House Bill 0837c1

    Florida House of Representatives - 1999              CS/HB 837

        By the Committee on Education/K-12 and Representative
    Sorensen





  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to natural disaster relief;

  3         providing relief to the Monroe County School

  4         District for certain declared natural

  5         disasters; holding the school district harmless

  6         with respect to its 1998-1999 FEFP

  7         appropriation; providing an appropriation to

  8         cover the costs of certain expenses related to

  9         recovery efforts; providing an effective date.

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11         WHEREAS, Monroe County suffered three natural disasters

12  in 1998, the Groundhog Day tornadoes in February, Hurricane

13  Georges in September, and Tropical Storm Mitch in November,

14  each of which was declared a natural disaster by the President

15  of the United States, and

16         WHEREAS, the Monroe County district schools serve

17  children and adults throughout the county, and

18         WHEREAS, the Monroe County district schools have

19  endured damages to the physical plant facilities expected to

20  exceed $10 million, and

21         WHEREAS, the Monroe County district schools are

22  currently anticipating a loss of 350 to 400 students from the

23  student enrollment estimate approved by the Legislature for

24  the 1998-1999 school year, and

25         WHEREAS, this loss of students translates into the

26  potential loss of $1.5 million to $2.5 million from the

27  current year's operating budget, and

28         WHEREAS, no school district is in a position to

29  maintain services and recovery efforts from such natural

30  disasters without some financial relief and assistance, NOW,

31  THEREFORE,

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1999              CS/HB 837

    185-708-99






  1  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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  3         Section 1.  The Monroe County School District shall be

  4  held harmless with respect to its FEFP appropriation for

  5  fiscal year 1998-1999, notwithstanding any change in

  6  enrollment relative to the estimated enrollment in the

  7  district for that fiscal year resulting from the three natural

  8  disasters that affected Monroe County in 1998, which were

  9  presidentially declared natural disasters and which consisted

10  of the Groundhog Day tornadoes in February, Hurricane Georges

11  in September, and Tropical Storm Mitch in November of that

12  year.

13         Section 2.  There is hereby appropriated from the

14  General Revenue Fund to the Monroe County School District the

15  sum of $1.8 million for fiscal year 1999-2000 to cover

16  expenses resulting from insurance deductibles, insurance

17  depreciation, payment for items not covered by the Federal

18  Emergency Management Agency, and other demonstrated losses

19  such as facilities damage, instructional materials, and

20  overtime personnel costs required of recovery efforts

21  necessitated by the natural disasters listed in section 1 that

22  affected Monroe County in 1998.

23         Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

24  law.

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