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The Florida Senate

2012 Florida Statutes

Title XLVIII K-20 EDUCATION CODE
Chapter 1008 ASSESSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY Entire Chapter
SECTION 33
Authority to enforce public school improvement.
F.S. 1008.33
1008.33 Authority to enforce public school improvement.—
(1) The State Board of Education shall comply with the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), 20 U.S.C. ss. 6301 et seq., its implementing regulations, and the ESEA flexibility waiver approved for Florida by the United States Secretary of Education. The state board may adopt rules to maintain compliance with the ESEA and the ESEA flexibility waiver.
(2)(a) Pursuant to subsection (1) and ss. 1008.34, 1008.345, and 1008.385, the State Board of Education shall hold all school districts and public schools accountable for student performance. The state board is responsible for a state system of school improvement and education accountability that assesses student performance by school, identifies schools in which students are not making adequate progress toward state standards, and institutes appropriate measures for enforcing improvement.
(b) The state system of school improvement and education accountability must provide for uniform accountability standards, provide assistance of escalating intensity to low-performing schools, direct support to schools in order to improve and sustain performance, focus on the performance of student subgroups, and enhance student performance.
(c) School districts must be held accountable for improving the academic achievement of all students and for identifying and turning around low-performing schools.
(3)(a) The academic performance of all students has a significant effect on the state school system. Pursuant to Art. IX of the State Constitution, which prescribes the duty of the State Board of Education to supervise Florida’s public school system, the state board shall equitably enforce the accountability requirements of the state school system and may impose state requirements on school districts in order to improve the academic performance of all districts, schools, and students based upon the provisions of the Florida K-20 Education Code, chapters 1000-1013; the federal ESEA and its implementing regulations; and the ESEA flexibility waiver approved for Florida by the United States Secretary of Education.
(b)  Beginning with the 2011-2012 school year, the Department of Education shall annually identify each public school in need of intervention and support to improve student academic performance. All schools earning a grade of “D” or “F” pursuant to s. 1008.34 are schools in need of intervention and support.
(c) The state board shall adopt by rule a differentiated matrix of intervention and support strategies for assisting traditional public schools identified under this section and rules for implementing s. 1002.33(9)(n), relating to charter schools. The intervention and support strategies must address student performance and may include improvement planning, leadership quality improvement, educator quality improvement, professional development, curriculum alignment and pacing, and the use of continuous improvement and monitoring plans and processes. In addition, the state board may prescribe reporting requirements to review and monitor the progress of the schools. The rule must define the intervention and support strategies for school improvement for schools earning a grade of “D” or “F” and the roles for the district and department. The rule shall differentiate among schools earning consecutive grades of “D” or “F,” or a combination thereof, and provide for more intense monitoring, intervention, and support strategies for these schools.
(4)(a) The state board shall apply the most intense intervention and support strategies to schools earning a grade of “F.” In the first full school year after a school initially earns a grade of “F,” the school district must implement intervention and support strategies prescribed in rule under paragraph (3)(c), select a turnaround option from those provided in subparagraphs (b)1.-5., and submit a plan for implementing the turnaround option to the department for approval by the state board. Upon approval by the state board, the turnaround option must be implemented in the following school year.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (5), the turnaround options available to a school district to address a school that earns a grade of “F” are:
1. Convert the school to a district-managed turnaround school;
2. Reassign students to another school and monitor the progress of each reassigned student;
3. Close the school and reopen the school as one or more charter schools, each with a governing board that has a demonstrated record of effectiveness;
4. Contract with an outside entity that has a demonstrated record of effectiveness to operate the school; or
5. Implement a hybrid of turnaround options set forth in subparagraphs 1.-4. or other turnaround models that have a demonstrated record of effectiveness.
(c) Except for schools required to implement a turnaround option pursuant to subsection (5), a school earning a grade of “F” shall have a planning year followed by 2 full school years to implement the initial turnaround option selected by the school district and approved by the state board. Implementation of the turnaround option is no longer required if the school improves by at least one letter grade.
(d) A school earning a grade of “F” that improves its letter grade must continue to implement strategies identified in its school improvement plan pursuant to s. 1001.42(18)(a). The department must annually review implementation of the school improvement plan for 3 years to monitor the school’s continued improvement.
(e) If a school earning a grade of “F” does not improve by at least one letter grade after 2 full school years of implementing the turnaround option selected by the school district under paragraph (b), the school district must select a different option and submit another implementation plan to the department for approval by the state board. Implementation of the approved plan must begin the school year following the implementation period of the existing turnaround option, unless the state board determines that the school is likely to improve a letter grade if additional time is provided to implement the existing turnaround option.
(5) A school that earns a grade of “F” within 2 years after raising its grade from a grade of “F” or that earns a grade of “F” within 2 years after exiting the lowest-performing category under s. 3, chapter 2009-144, Laws of Florida, must implement one of the turnaround options in subparagraphs (4)(b)2.-5.
(6) A school that earns a grade of “D” for 3 consecutive years must implement the district-managed turnaround option pursuant to subparagraph (4)(b)1. The school district must submit an implementation plan to the department for approval by the state board.
(7) A school classified in the lowest-performing category under s. 3, chapter 2009-144, Laws of Florida, before July 1, 2012, is not required to continue implementing any turnaround option unless the school earns a grade of “F” or a third consecutive “D” for the 2011-2012 school year. A school earning a grade of “F” or a third consecutive “D” for the 2011-2012 school year may not restart the number of years it has been low performing by virtue of the 2012 amendments to this section.
(8)  The state board shall adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to administer this section. The rules shall include timelines for submission of implementation plans, approval criteria for implementation plans, and timelines for implementing intervention and support strategies. The state board shall consult with education stakeholders in developing the rules.
History.—s. 377, ch. 2002-387; s. 1954, ch. 2003-261; s. 45, ch. 2006-74; s. 175, ch. 2007-5; s. 21, ch. 2008-108; s. 3, ch. 2009-144; s. 27, ch. 2011-175; s. 6, ch. 2012-194.