Florida Senate - 2018 SB 1434
By Senator Passidomo
28-00984E-18 20181434__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to K-12 education enhancements;
3 amending s. 1011.62, F.S.; creating the mental health
4 assistance allocation and providing the purpose of the
5 allocation; providing for the allocation of funds;
6 requiring each entity that receives funds to annually
7 submit a plan for the use of such funds to the
8 district school board or other governing body which
9 must include certain elements; requiring districts to
10 submit approved plans to the Commissioner of Education
11 by a specified date; requiring an annual final report
12 to the commissioner by a specified date; conforming
13 cross-references; amending s. 1011.71, F.S.;
14 increasing the amount that a school district may
15 expend from a specified millage levy for certain
16 expenses; amending s. 1013.62, F.S.; prohibiting a
17 charter school from being eligible for capital outlay
18 funds unless the chair of the governing board and the
19 chief administrative officer of the charter school
20 annually certify certain information; revising the
21 Department of Education’s calculation methodology for
22 a school district’s distribution of discretionary
23 millage to its eligible charter schools; providing an
24 effective date.
25
26 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
27
28 Section 1. Present subsections (16) and (17) of section
29 1011.62, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (17)
30 and (18), respectively, a new subsection (16) is added to that
31 section, and subsection (14) of that section is amended, to
32 read:
33 1011.62 Funds for operation of schools.—If the annual
34 allocation from the Florida Education Finance Program to each
35 district for operation of schools is not determined in the
36 annual appropriations act or the substantive bill implementing
37 the annual appropriations act, it shall be determined as
38 follows:
39 (14) QUALITY ASSURANCE GUARANTEE.—The Legislature may
40 annually in the General Appropriations Act determine a
41 percentage increase in funds per K-12 unweighted FTE as a
42 minimum guarantee to each school district. The guarantee shall
43 be calculated from prior year base funding per unweighted FTE
44 student which shall include the adjusted FTE dollars as provided
45 in subsection (17) (16), quality guarantee funds, and actual
46 nonvoted discretionary local effort from taxes. From the base
47 funding per unweighted FTE, the increase shall be calculated for
48 the current year. The current year funds from which the
49 guarantee shall be determined shall include the adjusted FTE
50 dollars as provided in subsection (17) (16) and potential
51 nonvoted discretionary local effort from taxes. A comparison of
52 current year funds per unweighted FTE to prior year funds per
53 unweighted FTE shall be computed. For those school districts
54 which have less than the legislatively assigned percentage
55 increase, funds shall be provided to guarantee the assigned
56 percentage increase in funds per unweighted FTE student. Should
57 appropriated funds be less than the sum of this calculated
58 amount for all districts, the commissioner shall prorate each
59 district’s allocation. This provision shall be implemented to
60 the extent specifically funded.
61 (16) MENTAL HEALTH ASSISTANCE ALLOCATION.—The mental health
62 assistance allocation is created to provide supplemental funding
63 to assist school districts in establishing or expanding
64 comprehensive school-based mental health programs that increase
65 awareness of mental health issues among children and school-age
66 youth; train educators and other school staff in detecting and
67 responding to mental health issues; and connect children, youth,
68 and families who may experience behavioral health issues with
69 appropriate services. These funds shall be allocated annually to
70 each eligible school district and developmental research school
71 based on each entity’s proportionate share of Florida Education
72 Finance Program base funding. The district funding allocation
73 must include a minimum amount as specified in the General
74 Appropriations Act. Upon submission and approval of a plan that
75 includes the elements specified in paragraph (b), charter
76 schools are also entitled to a proportionate share of district
77 funding for this program. The allocated funds may not supplant
78 funds that are provided from other operating funds for this
79 purpose and may not be used to increase salaries or provide
80 bonuses.
81 (a) To be eligible for the allocation:
82 1. The district must annually develop and submit a detailed
83 plan outlining the local program and planned expenditures to the
84 district school board for approval.
85 2. A charter school must annually develop and submit a
86 detailed plan outlining the local program and planned
87 expenditures of the funds in the plan to its governing body for
88 approval. After the plan is approved by the governing body, it
89 must be provided to its school district for submission to the
90 commissioner.
91 (b) A plan required under paragraph (a) must include, at a
92 minimum, all of the following elements:
93 1. A collaborative effort or partnership between the school
94 district and at least one local community program or agency
95 involved in mental health to provide or to improve prevention,
96 diagnosis, and treatment services for students;
97 2. Programs to assist students in dealing with bullying,
98 trauma, and violence;
99 3. Strategies or programs to reduce the likelihood of at
100 risk students developing social, emotional, or behavioral health
101 problems or substance use disorders;
102 4. Strategies to improve the early identification of
103 social, emotional, or behavioral problems or substance use
104 disorders and to improve the provision of early intervention
105 services;
106 5. Strategies to enhance the availability of school-based
107 crisis intervention services and appropriate referrals for
108 students in need of mental health services; and
109 6. Training opportunities for school personnel in the
110 techniques and supports needed to identify students who have
111 trauma histories and who have or are at risk of having a mental
112 illness, and in the use of referral mechanisms that effectively
113 link such students to appropriate treatment and intervention
114 services in the school and in the community.
115 (c) The districts shall submit approved plans to the
116 commissioner by August 1 of each fiscal year.
117 (d) Beginning September 30, 2019, and by each September 30
118 thereafter, each entity that receives an allocation under this
119 subsection shall submit to the commissioner a final report, in a
120 format prescribed by the department, on its program outcomes and
121 its expenditures for each element of the program.
122 Section 2. Subsection (5) of section 1011.71, Florida
123 Statutes, is amended to read:
124 1011.71 District school tax.—
125 (5) Effective July 1, 2008, A school district may expend,
126 subject to the provisions of s. 200.065, up to $150 $100 per
127 unweighted full-time equivalent student from the revenue
128 generated by the millage levy authorized by subsection (2) to
129 fund, in addition to expenditures authorized in paragraphs
130 (2)(a)-(j), expenses for the following:
131 (a) The purchase, lease-purchase, or lease of driver’s
132 education vehicles; motor vehicles used for the maintenance or
133 operation of plants and equipment; security vehicles; or
134 vehicles used in storing or distributing materials and
135 equipment.
136 (b) Payment of the cost of premiums, as defined in s.
137 627.403, for property and casualty insurance necessary to insure
138 school district educational and ancillary plants. As used in
139 this paragraph, casualty insurance has the same meaning as in s.
140 624.605(1)(d), (f), (g), (h), and (m). Operating revenues that
141 are made available through the payment of property and casualty
142 insurance premiums from revenues generated under this subsection
143 may be expended only for nonrecurring operational expenditures
144 of the school district.
145 Section 3. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) and subsection
146 (3) of section 1013.62, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
147 1013.62 Charter schools capital outlay funding.—
148 (1) Charter school capital outlay funding shall consist of
149 revenue resulting from the discretionary millage authorized in
150 s. 1011.71(2) and state funds when such funds are appropriated
151 in the General Appropriations Act.
152 (b) A charter school is not eligible to receive capital
153 outlay funds if:
154 1. It was created by the conversion of a public school and
155 operates in facilities provided by the charter school’s sponsor
156 for a nominal fee, or at no charge, or if it is directly or
157 indirectly operated by the school district; or.
158 2. The chair of the governing board and the chief
159 administrative officer of the charter school do not annually
160 certify under oath that the funds will be used solely and
161 exclusively for constructing, renovating, or improving charter
162 school facilities that are:
163 a. Owned by a school district, a political subdivision of
164 the state, a municipality, a Florida College System institution,
165 or a state university; or
166 b. Owned by an organization that is qualified as an exempt
167 organization under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
168 whose articles of incorporation specify that, upon the
169 organization’s dissolution, the subject property will be
170 transferred to a school district, a political subdivision of the
171 state, a municipality, a Florida College System institution, or
172 a state university.
173 (3) If the school board levies the discretionary millage
174 authorized in s. 1011.71(2), the department shall use the
175 following calculation methodology to determine the amount of
176 revenue that a school district must distribute to each eligible
177 charter school:
178 (a) Reduce the total discretionary millage revenue by the
179 school district’s annual debt service obligation incurred as of
180 March 1, 2017, and any amount of participation requirement
181 pursuant to s. 1013.64(2)(a)8. that is being satisfied by
182 revenues raised by the discretionary millage.
183 (b) Divide the school district’s adjusted discretionary
184 millage revenue by the district’s total capital outlay full-time
185 equivalent membership and the total number of unweighted full
186 time equivalent students of each eligible charter school to
187 determine a capital outlay allocation per full-time equivalent
188 student.
189 (c) Multiply the capital outlay allocation per full-time
190 equivalent student by the total number of full-time equivalent
191 students for all of each eligible charter schools within the
192 district school to determine the total charter school capital
193 outlay allocation for each district charter school.
194 (d) If applicable, reduce the capital outlay allocation
195 identified in paragraph (c) by the total amount of state funds
196 allocated pursuant to subsection (2) to all each eligible
197 charter schools within a district school in subsection (2) to
198 determine the net total maximum calculated capital outlay
199 allocation from local funds. If state funds are not allocated
200 pursuant to subsection (2), the amount determined in paragraph
201 (c) is equal to the net total calculated capital outlay
202 allocation from local funds for each district.
203 (e) For each charter school within each district, the net
204 capital outlay amount from local funds shall be calculated in
205 the same manner as the state funds in paragraphs (2)(a)-(d),
206 except that the base charter school per weighted FTE allocation
207 amount shall be determined by dividing the net total capital
208 outlay amount from local funds by the total weighted FTE for all
209 eligible charter schools within the district. The per weighted
210 FTE allocation amount from local funds shall be multiplied by
211 the weighted FTE for each charter school to determine each
212 charter school’s capital outlay allocation from local funds.
213 (f)(e) School districts shall distribute capital outlay
214 funds to charter schools no later than February 1 of each year,
215 beginning on February 1, 2018, for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.
216 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.