Florida Senate - 2017                                     SB 984
       
       
        
       By Senator Bean
       
       
       
       
       
       4-00147A-17                                            2017984__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the shared use of public school
    3         playground facilities; creating s. 1013.101, F.S.;
    4         providing legislative findings and intent; defining
    5         terms; requiring the Department of Education to
    6         provide specified assistance to school districts;
    7         providing for funding as established in the General
    8         Appropriations Act; specifying funding allocation
    9         guidelines; requiring the department to annually post
   10         information regarding specified allocations on its
   11         website and report to the Legislature; requiring the
   12         department to develop an application process for
   13         school districts; requiring funding priority to be
   14         given to high-need communities; creating the Shared
   15         Use Task Force within the department; specifying the
   16         purpose and membership of the task force; providing
   17         requirements for electing a task force chair and vice
   18         chair and conducting its meetings; requiring the
   19         department to provide the task force with necessary
   20         staff; requiring the task force to submit a report to
   21         the Legislature by a specified date; providing for
   22         expiration of the task force; providing for
   23         rulemaking; providing an effective date.
   24          
   25  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   26  
   27         Section 1. Section 1013.101, Florida Statutes, is created
   28  to read:
   29         1013.101 Shared use agreements.—
   30         (1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.—The Legislature finds
   31  that greater public access to recreation and sports facilities
   32  is needed to reduce the impact of obesity, diabetes, and other
   33  chronic diseases on personal health and health care
   34  expenditures. Public schools are equipped with taxpayer-funded
   35  indoor and outdoor recreation facilities that offer easily
   36  accessible opportunities for physical activity for residents of
   37  the community. The Legislature also finds that it is the policy
   38  of the state for district school boards to allow the shared use
   39  of school buildings and property by adopting policies allowing
   40  for shared use and implementing shared use agreements with local
   41  governmental entities and nonprofit organizations. The
   42  Legislature intends to increase the number of school districts
   43  that open their playground facilities to community use outside
   44  of school hours.
   45         (2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
   46         (a) “High-need communities” means communities in which at
   47  least 50 percent of children are eligible to receive free or
   48  reduced-price meals at the school that will be the subject of
   49  the shared use agreement.
   50         (b) “Shared use” means allowing access to school playground
   51  facilities by community members for recreation or another
   52  purpose of importance to the community through a shared use
   53  agreement or a school district or school policy that opens
   54  school facilities for use by government or nongovernmental
   55  entities or the public.
   56         (c) “Shared use agreement” means a written agreement
   57  between a school district and a government or nongovernmental
   58  entity which defines the roles, responsibilities, terms, and
   59  conditions for community use of a school-owned facility for
   60  recreation or other purposes.
   61         (3) PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY USE OF SHARED FACILITIES.—The
   62  department shall provide technical assistance to school
   63  districts, including, but not limited to, individualized
   64  assistance, the creation of a shared use technical assistance
   65  toolkit containing useful information for school districts, and
   66  the development of a publicly accessible online database of
   67  shared use resources and existing shared use agreements.
   68         (4) FUNDING.—The department shall do all of the following
   69  with funds as established in the General Appropriations Act:
   70         (a) Provide short-term grants to help school districts open
   71  their facilities for shared use before or after school hours,
   72  including evenings, weekends, and school vacations.
   73         (b) Establish guidelines for funding eligibility consistent
   74  with this section, promote the availability of the funding
   75  statewide, provide technical assistance to applicants, evaluate
   76  applicants, determine allowable expenses, and disburse funding.
   77         (c) Annually post on its website and report to the
   78  President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
   79  Representatives the expenditure of the funds used to administer
   80  this section, including the total amount of funding distributed,
   81  the school districts that received funding, the amount of
   82  funding each school district received, and the department’s
   83  evaluation results.
   84         (d) Develop an application process for school districts to
   85  receive funding. The application must require that a school
   86  district:
   87         1. Demonstrate that it has an active partnership with a
   88  local governmental agency or nonprofit organization or that the
   89  funds will be used to open school facilities for use by the
   90  public;
   91         2. Agree to fully implement its shared use project within
   92  the grant period;
   93         3. Abide by the conditions for receiving assistance;
   94         4. Provide the department with a copy of the school
   95  district’s shared use agreement or shared use policy; and
   96         5. Collect and provide data and other information required
   97  by the department for monitoring, accountability, and evaluation
   98  purposes.
   99         (e) Give funding priority to high-need communities. In
  100  consultation with the Shared Use Task Force, the department may
  101  establish additional criteria for funding priorities consistent
  102  with this section.
  103         Section 2. Shared Use Task Force.—The Shared Use Task
  104  Force, a task force as defined in s. 20.03, Florida Statutes, is
  105  created within the Department of Education. The task force is
  106  created to identify barriers in creating shared use agreements
  107  and to make recommendations to facilitate the shared use of
  108  school facilities generally and in high-need communities.
  109         (1) The task force is composed of 7 members appointed by
  110  the department, as follows:
  111         (a) Two representatives from school districts, including 1
  112  representative from school districts 1 through 33 and 1
  113  representative from school districts 34 through 67;
  114         (b) One representative from a public health department;
  115         (c) Two representatives from community-based programs in
  116  high-need communities; and
  117         (d) Two representatives from recreational organizations.
  118         (2) The task force shall elect a chair and vice chair. The
  119  chair and vice chair may not be representatives from the same
  120  member category. Members of the task force shall serve without
  121  compensation, but are entitled to reimbursement for per diem and
  122  travel expenses pursuant to s. 112.061, Florida Statutes.
  123         (3) The task force shall meet by teleconference or other
  124  electronic means, if possible, to reduce costs.
  125         (4) The department shall provide the task force with staff
  126  necessary to assist the task force in the performance of its
  127  duties.
  128         (5) The task force shall submit a report of its findings
  129  and recommendations to the President of the Senate and the
  130  Speaker of the House of Representatives by June 30, 2018. Upon
  131  submission of the report, the task force shall expire.
  132         (6) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to
  133  implement and administer this section.
  134         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.