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The Florida Senate

2014 Florida Statutes

Title XLVIII K-20 EDUCATION CODE
Chapter 1011 PLANNING AND BUDGETING Entire Chapter
SECTION 80
Funds for operation of workforce education programs.
F.S. 1011.80
1011.80 Funds for operation of workforce education programs.—
(1) As used in this section, the terms “workforce education” and “workforce education program” include:
(a) Adult general education programs designed to improve the employability skills of the state’s workforce as defined in s. 1004.02(3).
(b) Career certificate programs, as defined in s. 1004.02(20).
(c) Applied technology diploma programs.
(d) Continuing workforce education courses.
(e) Degree career education programs.
(f) Apprenticeship and preapprenticeship programs as defined in s. 446.021.
(2) Any workforce education program may be conducted by a Florida College System institution or a school district, except that college credit in an associate in applied science or an associate in science degree may be awarded only by a Florida College System institution. However, if an associate in applied science or an associate in science degree program contains within it an occupational completion point that confers a certificate or an applied technology diploma, that portion of the program may be conducted by a school district career center. Any instruction designed to articulate to a degree program is subject to guidelines and standards adopted by the State Board of Education pursuant to s. 1007.25.
(3) If a program for disabled adults pursuant to s. 1004.93 is a workforce program as defined in law, it must be funded as provided in this section.
(4) Funding for all workforce education programs must be based on cost categories, performance output measures, and performance outcome measures.
(a) The cost categories must be calculated to identify high-cost programs, medium-cost programs, and low-cost programs. The cost analysis used to calculate and assign a program of study to a cost category must include at least both direct and indirect instructional costs, consumable supplies, equipment, and standard program length.
(b) The performance output measure for an adult general education course of study is measurable improvement in student skills. This measure shall include improvement in literacy skills, grade level improvement as measured by an approved test, or attainment of a State of Florida diploma or an adult high school diploma.
(c) The performance outcome measures for adult general education programs are associated with placement and retention of students after reaching a completion point or completing a program of study. These measures include placement or retention in employment. Continuing postsecondary education at a level that will further enhance employment is a performance outcome for adult general education programs.
(5) State funding and student fees for workforce education instruction shall be established as follows:
(a) Expenditures for the continuing workforce education programs provided by the Florida College System institutions or school districts must be fully supported by fees. Enrollments in continuing workforce education courses shall not be counted for purposes of funding full-time equivalent enrollment.
(b) For all other workforce education programs, state funding shall equal 75 percent of the average cost of instruction with the remaining 25 percent made up from student fees. Fees for courses within a program shall not vary according to the cost of the individual program, but instead shall be based on a uniform fee calculated and set at the state level, as adopted by the State Board of Education, unless otherwise specified in the General Appropriations Act.
(c) For fee-exempt students pursuant to s. 1009.25, unless otherwise provided for in law, state funding shall equal 100 percent of the average cost of instruction.
(d) For a public educational institution that has been fully funded by an external agency for direct instructional costs of any course or program, the FTE generated shall not be reported for state funding.
(6)(a) A school district or a Florida College System institution that provides workforce education programs shall receive funds in accordance with distributions for base and performance funding established by the Legislature in the General Appropriations Act. To ensure equitable funding for all school district workforce education programs and to recognize enrollment growth, the Department of Education shall use the funding model developed by the District Workforce Education Funding Steering Committee to determine each district’s workforce education funding needs. To assist the Legislature in allocating workforce education funds in the General Appropriations Act, the funding model shall annually be provided to the legislative appropriations committees no later than March 1.
(b) Performance funding for industry certifications for school district workforce education programs is contingent upon specific appropriation in the General Appropriations Act and shall be determined as follows:
1. Occupational areas for which industry certifications may be earned, as established in the General Appropriations Act, are eligible for performance funding. Priority shall be given to the occupational areas emphasized in state, national, or corporate grants provided to Florida educational institutions.
2. The Chancellor of Career and Adult Education shall identify the industry certifications eligible for funding on the Postsecondary Industry Certification Funding List approved by the State Board of Education pursuant to s. 1008.44, based on the occupational areas specified in the General Appropriations Act.
3. Each school district shall be provided $1,000 for each industry certification earned by a workforce education student. The maximum amount of funding appropriated for performance funding pursuant to this paragraph shall be limited to $15 million annually. If funds are insufficient to fully fund the calculated total award, such funds shall be prorated.
(c) A program is established to assist school districts and Florida College System institutions in responding to the needs of new and expanding businesses and thereby strengthening the state’s workforce and economy. The program may be funded in the General Appropriations Act. The district or Florida College System institution shall use the program to provide customized training for businesses which satisfies the requirements of s. 288.047. Business firms whose employees receive the customized training must provide 50 percent of the cost of the training. Balances remaining in the program at the end of the fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund, but shall be carried over for 1 additional year and used for the purpose of serving incumbent worker training needs of area businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Priority shall be given to businesses that must increase or upgrade their use of technology to remain competitive.
(7)(a) A school district or Florida College System institution that receives workforce education funds must use the money to benefit the workforce education programs it provides. The money may be used for equipment upgrades, program expansions, or any other use that would result in workforce education program improvement. The district school board or Florida College System institution board of trustees may not withhold any portion of the performance funding for indirect costs.
(b) State funds provided for the operation of postsecondary workforce programs may not be expended for the education of state or federal inmates.
(8) The State Board of Education and Workforce Florida, Inc., shall provide the Legislature with recommended formulas, criteria, timeframes, and mechanisms for distributing performance funds. The commissioner shall consolidate the recommendations and develop a consensus proposal for funding. The Legislature shall adopt a formula and distribute the performance funds to the State Board of Education for Florida College System institutions and school districts through the General Appropriations Act. These recommendations shall be based on formulas that would discourage low-performing or low-demand programs and encourage through performance-funding awards:
(a) Programs that prepare people to enter high-wage occupations identified by the Workforce Estimating Conference created by s. 216.136 and other programs as approved by Workforce Florida, Inc. At a minimum, performance incentives shall be calculated for adults who reach completion points or complete programs that lead to specified high-wage employment and to their placement in that employment.
(b) Programs that successfully prepare adults who are eligible for public assistance, economically disadvantaged, disabled, not proficient in English, or dislocated workers for high-wage occupations. At a minimum, performance incentives shall be calculated at an enhanced value for the completion of adults identified in this paragraph and job placement of such adults upon completion. In addition, adjustments may be made in payments for job placements for areas of high unemployment.
(c) Programs that are specifically designed to be consistent with the workforce needs of private enterprise and regional economic development strategies, as defined in guidelines set by Workforce Florida, Inc. Workforce Florida, Inc., shall develop guidelines to identify such needs and strategies based on localized research of private employers and economic development practitioners.
(d) Programs identified by Workforce Florida, Inc., as increasing the effectiveness and cost efficiency of education.
(9) School districts shall report full-time equivalent students by discipline category for the programs specified in subsection (1). There shall be an annual cost analysis for the school district workforce education programs that reports cost by discipline category consistent with the reporting for full-time equivalent students. The annual financial reports submitted by the school districts must accurately report on the student fee revenues by fee type according to the programs specified in subsection (1). The Department of Education shall develop a plan for comparable reporting of program, student, facility, personnel, and financial data between the Florida College System institutions and the school district workforce education programs.
(10) A high school student dually enrolled under s. 1007.271 in a workforce education program operated by a Florida College System institution or school district career center generates the amount calculated for workforce education funding, including any payment of performance funding, and the proportional share of full-time equivalent enrollment generated through the Florida Education Finance Program for the student’s enrollment in a high school. If a high school student is dually enrolled in a Florida College System institution program, including a program conducted at a high school, the Florida College System institution earns the funds generated for workforce education funding, and the school district earns the proportional share of full-time equivalent funding from the Florida Education Finance Program. If a student is dually enrolled in a career center operated by the same district as the district in which the student attends high school, that district earns the funds generated for workforce education funding and also earns the proportional share of full-time equivalent funding from the Florida Education Finance Program. If a student is dually enrolled in a workforce education program provided by a career center operated by a different school district, the funds must be divided between the two school districts proportionally from the two funding sources. A student may not be reported for funding in a dual enrollment workforce education program unless the student has completed the basic skills assessment pursuant to s. 1004.91. A student who is coenrolled in a K-12 education program and an adult education program may be reported for purposes of funding in an adult education program. If a student is coenrolled in core curricula courses for credit recovery or dropout prevention purposes and does not have a pattern of excessive absenteeism or habitual truancy or a history of disruptive behavior in school, the student may be reported for funding for up to two courses per year. Such a student is exempt from the payment of the block tuition for adult general education programs provided in s. 1009.22(3)(c). The Department of Education shall develop a list of courses to be designated as core curricula courses for the purposes of coenrollment.
(11) The State Board of Education may adopt rules to administer this section.
History.—s. 673, ch. 2002-387; s. 12, ch. 2004-271; s. 7, ch. 2004-357; s. 25, ch. 2010-155; s. 174, ch. 2011-5; s. 35, ch. 2011-63; s. 36, ch. 2012-134; s. 58, ch. 2013-27; s. 188, ch. 2014-17; s. 90, ch. 2014-39.