House Bill 2205
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 2205
By the Committee on Education/K-12 and Representative Diaz
de la Portilla
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 transferring authority for written agreements
7 relating to lien provisions; specifying that
8 funds appropriated for charter schools capital
9 outlay purposes will be deposited in the
10 General Revenue Fund; revising the funding
11 allocation calculation for charter schools;
12 revising requirements relating to charter
13 school use of capital outlay funds; revising
14 eligibility requirements for charter school
15 receipt of capital outlay funds; removing
16 obsolete language; providing additional capital
17 funding to municipal charter schools; amending
18 s. 235.42, F.S., relating to educational and
19 ancillary plant construction funds, to remove a
20 reference to charter schools; providing an
21 effective date.
22
23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
24
25 Section 1. Subsections (1), (2), (5), and (6) of
26 section 228.0561, Florida Statutes, 1998 Supplement, are
27 amended, and subsection (7) is added to said section, to read:
28 228.0561 Charter schools capital outlay funding.--
29 (1) In each year in which funds are appropriated for
30 charter school capital outlay purposes from the Public
31 Education Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund for
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 2205
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1 charter schools, the Commissioner of Education shall allocate
2 the funds among eligible charter schools. To be eligible for
3 a funding allocation, a charter school must meet the
4 provisions of subsection (6), must have received final
5 approval from its sponsor pursuant to s. 228.056 for operation
6 during that fiscal year, and must serve students in facilities
7 that are not provided by the charter school's sponsor. Prior
8 to the release of capital outlay funds to the charter school,
9 the charter school and the school board the Department of
10 Education shall enter into a written agreement that includes
11 provisions for attaching a lien to property that has been
12 improved through the use of these funds, in the event that the
13 school terminates operations. Any funds recovered by the
14 state shall be deposited in the General Revenue Fund Public
15 Education Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund. A
16 charter school is not eligible for a funding allocation if it
17 was created by the conversion of a public school and operates
18 in facilities provided by the charter school's sponsor for a
19 nominal fee or at no charge. Unless otherwise provided in the
20 General Appropriations Act, the funding allocation for each
21 eligible charter school shall be determined by multiplying the
22 school's projected student enrollment by one-fifteenth
23 one-thirtieth of the cost-per-student station specified in s.
24 235.435(6)(b) for an elementary, middle, or high school, as
25 appropriate. If the funds appropriated are not sufficient,
26 the commissioner shall prorate the available funds among
27 eligible charter schools. In the first quarter of the fiscal
28 year, funds shall be distributed on the basis of projected
29 enrollment as provided in this section. The commissioner
30 shall adjust subsequent distributions as necessary to reflect
31 each charter school's actual student enrollment. The
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 2205
185-698A-99
1 commissioner shall establish the intervals and procedures for
2 determining the projected and actual student enrollment of
3 eligible charter schools. If a school district chooses to
4 share funding for the capital outlay purposes described in
5 subsection (2) with the applicable charter school or charter
6 schools, any allocation of charter school capital outlay funds
7 from the Public Education Capital Outlay and Debt Service
8 Trust Fund allocation to the charter school or charter schools
9 shall be reduced by the amount shared.
10 (2) A charter school's governing body may use charter
11 school capital outlay funds with the school board's permission
12 may use funds from the Public Education Capital Outlay and
13 Debt Service Trust Fund for any capital outlay purpose that is
14 directly related to the functioning of the charter school,
15 including the:
16 (a) Purchase of real property.
17 (b) Construction, renovation, repair, and maintenance
18 of school facilities.
19 (c) Purchase, lease-purchase, or lease of permanent or
20 relocatable school facilities.
21 (d) Purchase of vehicles to transport students to and
22 from the charter school.
23 (5) The annual legislative budget request of the
24 Department of Education shall include a request for capital
25 outlay funding for charter schools from the Public Education
26 Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund. The request shall
27 be based on the projected number of students to be served in
28 charter schools who meet the eligibility requirements of this
29 section.
30 (6)(a) Effective July 1, 1998, any charter school
31 which has been in continuous operation in the district in
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 2205
185-698A-99
1 which its charter was approved for at least two school years
2 immediately preceding the school year in which the school
3 seeks an appropriation from the Public Education Capital
4 Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund shall be eligible to
5 receive funds from that trust fund. No other charter schools
6 are eligible to receive funds from the Public Education
7 Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund.
8 (b) Unless authorized otherwise by the Legislature,
9 allocation and proration of charter schools capital outlay
10 funds from the Public Education Capital Outlay and Debt
11 Service Trust Fund shall be made to eligible charter schools
12 by the Commissioner of Education in an amount and in a manner
13 authorized by subsection (1), and only schools eligible for
14 such funds in this subsection shall be considered "eligible
15 charter schools" for such an allocation or proration.
16 (c) There is appropriated from the Public Education
17 Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund in fiscal year
18 1998-1999 the amount of $5 million to be used for capital
19 outlay purposes of charter schools eligible under this
20 subsection and allocated or prorated in an amount and in a
21 manner authorized by this subsection. This paragraph shall be
22 repealed July 1, 1999.
23 (7) A school district that levies any part of the
24 discretionary 2 mills for capital improvement authorized in s.
25 236.25(2), shall determine the amount of proceeds which is not
26 required for certificates of participation payments. The
27 district shall divide this amount by the total K-12 student
28 FTE membership to determine the average dollars per student.
29 If a district school board has approved a municipal charter
30 school, it shall annually provide to the municipal charter
31 school an amount equal to the number of students in the
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 2205
185-698A-99
1 municipal charter times the average per student share of these
2 funds.
3 Section 2. Subsection (7) of section 235.42, Florida
4 Statutes, 1998 Supplement, is amended to read:
5 235.42 Educational and ancillary plant construction
6 funds; Public Education Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust
7 Fund; allocation of funds.--
8 (7) Boards and entities authorized to participate in
9 the trust fund are district school boards, the community
10 college district boards of trustees, the Trustees of the
11 Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, the Board of
12 Regents, charter schools only if eligible pursuant to s.
13 228.0561(6), and other units of the state system of public
14 education, and other educational entities defined in s.
15 228.041 for which funds are authorized by the Legislature.
16 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.
17
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19 HOUSE SUMMARY
20
Removes specific references to the Public Education
21 Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund regarding
funds appropriated to charter schools for capital outlay
22 purposes. Transfers authority for written agreements
relating to lien provisions. Specifies that funds
23 appropriated for charter schools capital outlay purposes
will be deposited in the General Revenue Fund. Revises
24 the funding allocation calculation for charter schools.
Revises requirements relating to charter school use of
25 capital outlay funds. Revises eligibility requirements
for charter school receipt of capital outlay funds.
26 Removes obsolete language regarding an appropriation.
Provides additional capital funding to municipal charter
27 schools. Removes a reference to charter schools from
provisions regarding educational and ancillary plant
28 construction funds.
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31
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