The Florida Senate

230.23166  Teenage parent programs.--

(1)  Each district school board shall establish and implement a teenage parent program.

(2)  "Teenage parent programs" means educational programs which are designed to provide a specialized curriculum and other services to meet the needs of students who are pregnant or students who are mothers or fathers and the children of the students.

(3)(a)  The program shall provide pregnant students or students who are parents and the children of these students with a comprehensive teenage parent program consisting of educational and ancillary service components. The program shall provide pregnant students or students who are parents with the option of participating in regular classroom activities or enrolling in a special program designed to meet their needs pursuant to s. 232.01. Students participating in teenage parent programs shall be exempt from minimum attendance requirements for absences related to pregnancy or parenting, but shall be required to make up work missed due to absence.

(b)  The curriculum shall include instruction in such topics as prenatal and postnatal health care, parenting skills, benefits of sexual abstinence, and consequences of subsequent pregnancies. Parenting skills should include instruction in the stages of child growth and development, methods for aiding in the intellectual, language, physical, and social development of children, and guidance on constructive play activities.

(c)  Provision for necessary child care, health care, social services, parent education, and transportation shall be required ancillary service components of teenage parent programs. Ancillary services may be provided through the coordination of existing programs and services and through joint agreements between school districts and between school districts and other appropriate public and private providers.

(d)  The school board shall make adequate provisions for pregnant and parenting teenagers to complete the coursework necessary to earn a high school diploma. School boards are encouraged to give students a choice of educational options that shall allow students to earn credit toward a high school diploma at a rate at least commensurate with traditional high school programs. Such a choice should include, but not be limited to, remaining in the school they originally attend, attending a separate center, attending an ¹area technical center, or attending a different middle or high school.

(e)  Children enrolled in child care provided by the district shall be funded at the special program cost factor pursuant to s. 236.081 if the parent or parents are enrolled full time in a public school in the district.

(4)  The Department of Education shall develop and distribute guidelines for developmentally appropriate child care. The guidelines shall be the basis for the planning and implementation of child care facilities. Upon request of local school personnel, the department shall provide technical assistance in this regard to schools or districts.

(5)  Districts may modify courses listed in the State Course Code Directory for the purpose of providing teenage parent programs pursuant to the provisions of this section. Such modifications must be approved by the commissioner and may include lengthening or shortening of the school time allotted for in-class study, alternate methods of assessment of student performance, and the integration of curriculum frameworks or student performance standards to produce interdisciplinary units of instruction.

(6)  The Commissioner of Education shall adopt rules necessary to implement the provisions of this section.

History.--s. 127, ch. 94-209; s. 108, ch. 97-190.

¹Note.--The term "area technical center" was substituted for the term "area vocational-technical center" by the editors pursuant to the directive of the Legislature in s. 16, ch. 94-232.