The Florida Senate

228.0855  Florida Model School Consortia.--

(1)  SHORT TITLE.--This section may be cited as the "Florida Model School Consortia Act of 1985."

(2)  LEGISLATIVE INTENT.--The Legislature recognizes that the public school system would be strengthened by the establishment of one or more secondary or elementary schools operating as prototype technology schools throughout Florida, supported by public-private consortia. The Legislature is further aware of the links between education, training, and economic growth and of the need for increasing technical and analytical skill levels of the future workforce. The schools, through combining new technologies and training supplied by the private sector throughout the curriculum and administration, shall promote educational productivity and knowledge of students and teachers in the classrooms.

(3)  STATEWIDE PLAN.--

(a)  The Commissioner of Education shall develop a statewide comprehensive plan for the establishment of prototype technology schools. In developing the plan, the commissioner shall consult with a planning group to consist of representatives from business and industry, the ¹Florida High Technology and Industry Council, the Academy of Sciences, state community colleges and state universities, ²career education, teaching organizations, school district personnel, the Executive Office of the Governor, the Legislature, and parents. Legislative representation shall be one member of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate and one member of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. There shall be regularly announced meetings, and the commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, shall serve as chair of the planning group.

(b)  The comprehensive plan shall include, but not be limited to, a framework and guidance for the establishment of model schools. The plan shall recommend:

1.  Criteria for the establishment of a model school.

2.  The governance structure of a model school.

3.  Preconditions for site selection and acquisition for the location of a model school.

4.  Funding mechanisms and proposed startup budget for a model school.

5.  Methods for acquiring nonstate funds to help support and operate a model school.

6.  Stipulations for the acceptance of donations of funds, professional services, equipment, buildings, and sites for model schools.

7.  Broad educational specifications for model schools.

8.  Opportunities for training experiences for potential and practicing public school teachers in a model school.

9.  Distribution of successful practices and techniques used in the model schools to the public school system.

(c)  The State Board of Education shall adopt the comprehensive plan, and the commissioner shall submit it to the appropriate offices of the Legislature by or before February 15, 1986, for funding.

(d)  A designated school shall be administered by a local model school board of trustees. Each model school shall be established as a nonprofit organization which shall meet specified educational standards and criteria established by the approved comprehensive plan and shall contain a representative population of students who attend public schools in the district in which the school is located. No student is to be charged attendance fees, and the state and the district in which the school is located shall place annually into the state trust fund, or a designated model school trust fund, the appropriate amount of FTE funding that corresponds to the model school student population. These funds may be matched by grants and donations and shall be distributed to designated model schools.

(4)  ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TRUST FUND.--There is hereby established a Trust Fund for the Model School Consortia to be administered by the Department of Education. The Legislature shall designate funds to be transferred to the trust fund from the General Revenue Fund. Donations and grant funds may be accepted, and all funds deposited into the trust fund may be invested pursuant to the provisions of s. 18.125. Interest accruing to the trust fund shall increase the total funds available.

History.--s. 22, ch. 85-238; s. 9, ch. 87-331; s. 1205, ch. 95-147.

¹Note.--Abolished by s. 12, ch. 93-187.

²Note.--The term "career education" was substituted for the term "vocational education" by the editors pursuant to the directive of the Legislature in s. 16, ch. 94-232.