Senate Bill 0354e1

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    SB 354                                         First Engrossed



  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to education; amending s.

  3         240.605, F.S.; providing for the carry-forward

  4         of certain funds; deleting an obsolete

  5         provision; amending s. 216.136, F.S.; adding to

  6         the duties of the Education Estimating

  7         Conference; amending s. 240.40205, F.S.;

  8         providing that a student who is a recipient of

  9         the National Hispanic Scholar Award and who

10         meets certain other eligibility requirements is

11         eligible for a Florida Academic Scholars award;

12         providing an effective date.

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

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16         Section 1.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section

17  240.605, Florida Statutes, is amended, and subsection (6) is

18  added to that section, to read:

19         240.605  The William L. Boyd, IV, Florida resident

20  access grants.--

21         (5)(a)  Funding for the William L. Boyd, IV, Florida

22  Resident Access Grant Program shall be based on a formula

23  composed of planned enrollment and the state cost of funding

24  undergraduate enrollment at public institutions pursuant to s.

25  240.271. However, The amount of the William L. Boyd, IV,

26  Florida resident access grant issued to a full-time student

27  shall be 30 percent in 1996-1997, 35 percent in 1997-1998, and

28  40 percent in 1998-1999 and thereafter of the full cost to the

29  state per academic year of an undergraduate student in public

30  postsecondary education established pursuant to s. 240.209 or

31  an amount as specified in the General Appropriations Act. The


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    SB 354                                         First Engrossed



  1  William L. Boyd, IV, Florida resident access grant may be paid

  2  on a prorated basis in advance of the registration period. The

  3  department shall make such payments to the college or

  4  university in which the student is enrolled for credit to the

  5  student's account for payment of tuition and fees.

  6  Institutions shall certify to the department the amount of

  7  funds disbursed to each student and shall remit to the

  8  department any undisbursed advances or refunds within 60 days

  9  of the end of regular registration. Students shall not be

10  eligible to receive the award for more than 9 semesters or 14

11  quarters, except as otherwise provided in s. 240.404(3).

12         (6)  Funds appropriated by the Legislature for the

13  William L. Boyd, IV, Florida Resident Access Grant Program

14  shall be deposited in the State Student Financial Assistance

15  Trust Fund. Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 216.301 and

16  pursuant to s. 216.351, any balance in the trust fund at the

17  end of any fiscal year which has been allocated to the William

18  L. Boyd, IV, Florida Resident Access Grant Program shall

19  remain therein and shall be available for carrying out the

20  purposes of this section. If the number of eligible students

21  exceeds the total authorized in the General Appropriations

22  Act, an institution may use its own resources to assure that

23  each eligible student receives the full benefit of the grant

24  amount authorized.

25         Section 2.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section

26  216.136, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

27         216.136  Consensus estimating conferences; duties and

28  principals.--

29         (4)  EDUCATION ESTIMATING CONFERENCE.--

30         (a)  Duties.--The Education Estimating Conference shall

31  develop such official information relating to the state public


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    SB 354                                         First Engrossed



  1  and private educational system, including forecasts of student

  2  enrollments, the number of students qualified for state

  3  financial aid programs and for the William L. Boyd, IV,

  4  Florida Resident Access Grant Program and the appropriation

  5  required to fund the full award amounts for each program,

  6  fixed capital outlay needs, and Florida Education Finance

  7  Program formula needs, as the conference determines is needed

  8  for the state planning and budgeting system.  The conference's

  9  initial projections of enrollments in public schools shall be

10  forwarded by the conference to each school district no later

11  than 2 months prior to the start of the regular session of the

12  Legislature. Each school district may, in writing, request

13  adjustments to the initial projections.  Any adjustment

14  request shall be submitted to the conference no later than 1

15  month prior to the start of the regular session of the

16  Legislature and shall be considered by the principals of the

17  conference.  A school district may amend its adjustment

18  request, in writing, during the first 3 weeks of the

19  legislative session, and such amended adjustment request shall

20  be considered by the principals of the conference.  For any

21  adjustment so requested, the district shall indicate and

22  explain, using definitions adopted by the conference, the

23  components of anticipated enrollment changes that correspond

24  to continuation of current programs with workload changes;

25  program improvement; program reduction or elimination;

26  initiation of new programs; and any other information that may

27  be needed by the Legislature.  For public schools, the

28  conference shall submit its full-time equivalent student

29  consensus estimate to the Legislature no later than 1 month

30  after the start of the regular session of the Legislature. No

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    SB 354                                         First Engrossed



  1  conference estimate may be changed without the agreement of

  2  the full conference.

  3         Section 3.  Subsection (1) of section 240.40205,

  4  Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

  5         240.40205  Florida Academic Scholars award.--

  6         (1)  A student is eligible for a Florida Academic

  7  Scholars award if the student meets the general eligibility

  8  requirements for the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship

  9  Program and the student:

10         (a)  Has achieved a 3.5 weighted grade point average as

11  calculated pursuant to s. 240.40202, or its equivalent, in

12  high school courses that are adopted by the Board of Regents

13  and recommended by the State Board of Community Colleges as

14  college-preparatory academic courses; and

15         (b)  Has attained at least the score identified by

16  rules of the Department of Education on the combined verbal

17  and quantitative parts of the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the

18  Scholastic Assessment Test, or the recentered Scholastic

19  Assessment Test of the College Entrance Examination, or an

20  equivalent score on the American College Testing Program; or

21         (c)  Has attended a home education program according to

22  s. 232.0201 during grades 11 and 12 or has completed the

23  International Baccalaureate curriculum but failed to earn the

24  International Baccalaureate Diploma, and has attained at least

25  the score identified by rules of the Department of Education

26  on the combined verbal and quantitative parts of the

27  Scholastic Aptitude Test, the Scholastic Assessment Test, or

28  the recentered Scholastic Assessment Test of the College

29  Entrance Examination, or an equivalent score on the American

30  College Testing Program; or

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    SB 354                                         First Engrossed



  1         (d)  Has been awarded an International Baccalaureate

  2  Diploma from the International Baccalaureate Office; or

  3         (e)  Has been recognized by the merit or achievement

  4  programs of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation as a

  5  scholar or finalist; or.

  6         (f)  Has been recognized by the National Hispanic

  7  Recognition Program as a scholar recipient.

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  9  Effective with the 1998-1999 school year, a student must

10  complete a program of community service work, as approved by

11  the district school board or the administrators of a nonpublic

12  school, which shall include a minimum of 75 hours of service

13  work and require the student to identify a social problem that

14  interests him or her, develop a plan for his or her personal

15  involvement in addressing the problem, and, through papers or

16  other presentations, evaluate and reflect upon his or her

17  experience.

18         Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2000.

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