Senate Bill sb1452
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Florida Senate - 2001 SB 1452
By Senator Villalobos
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1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to educational facilities;
3 amending s. 235.061, F.S.; declaring
4 legislative intent with respect to the use of
5 relocatable facilities; revising standards for
6 relocatables; directing school districts to use
7 certain funds for classroom construction;
8 limiting expenditures on relocatables; amending
9 s. 235.062, F.S.; revising legislative intent
10 with respect to the reduction of relocatable
11 facilities; directing school districts to use
12 certain funds for classroom construction;
13 deleting a definition of the term
14 "over-capacity school"; providing an effective
15 date.
16
17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19 Section 1. Section 235.061, Florida Statutes, is
20 amended to read:
21 235.061 Standards for relocatables used as classroom
22 space; inspections.--
23 (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that
24 relocatables no longer be used for classrooms or other student
25 occupancies after July 1, 2003. Districts shall redirect funds
26 allocated for work on existing portables to meet standards
27 required to be met by July 1, 2001, except for funding
28 necessary to correct firesafety deficiencies, for items
29 required by federal laws and rules, and to comply with state
30 accessibility laws, sanitation codes, and casualty standards,
31 toward the construction of new classrooms. Districts shall
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Florida Senate - 2001 SB 1452
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1 include this information on the annual update of the Five Year
2 Work Program. Standards for existing relocatables shall be
3 applicable to all other relocatables that remain in use by the
4 district for functions other than student occupancy. The
5 Commissioner of Education shall adopt rules establishing
6 standards for relocatables intended for long-term use as
7 classroom space at a public elementary school, middle school,
8 or high school. "Long-term use" means the use of relocatables
9 at the same educational plant for a period of 4 years or more.
10 These rules must be implemented by July 1, 1998, and each
11 relocatable acquired by a district school board after the
12 effective date of the rules and intended for long-term use
13 must comply with the standards. The rules shall require that,
14 by July 1, 2001, relocatables that fail to meet the standards
15 may not be used as classrooms. The standards shall protect the
16 health, safety, and welfare of occupants by requiring
17 compliance with the Uniform Building Code for Public
18 Educational Facilities or other locally adopted state minimum
19 building codes to ensure the safety and stability of
20 construction and onsite installation; fire and moisture
21 protection; air quality and ventilation; appropriate wind
22 resistance; and compliance with the requirements of the
23 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. If appropriate, the
24 standards must also require relocatables to provide access to
25 the same technologies available to similar classrooms within
26 the main school facility and, if appropriate, to be accessible
27 by adequate covered walkways. By July 1, 2000, the
28 commissioner shall adopt standards for all relocatables
29 intended for long-term use as classrooms. A relocatable that
30 is in use for purposes other that student occupancy aid is
31 subject to this section and that does not meet the standards
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Florida Senate - 2001 SB 1452
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1 shall not be reported as providing satisfactory student
2 stations in the Florida Inventory of School Houses.
3 (2) Annual inspections for all satisfactory
4 relocatables designed for classroom use or being occupied by
5 students are required for: foundations; tie-downs; structural
6 integrity; weatherproofing; HVAC; electrical; plumbing, if
7 applicable; firesafety; and accessibility. Reports shall be
8 filed with the district school board and posted in each
9 respective relocatable in order to facilitate corrective
10 action.
11 Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 235.062, Florida
12 Statutes, is amended to read:
13 235.062 Reduction of relocatable facilities in use.--
14 (1)(a) It is the intent a goal of the Legislature that
15 all school districts shall provide a quality educational
16 environment for their students such that, by July 1, 2003,
17 student stations in relocatable facilities exceeding 20 years
18 of age and in use by a district during the 1998-1999 fiscal
19 year shall be removed from use as classrooms or other
20 student-occupied space and the number of all other relocatable
21 student stations at over-capacity schools during that fiscal
22 year shall be decreased by half. The Legislature finds,
23 however, that necessary maintenance of existing facilities and
24 public school enrollment growth impair the ability of some
25 districts to achieve the goal of this section within 5 years.
26 Therefore, the Legislature is increasing its commitment to
27 school funding in this act, in part to help districts reduce
28 the number of temporary, relocatable student stations at
29 over-capacity schools. The Legislature intends that local
30 school districts also increase their investment toward meeting
31 this requirement goal. Districts shall redirect funds
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Florida Senate - 2001 SB 1452
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1 allocated for work on existing portables to meet standards
2 required to be met by July 1, 2001, except for funding
3 necessary to correct firesafety deficiencies, for items
4 required by federal laws and rules, and to comply with state
5 accessibility laws, sanitation codes, and casualty standards,
6 toward the construction of new classrooms. Each district's
7 progress toward meeting this requirement goal shall be
8 measured annually by comparing district facilities work
9 programs for replacing relocatables with the state capital
10 outlay projections for education prepared by the SMART Schools
11 Clearinghouse pursuant to s. 235.217(3)(e). District
12 facilities work programs shall be monitored by the SMART
13 Schools Clearinghouse to measure the commitment of local
14 school districts toward this requirement goal.
15 (b) For the purposes of this section, an
16 "over-capacity school" means a school the capital outlay FTE
17 enrollment of which exceeds 100 percent of the space and
18 occupant design capacity of its nonrelocatable facilities.
19 However, if a school's initial design incorporated relocatable
20 or modular instructional space, an "over-capacity school"
21 shall mean a school the capital outlay FTE enrollment of which
22 exceeds 100 percent of the space and occupant design capacity
23 of its core facilities.
24 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
25 law.
26
27 *****************************************
28 SENATE SUMMARY
29 Restates the legislative intent with respect to use of
relocatable facilities as classroom space. Limits
30 expenditures that may be made on relocatables and directs
school districts to use funds formerly directed toward
31 improvements to relocatables to classroom construction.
4
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