Florida Senate - 2024                                     SB 622
       
       
        
       By Senator Simon
       
       
       
       
       
       3-00816-24                                             2024622__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to requirements for career education
    3         program basic skills; amending s. 1004.91, F.S.;
    4         deleting a requirement that certain postsecondary
    5         students complete an entry-level examination; deleting
    6         a requirement that the State Board of Education
    7         designate examinations to assess student mastery of
    8         basic skills; deleting a requirement that students who
    9         lack the required basic skills be referred to
   10         specified instruction or education; deleting a
   11         requirement that a student demonstrate specified basic
   12         skills in order to receive a career or technical
   13         certificate of completion; amending s. 1011.80, F.S.;
   14         conforming a provision to changes made by the act;
   15         providing an effective date.
   16          
   17  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   18  
   19         Section 1. Subsections (2) and (3) of section 1004.91,
   20  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   21         1004.91 Requirements for career education program basic
   22  skills.—
   23         (2) Students who enroll in a program offered for career
   24  credit of 450 hours or more shall complete an entry-level
   25  examination within the first 6 weeks after admission into the
   26  program. The State Board of Education shall designate
   27  examinations that are currently in existence, the results of
   28  which are comparable across institutions, to assess student
   29  mastery of basic skills. Any student found to lack the required
   30  level of basic skills for such program shall be referred to
   31  applied academics instruction or another adult general education
   32  program for a structured program of basic skills instruction.
   33  Such instruction may include English for speakers of other
   34  languages. A student may not receive a career or technical
   35  certificate of completion without first demonstrating the basic
   36  skills required in the state curriculum frameworks for the
   37  career education program.
   38         (2)(a)(3)(a) An adult student with a disability may be
   39  exempted from this section.
   40         (b) The following students are exempt from this section:
   41         1. A student who possesses a college degree at the
   42  associate in applied science level or higher.
   43         2. A student who demonstrates readiness for public
   44  postsecondary education pursuant to s. 1008.30 and applicable
   45  rules adopted by the State Board of Education.
   46         3. A student who passes a state or national industry
   47  certification or licensure examination that is identified in
   48  State Board of Education rules and aligned to the career
   49  education program in which the student is enrolled.
   50         4. An adult student who is enrolled in an apprenticeship
   51  program that is registered with the Department of Education in
   52  accordance with chapter 446.
   53         Section 2. Subsection (10) of section 1011.80, Florida
   54  Statutes, is amended to read:
   55         1011.80 Funds for operation of workforce education
   56  programs.—
   57         (10) A high school student dually enrolled under s.
   58  1007.271 in a workforce education program operated by a Florida
   59  College System institution or school district career center
   60  generates the amount calculated for workforce education funding,
   61  including any payment of performance funding, and the
   62  proportional share of full-time equivalent enrollment generated
   63  through the Florida Education Finance Program for the student’s
   64  enrollment in a high school. If a high school student is dually
   65  enrolled in a Florida College System institution program,
   66  including a program conducted at a high school, the Florida
   67  College System institution earns the funds generated for
   68  workforce education funding, and the school district earns the
   69  proportional share of full-time equivalent funding from the
   70  Florida Education Finance Program. If a student is dually
   71  enrolled in a career center operated by the same district as the
   72  district in which the student attends high school, that district
   73  earns the funds generated for workforce education funding and
   74  also earns the proportional share of full-time equivalent
   75  funding from the Florida Education Finance Program. If a student
   76  is dually enrolled in a workforce education program provided by
   77  a career center operated by a different school district, the
   78  funds must be divided between the two school districts
   79  proportionally from the two funding sources. A student may not
   80  be reported for funding in a dual enrollment workforce education
   81  program unless the student has completed the basic skills
   82  assessment pursuant to s. 1004.91. A student who is coenrolled
   83  in a K-12 education program and an adult education program may
   84  be reported for purposes of funding in an adult education
   85  program. If a student is coenrolled in core curricula courses
   86  for credit recovery or dropout prevention purposes and does not
   87  have a pattern of excessive absenteeism or habitual truancy or a
   88  history of disruptive behavior in school, the student may be
   89  reported for funding for up to two courses per year. Such a
   90  student is exempt from the payment of the block tuition for
   91  adult general education programs provided in s. 1009.22(3)(c).
   92  The Department of Education shall develop a list of courses to
   93  be designated as core curricula courses for the purposes of
   94  coenrollment.
   95         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.