House Bill hb1545er

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    2001 Legislature                                       HB 1545



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  2         An act relating to school district performance;

  3         providing a short title; amending s. 229.57,

  4         F.S.; requiring the designation and publication

  5         of district performance grades; amending s.

  6         236.02, F.S.; revising minimum requirements of

  7         the Florida Education Finance Program to

  8         include minimum classroom expenditure

  9         requirements and associated reporting; creating

10         s. 236.08102, F.S.; authorizing the Legislature

11         to require a school district that fails to meet

12         minimum academic performance standards to meet

13         district minimum classroom expenditure

14         requirements; providing for monitoring;

15         requiring reports; amending s. 237.041, F.S.;

16         requiring a district's annual budget to include

17         provision for required minimum classroom

18         expenditure requirements; amending s. 237.081,

19         F.S.; requiring the advertisement of the

20         tentative school district budget to include

21         notice of minimum classroom expenditure

22         requirements; providing an effective date.

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

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26         Section 1.  Short title.--This act shall be known and

27  may be cited as the "Dollars to the Classroom Act of 2001."

28         Section 2.  Subsection (16) is added to section 229.57,

29  Florida Statutes, to read:

30         229.57  Student assessment program.--

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  1         (16)  DISTRICT PERFORMANCE GRADE.--Beginning with the

  2  2000-2001 school year's student and school performance data,

  3  the annual report required by subsection (6) shall include

  4  district performance grades, which shall consist of weighted

  5  district average grades, by level, for all elementary schools,

  6  middle schools, and high schools in the district. A district's

  7  weighted average grade shall be calculated by weighting

  8  individual school grades determined pursuant to subsection (7)

  9  by school enrollment.

10         Section 3.  Subsection (8) is added to section 236.02,

11  Florida Statutes, to read:

12         236.02  Minimum requirements of the Florida Education

13  Finance Program.--Each district which participates in the

14  state appropriations for the Florida Education Finance Program

15  shall provide evidence of its effort to maintain an adequate

16  school program throughout the district and shall meet at least

17  the following requirements:

18         (8)  MINIMUM CLASSROOM EXPENDITURE

19  REQUIREMENTS.--Comply with the minimum classroom expenditure

20  requirements and associated reporting pursuant to s.

21  236.08102.

22         Section 4.  Section 236.08102, Florida Statutes, is

23  created to read:

24         236.08102  School district minimum classroom

25  expenditure requirements.--

26         (1)  Beginning in fiscal year 2001-2002, the

27  Legislature may require any school district that fails to meet

28  minimum academic performance standards to increase emphasis on

29  classroom instruction activities from operating funds,

30  including, but not limited to, those provided for the

31  operation of schools pursuant to s. 236.081.


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  1         (2)  For the purpose of implementing the provisions of

  2  this section, the Legislature shall prescribe minimum academic

  3  performance standards and minimum classroom expenditure

  4  requirements for districts not meeting such minimum academic

  5  performance standards in the General Appropriations Act.

  6         (a)  Minimum academic performance standards may be

  7  based on, but are not limited to, district performance grades

  8  determined pursuant to s. 229.57(16).

  9         (b)  School district minimum classroom expenditure

10  requirements shall be calculated pursuant to subsection (3).

11         (3)(a)  Annually the Department of Education shall

12  calculate for each school district:

13         1.  Total K-12 operating expenditures, which are

14  defined as the amount of total general fund expenditures for

15  K-12 programs as reported in accordance with the accounts and

16  codes prescribed in the most recent issuance of the Department

17  of Education publication entitled "Financial and Program Cost

18  Accounting and Reporting for Florida Schools" and as included

19  in the annual financial report submitted to the Commissioner

20  of Education, less the pupil transportation revenue allocation

21  from the state appropriation for that purpose, amounts

22  transferred to other funds, and increases to the amount of the

23  general fund unreserved ending fund balance when the total

24  unreserved ending fund balance is in excess of 5 percent of

25  the total general fund revenues.

26         2.  Expenditures for classroom instruction, which shall

27  be the sum of the general fund expenditures for K-12

28  instruction and instructional staff training for basic skills.

29         (b)  The department shall annually calculate for each

30  district, and for the entire state, the percentage of

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  1  classroom expenditures to total operating expenditures as

  2  calculated pursuant to subparagraphs (a)1. and 2.

  3         (4)  In order for the Department of Education to

  4  monitor the implementation of this section, each school

  5  district which is required to increase emphasis on classroom

  6  activities from operating funds pursuant to subsection (1)

  7  shall submit to the department the following two reports in a

  8  format determined by the department:

  9         (a)  An initial report, which shall include the

10  proposed budget actions identified for increased classroom

11  expenditures, a description of how such actions are designed

12  to improve student achievement, and a copy of the published

13  statement required by s. 237.081(3). This report shall be

14  submitted within 30 days after final budget approval as

15  provided in s. 200.065.

16         (b)  A final report, prepared at the end of each fiscal

17  year, which shall include, but is not limited to, information

18  that clearly indicates the degree of each district's

19  compliance or noncompliance with the requirements of this

20  section.  If not fully compliant, the district shall include a

21  statement which has been adopted at a public hearing and

22  signed by the district superintendent of schools and district

23  school board members, which explains why the requirements of

24  this section have not been met.

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26  The department shall provide annual summaries of these two

27  reports to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the

28  Speaker of the House of Representatives.

29         Section 5.  Section 237.041, Florida Statutes, is

30  amended to read:

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  1         237.041  Form of annual budget required.--An annual

  2  budget is required to be prepared and adopted by the school

  3  board of each district and submitted to the Department of

  4  Education for examination each year on or before the date

  5  provided in regulations of the state board. Such annual budget

  6  shall be prepared in accordance with regulations prescribed by

  7  the state board and the provisions of s. 200.065. The annual

  8  budget submitted by each school board shall be consistent

  9  with, and contribute to, the implementation of a planned

10  long-range school program for the district and required

11  minimum classroom expenditure requirements pursuant to s.

12  236.08102 and the General Appropriations Act.

13         Section 6.  Subsections (3) and (4) of section 237.081,

14  Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (4) and (5),

15  respectively, and a new subsection (3) is added to said

16  section, to read:

17         237.081  Public hearings; budgets to be submitted to

18  Department of Education.--

19         (3)  The advertisement of a district that has been

20  required by the Legislature to increase classroom expenditures

21  pursuant to s. 236.08102 must include the following statement:

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23  "This proposed budget reflects an increase in classroom

24  expenditures as a percent of total current operating

25  expenditures of XX percent over the (previous fiscal year)

26  fiscal year. This increase in classroom expenditures is

27  required by the Legislature because the district has performed

28  below the required performance standard on XX of XX student

29  performance standards for the (previous school year) school

30  year. In order to achieve the legislatively required level of

31  classroom expenditures as a percentage of total operating


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  1  expenditures, the proposed budget includes an increase in

  2  overall classroom expenditures of $XX,XXX,XXX above the amount

  3  spent for this same purpose during the (previous fiscal year)

  4  fiscal year. In order to achieve improved student academic

  5  performance, this proposed increase is being budgeted for the

  6  following activities: (list activities and amount budgeted)".

  7         Section 7.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

  8  law.

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