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The Florida Senate

2016 Florida Statutes

Title XLVIII K-20 EDUCATION CODE
Chapter 1013 EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES Entire Chapter
SECTION 62
Charter schools capital outlay funding.
F.S. 1013.62
1013.62 Charter schools capital outlay funding.—
(1) In each year in which funds are appropriated for charter school capital outlay purposes, the Commissioner of Education shall allocate the funds among eligible charter schools as specified in this section.
(a) To be eligible for a funding allocation, a charter school must:
1.a. Have been in operation for 2 or more years;
b. Be governed by a governing board established in the state for 3 or more years which operates both charter schools and conversion charter schools within the state;
c. Be an expanded feeder chain of a charter school within the same school district that is currently receiving charter school capital outlay funds;
d. Have been accredited by the Commission on Schools of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools; or
e. Serve students in facilities that are provided by a business partner for a charter school-in-the-workplace pursuant to s. 1002.33(15)(b).
2. Have an annual audit that does not reveal any of the financial emergency conditions provided in s. 218.503(1) for the most recent fiscal year for which such audit results are available.
3. Have satisfactory student achievement based on state accountability standards applicable to the charter school.
4. Have received final approval from its sponsor pursuant to s. 1002.33 for operation during that fiscal year.
5. Serve students in facilities that are not provided by the charter school’s sponsor.
(b) A charter school is not eligible for a funding allocation if it was created by the conversion of a public school and operates in facilities provided by the charter school’s sponsor for a nominal fee, or at no charge, or if it is directly or indirectly operated by the school district.
(c) The funding allocation for eligible charter schools shall be calculated as follows:
1. Eligible charter schools shall be grouped into categories based on their student populations according to the following criteria:
a. Seventy-five percent or greater who are eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch.
b. Twenty-five percent or greater with disabilities as defined in state board rule and consistent with the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
2. If an eligible charter school does not meet the criteria for either category under subparagraph 1., its FTE shall be provided as the base amount of funding and shall be assigned a weight of 1.0. An eligible charter school that meets the criteria under sub-subparagraph 1.a. or sub-subparagraph 1.b. shall be provided an additional 25 percent above the base funding amount, and the total FTE shall be multiplied by a weight of 1.25. An eligible charter school that meets the criteria under both sub-subparagraphs 1.a. and b. shall be provided an additional 50 percent above the base funding amount, and the FTE for that school shall be multiplied by a weight of 1.5.
3. The state appropriation for charter school capital outlay shall be divided by the total weighted FTE for all eligible charter schools to determine the base charter school per weighted FTE allocation amount. The per weighted FTE allocation amount shall be multiplied by the weighted FTE to determine each charter school’s capital outlay allocation.
(2)(a) The department shall calculate the eligible charter school funding allocations. Funds shall be allocated using full-time equivalent membership from the second and third enrollment surveys and free and reduced-price school lunch data. The department shall recalculate the allocations periodically based on the receipt of revised information, on a schedule established by the Commissioner of Education.
(b) The department shall distribute capital outlay funds monthly, beginning in the first quarter of the fiscal year, based on one-twelfth of the amount the department reasonably expects the charter school to receive during that fiscal year. The commissioner shall adjust subsequent distributions as necessary to reflect each charter school’s recalculated allocation.
(3) A charter school’s governing body may use charter school capital outlay funds for the following purposes:
(a) Purchase of real property.
(b) Construction of school facilities.
(c) Purchase, lease-purchase, or lease of permanent or relocatable school facilities.
(d) Purchase of vehicles to transport students to and from the charter school.
(e) Renovation, repair, and maintenance of school facilities that the charter school owns or is purchasing through a lease-purchase or long-term lease of 5 years or longer.
(f) Effective July 1, 2008, purchase, lease-purchase, or lease of new and replacement equipment, and enterprise resource software applications that are classified as capital assets in accordance with definitions of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, have a useful life of at least 5 years, and are used to support schoolwide administration or state-mandated reporting requirements.
(g) Payment of the cost of premiums for property and casualty insurance necessary to insure the school facilities.
(h) Purchase, lease-purchase, or lease of driver’s education vehicles; motor vehicles used for the maintenance or operation of plants and equipment; security vehicles; or vehicles used in storing or distributing materials and equipment.

Conversion charter schools may use capital outlay funds received through the reduction in the administrative fee provided in s. 1002.33(20) for renovation, repair, and maintenance of school facilities that are owned by the sponsor.

(4) If a charter school is nonrenewed or terminated, any unencumbered funds and all equipment and property purchased with district public funds shall revert to the ownership of the district school board, as provided for in s. 1002.33(8)(e) and (f). In the case of a charter lab school, any unencumbered funds and all equipment and property purchased with university public funds shall revert to the ownership of the state university that issued the charter. The reversion of such equipment, property, and furnishings shall focus on recoverable assets, but not on intangible or irrecoverable costs such as rental or leasing fees, normal maintenance, and limited renovations. The reversion of all property secured with public funds is subject to the complete satisfaction of all lawful liens or encumbrances. If there are additional local issues such as the shared use of facilities or partial ownership of facilities or property, these issues shall be agreed to in the charter contract prior to the expenditure of funds.
(5) The Commissioner of Education shall specify procedures for submitting and approving requests for funding under this section and procedures for documenting expenditures.
(6) The annual legislative budget request of the Department of Education shall include a request for capital outlay funding for charter schools. The request shall be based on the projected number of students to be served in charter schools who meet the eligibility requirements of this section.
History.—s. 859, ch. 2002-387; s. 4, ch. 2003-393; s. 8, ch. 2006-27; s. 39, ch. 2009-59; s. 35, ch. 2010-154; s. 14, ch. 2016-237.