Senate Bill 1066c1
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Florida Senate - 1999 CS for SB 1066
By the Committee on Education and Senator Sullivan
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1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to charter school capital
3 outlay funding; amending s. 228.0561, F.S.;
4 removing references to the Public Education
5 Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund;
6 specifying that funds appropriated for charter
7 schools capital outlay purposes will be
8 deposited in the General Revenue Fund; revising
9 a provision related to school district sharing
10 of capital outlay funds with charter schools;
11 revising requirements relating to charter
12 school use of capital outlay funds; revising
13 eligibility requirements for charter school
14 receipt of capital outlay funds; removing
15 obsolete provisions; amending s. 235.42, F.S.,
16 relating to educational and ancillary plant
17 construction funds; removing a reference to
18 charter schools; providing an effective date.
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20 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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22 Section 1. Subsections (1), (2), (5), and (6) of
23 section 228.0561, Florida Statutes, 1998 Supplement, are
24 amended to read:
25 228.0561 Charter schools capital outlay funding.--
26 (1) In each year in which funds are appropriated for
27 charter school capital outlay purposes from the Public
28 Education Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund for
29 charter schools, the Commissioner of Education shall allocate
30 the funds among eligible charter schools. To be eligible for
31 a funding allocation, a charter school must meet the
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Florida Senate - 1999 CS for SB 1066
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1 provisions of subsection (6), must have received final
2 approval from its sponsor pursuant to s. 228.056 for operation
3 during that fiscal year, and must serve students in facilities
4 that are not provided by the charter school's sponsor, and
5 must be fiscally stable. Fiscal stability may be documented by
6 a statement from the school's sponsor, the school's most
7 recent financial audit, or verification by a certified public
8 accountant. Prior to the release of capital outlay funds to a
9 school district on behalf of the charter school, the
10 Department of Education shall ensure that the district school
11 board and the charter school governing board enter into a
12 written agreement that includes provisions for the reversion
13 of any unencumbered funds and all equipment and property
14 purchased with public education funds to the ownership of the
15 district school board, as provided for in subsection (3)
16 attaching a lien to property that has been improved through
17 the use of these funds, in the event that the school
18 terminates operations. Any funds recovered by the state shall
19 be deposited in the General Revenue Fund Public Education
20 Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund. A charter school
21 is not eligible for a funding allocation if it was created by
22 the conversion of a public school and operates in facilities
23 provided by the charter school's sponsor for a nominal fee or
24 at no charge. Unless otherwise provided in the General
25 Appropriations Act, the funding allocation for each eligible
26 charter school shall be determined by multiplying the school's
27 projected student enrollment by one-thirtieth of the
28 cost-per-student station specified in s. 235.435(6)(b) for an
29 elementary, middle, or high school, as appropriate. If the
30 funds appropriated are not sufficient, the commissioner shall
31 prorate the available funds among eligible charter schools.
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Florida Senate - 1999 CS for SB 1066
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1 In the first quarter of the fiscal year, funds shall be
2 distributed on the basis of projected enrollment as provided
3 in this section. The commissioner shall adjust subsequent
4 distributions as necessary to reflect each charter school's
5 actual student enrollment. The commissioner shall establish
6 the intervals and procedures for determining the projected and
7 actual student enrollment of eligible charter schools. If a
8 school district chooses to share funding for the capital
9 outlay purposes described in subsection (2) with the
10 applicable charter school or charter schools, any allocation
11 of charter school capital outlay funds from the Public
12 Education Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund
13 allocation to the charter school or charter schools shall be
14 reduced by the amount shared.
15 (2) A charter school's governing body may use charter
16 school capital outlay funds with the school board's permission
17 may use funds from the Public Education Capital Outlay and
18 Debt Service Trust Fund for any capital outlay purpose that is
19 directly related to the functioning of the charter school,
20 including the:
21 (a) Purchase of real property.
22 (b) Construction, renovation, repair, and maintenance
23 of school facilities.
24 (c) Purchase, lease-purchase, or lease of permanent or
25 relocatable school facilities.
26 (d) Purchase of vehicles to transport students to and
27 from the charter school.
28 (5) The annual legislative budget request of the
29 Department of Education shall include a request for capital
30 outlay funding for charter schools from the Public Education
31 Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund. The request shall
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Florida Senate - 1999 CS for SB 1066
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1 be based on the projected number of students to be served in
2 charter schools who meet the eligibility requirements of this
3 section.
4 (6)(a) Effective July 1, 1998, any charter school
5 which has been in continuous operation in the district in
6 which its charter was approved for at least two school years
7 immediately preceding the school year in which the school
8 seeks an appropriation from the Public Education Capital
9 Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund shall be eligible to
10 receive funds from that trust fund. No other charter schools
11 are eligible to receive funds from the Public Education
12 Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund.
13 (b) Unless authorized otherwise by the Legislature,
14 allocation and proration of funds from the Public Education
15 Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund shall be made to
16 eligible charter schools by the Commissioner of Education in
17 an amount and in a manner authorized by subsection (1), and
18 only schools eligible for such funds in this subsection shall
19 be considered "eligible charter schools" for such an
20 allocation or proration.
21 (c) There is appropriated from the Public Education
22 Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund in fiscal year
23 1998-1999 the amount of $5 million to be used for capital
24 outlay purposes of charter schools eligible under this
25 subsection and allocated or prorated in an amount and in a
26 manner authorized by this subsection. This paragraph shall be
27 repealed July 1, 1999.
28 Section 2. Subsection (7) of section 235.42, Florida
29 Statutes, 1998 Supplement, is amended to read:
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1 235.42 Educational and ancillary plant construction
2 funds; Public Education Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust
3 Fund; allocation of funds.--
4 (7) Boards and entities authorized to participate in
5 the trust fund are district school boards, the community
6 college district boards of trustees, the Trustees of the
7 Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, the Board of
8 Regents, charter schools only if eligible pursuant to s.
9 228.0561(6), and other units of the state system of public
10 education, and other educational entities defined in s.
11 228.041 for which funds are authorized by the Legislature.
12 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.
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14 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
15 SB 1066
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17 The committee substitute expands the eligibility criteria for
charter school capital outlay funding by requiring evidence of
18 fiscal stability. It deletes the required lien on property
improved by charter school capital outlay and requires a
19 written agreement for reversion of unencumbered funds and
certain equipment and property to the district school board
20 when a charter is terminated or not renewed. Charter schools
are removed for the list of entities that may receive funds
21 from the Public Education Capital Outlay and Debt Service
Trust Fund.
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