CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
HOUSE AMENDMENT
hbd683-09 Bill No. CS/CS/HBs 683 & 2131
Amendment No. (for drafter's use only)
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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5 ORIGINAL STAMP BELOW
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11 Representative(s) Mackenzie and Wasserman Schultz offered the
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14 Amendment
15 On page 43, line 14, through page 48, line 7,
16 remove from the bill: all of said lines
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18 and insert in lieu thereof:
19 (3) STANDARDS.--
20 (a) Publicly supported preschool programs, including
21 prekindergarten early intervention, subsidized child care,
22 teen parent programs, Head Start, migrant programs, and
23 Chapter I programs shall employ a simplified point of entry to
24 the child care services system in every community. These
25 programs shall share the waiting lists for unserved children
26 in the community so that a count of eligible children is
27 maintained without duplications.
28 (b) The Department of Education and the Department of
29 Health and Rehabilitative Services, in consultation with the
30 Legislature, shall develop a minimum set of performance
31 standards for publicly funded early education and child care
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File original & 9 copies 04/06/98
hbd0021 03:03 pm 00683-0099-631403
HOUSE AMENDMENT
hbd683-09 Bill No. CS/CS/HBs 683 & 2131
Amendment No. (for drafter's use only)
1 programs and a method for measuring the progress of local
2 school districts and central agencies in meeting a desired set
3 of outcomes based on these performance measures. The defined
4 outcomes must be consistent with the state's first education
5 goal, readiness to start school, and must also consider
6 efficiency measures such as the employment of a simplified
7 point of entry to the child care services system, coordinated
8 staff development programs, and other efforts within the state
9 to increase the opportunity for welfare recipients to become
10 self-sufficient. Performance standards shall be developed for
11 all levels of administration of the programs, including
12 individual programs and providers, and must incorporate
13 appropriate expectations for the type of program and the
14 setting in which care is provided.
15 (c) The program curriculum must be developmentally
16 appropriate according to current nationally recognized
17 recommendations for high-quality prekindergarten programs.
18 (d) School districts may establish a sliding fee scale
19 for participants.
20 (e) The ratio of direct instructional staff to
21 children must be 1 adult to 10 children, or a lower ratio.
22 Upon written request from a school district, the commissioner
23 may grant permission for a ratio of up to 1 adult to 15
24 children for individual schools or centers for which a 1-to-10
25 ratio would not be feasible.
26 (f) All staff must meet the following minimum
27 requirements:
28 1. The minimum level of training is to be the
29 completion of a 30-clock-hour training course planned jointly
30 by the Department of Education and the Department of Health
31 and Rehabilitative Services to include the following areas:
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File original & 9 copies 04/06/98
hbd0021 03:03 pm 00683-0099-631403
HOUSE AMENDMENT
hbd683-09 Bill No. CS/CS/HBs 683 & 2131
Amendment No. (for drafter's use only)
1 state and local rules that govern child care, health, safety,
2 and nutrition; identification and report of child abuse and
3 neglect; child growth and development; use of developmentally
4 appropriate early childhood curricula; and avoidance of
5 income-based, race-based, and gender-based stereotyping.
6 2. When individual classrooms are staffed by certified
7 teachers, those teachers must be certified for the appropriate
8 grade levels under s. 231.17 and State Board of Education
9 rules. Teachers who are not certified for the appropriate
10 grade levels must obtain proper certification within 2 years.
11 However, the commissioner may make an exception on an
12 individual basis when the requirements are not met because of
13 serious illness, injury, or other extraordinary, extenuating
14 circumstance.
15 3. When individual classrooms are staffed by
16 noncertified teachers, there must be a program director or
17 lead teacher who is eligible for certification or certified
18 for the appropriate grade levels pursuant to s. 231.17 and
19 State Board of Education rules in regularly scheduled direct
20 contact with each classroom. Notwithstanding s. 231.15, such
21 classrooms must be staffed by at least one person who has, at
22 a minimum, a child development associate credential (CDA) or
23 an amount of training determined by the commissioner to be
24 equivalent to or to exceed the minimum, such as an associate
25 in science degree in the area of early childhood education.
26 4. Beginning October 1, 1994, principals and other
27 school district administrative and supervisory personnel with
28 direct responsibility for the program must demonstrate
29 knowledge of prekindergarten education programs that increase
30 children's chances of achieving future educational success and
31 becoming productive members of society in a manner established
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File original & 9 copies 04/06/98
hbd0021 03:03 pm 00683-0099-631403
HOUSE AMENDMENT
hbd683-09 Bill No. CS/CS/HBs 683 & 2131
Amendment No. (for drafter's use only)
1 by the State Board of Education by rule.
2 5. All personnel who are not certified under s. 231.17
3 must comply with screening requirements under ss. 231.02 and
4 231.1713.
5 (g) Student participation must be contingent upon
6 parental involvement. The parental involvement activities
7 integral to the program must include program site-based
8 parental activities designed to fully involve parents in the
9 program and may include parenting education, home visitor
10 activities, family support services coordination, and other
11 activities.
12 (h) Services are to be provided during a school day
13 and school year equal to or exceeding the requirements for
14 kindergarten under ss. 228.041 and 236.013. Strategies to
15 provide care before school, after school, and 12 months a
16 year, when needed, must be developed by the school district in
17 cooperation with the central agency for state-subsidized child
18 care or the local service district of the Department of Health
19 and Rehabilitative Services and the district interagency
20 coordinating council. Programs may be provided on Saturdays
21 and through other innovative scheduling arrangements.
22 (i) The school district must make efforts to meet the
23 first state education goal, readiness to start school,
24 including the involvement of nonpublic schools, public and
25 private providers of day care and early education, and other
26 community agencies that provide services to young children.
27 This may include private child care programs, subsidized child
28 care programs, and Head Start programs. A written description
29 of these efforts must be provided to the district interagency
30 coordinating council on early childhood services.
31 (j) Parents must be provided an option regarding a
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File original & 9 copies 04/06/98
hbd0021 03:03 pm 00683-0099-631403
HOUSE AMENDMENT
hbd683-09 Bill No. CS/CS/HBs 683 & 2131
Amendment No. (for drafter's use only)
1 child's participation at a school-based site or among
2 contracted sites, when such an option is appropriate and
3 within the school district. The school district may consider
4 availability of sites, transportation, staffing ratios, costs,
5 and other factors in determining the assignment and setting
6 district guidelines. Parents may request and be assigned a
7 site other than one first assigned by the district, provided
8 the parents pay the cost of transporting the child to the site
9 of the parents' choice.
10 (k) The school district must coordinate with the
11 central agency for state-subsidized child care or the local
12 service district of the Department of Health and
13 Rehabilitative Services to verify family participation in the
14 WAGES Program, thus ensuring accurate reporting and full
15 utilization of federal funds available through the Family
16 Support Act, and for the agency's or service district's
17 sharing of the waiting list for state-subsidized child care
18 under paragraph (a).
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File original & 9 copies 04/06/98
hbd0021 03:03 pm 00683-0099-631403