
  263  required in paragraph (b).
  264         3. The charter school student must meet the same residency
  265  requirements as other students in the school at which he or she
  266  participates.
  267         4. The charter school student must meet the same standards
  268  of acceptance, behavior, and performance that are required of
  269  other students in extracurricular activities.
  270         5. The charter school student must register with the school
  271  his or her intent to participate in interscholastic
  272  extracurricular activities as a representative of the school
  273  before the beginning date of the season for the activity in
  274  which he or she wishes to participate. A charter school student
  275  must be able to participate in curricular activities if that is
  276  a requirement for an extracurricular activity.
  277         6. A student who transfers from a charter school program to
  278  a traditional public school before or during the first grading
  279  period of the school year is academically eligible to
  280  participate in interscholastic extracurricular activities during
  281  the first grading period if the student has a successful
  282  evaluation from the previous school year, pursuant to
  283  subparagraph 2.
  284         7. Any public school or private school student who has been
  285  unable to maintain academic eligibility for participation in
  286  interscholastic extracurricular activities is ineligible to
  287  participate in such activities as a charter school student until
  288  the student has successfully completed one grading period in a
  289  charter school pursuant to subparagraph 2. to become eligible to
  290  participate as a charter school student.
  291         (e) A student of the Florida Virtual School full-time
  292  program may participate in any interscholastic extracurricular
  293  activity at the public school to which the student would be
  294  assigned according to district school board attendance area
  295  policies or which the student could choose to attend, pursuant
  296  to district or interdistrict public school parental choice
  297  controlled open enrollment policies, if the student:
  298         1. During the period of participation in the
  299  interscholastic extracurricular activity, meets the requirements
  300  in paragraph (a).
  301         2. Meets any additional requirements as determined by the
  302  board of trustees of the Florida Virtual School.
  303         3. Meets the same residency requirements as other students
  304  in the school at which he or she participates.
  305         4. Meets the same standards of acceptance, behavior, and
  306  performance that are required of other students in
  307  extracurricular activities.
  308         5. Registers his or her intent to participate in
  309  interscholastic extracurricular activities with the school
  310  before the beginning date of the season for the activity in
  311  which he or she wishes to participate. A Florida Virtual School
  312  student must be able to participate in curricular activities if
  313  that is a requirement for an extracurricular activity.
  314         Section 7. Subsection (2) of section 1012.42, Florida
  315  Statutes, is amended to read:
  316         1012.42 Teacher teaching out-of-field.—
  317         (2) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—When a teacher in a district
  318  school system is assigned teaching duties in a class dealing
  319  with subject matter that is outside the field in which the
  320  teacher is certified, outside the field that was the applicant’s
  321  minor field of study, or outside the field in which the
  322  applicant has demonstrated sufficient subject area expertise, as
  323  determined by district school board policy in the subject area
  324  to be taught, the parents of all students in the class shall be
  325  notified in writing of such assignment. A parent that receives
  326  this notification may, after the October student membership
  327  survey, request that his or her child be transferred to another
  328  classroom teacher within the school and grade in which the child
  329  is currently enrolled. The school district shall grant the
  330  parent’s request and transfer the student to a different
  331  classroom teacher within a reasonable period of time, not to
  332  exceed 2 weeks. This does not provide a parent the right to
  333  choose a specific teacher.
  334         Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.