House Bill hb0265

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                 HB 265

        By Representative Waters






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to education accountability;

  3         amending s. 229.58, F.S.; revising requirements

  4         for the composition of school advisory

  5         councils; requiring school boards to develop

  6         procedures to ensure balanced school advisory

  7         council membership; providing an effective

  8         date.

  9

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

11

12         Section 1.  Subsection (1) of section 229.58, Florida

13  Statutes, is amended to read:

14         229.58  District and school advisory councils.--

15         (1)  ESTABLISHMENT.--

16         (a)  The school board shall establish an advisory

17  council for each school in the district, and shall develop

18  procedures for the election and appointment of advisory

19  council members. Each school advisory council shall include in

20  its name the words "school advisory council." The school

21  advisory council shall be the sole body responsible for final

22  decisionmaking at the school relating to implementation of the

23  provisions of ss. 229.591, 229.592, and 230.23(16). A majority

24  of the members of each school advisory council must be persons

25  who are not employed by the school. Each advisory council

26  shall be composed of the following:

27         1.  The school principal. and an appropriately balanced

28  number of

29         2.  Teachers, education support employees, students,

30  parents, and other business and community citizens who are

31  representative of the ethnic, racial, and economic community

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                 HB 265

    722-122B-01






  1  served by the school, giving consideration to the school's

  2  ethnic, racial, and economic makeup.

  3

  4  School boards shall develop procedures to ensure balanced

  5  school advisory council membership. Vocational-technical

  6  center and high school advisory councils shall include

  7  students, and middle and junior high school advisory councils

  8  may include students.  School advisory councils of

  9  vocational-technical and adult education centers are not

10  required to include parents as members.

11         (b)  Council members representing teachers, education

12  support employees, students, and parents shall be elected by

13  their respective peer groups at the school in a fair and

14  equitable manner as follows:

15         1.  Teachers shall be elected by teachers.

16         2.  Education support employees shall be elected by

17  education support employees.

18         3.  Students shall be elected by students.

19         4.  Parents shall be elected by parents.

20

21  The school board shall establish procedures for use by schools

22  in selecting business and community members. Such procedures

23  shall include means of ensuring wide notice of vacancies and

24  for taking input on possible members from local business,

25  chambers of commerce, community and civic organizations and

26  groups, and the public at large. The school board shall review

27  the membership composition of each advisory council.  Should

28  the school board determine that the membership elected by the

29  school is not representative of the ethnic, racial, and

30  economic community served by the school, the board shall

31  appoint additional members to achieve proper representation.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                 HB 265

    722-122B-01






  1  The Commissioner of Education shall determine if schools have

  2  maximized their efforts to include on their advisory councils

  3  minority persons and persons of lower socioeconomic status.

  4  Although schools should be strongly encouraged to establish

  5  school advisory councils, any school district that has a

  6  student population of 10,000 or fewer may establish a district

  7  advisory council which shall include at least one duly elected

  8  teacher from each school in the district.  For the purposes of

  9  school advisory councils and district advisory councils, the

10  term "teacher" shall include classroom teachers, certified

11  student services personnel, and media specialists.  For

12  purposes of this paragraph, "education support employee" means

13  any person employed by a school who is not defined as

14  instructional or administrative personnel pursuant to s.

15  228.041 and whose duties require 20 or more hours in each

16  normal working week.

17         (c)(b)  The school board may establish a district

18  advisory council representative of the district and composed

19  of teachers, students, parents, and other citizens or a

20  district advisory council which may be comprised of

21  representatives of each school advisory council.  Recognized

22  schoolwide support groups which meet all criteria established

23  by law or rule may function as school advisory councils.

24         (d)(c)  For those schools operating for the purpose of

25  providing educational services to youth in Department of

26  Juvenile Justice programs, school boards may establish a

27  district advisory council with appropriate representatives for

28  the purpose of developing and monitoring a district school

29  improvement plan which encompasses all such schools in the

30  district, pursuant to s. 230.23(16)(a).

31         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2001.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                 HB 265

    722-122B-01






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  2                          HOUSE SUMMARY

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      Revises requirements for the composition of school
  4    advisory councils.  Requires school boards to develop
      procedures to ensure balanced school advisory council
  5    membership.

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