House Bill hb0475

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 475

        By Representative Seiler






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to school facilities; amending

  3         s. 230.23, F.S.; providing an example of a

  4         school-within-a-school; amending s. 235.2157,

  5         F.S.; modifying small school student population

  6         limits; providing for exceptions to the

  7         small-schools requirements; providing an

  8         effective date.

  9

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

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12         Section 1.  Paragraph (d) is added to subsection (20)

13  of section 230.23, Florida Statutes, to read:

14         230.23  Powers and duties of school board.--The school

15  board, acting as a board, shall exercise all powers and

16  perform all duties listed below:

17         (20)  SCHOOL-WITHIN-A-SCHOOL.--In order to reduce the

18  anonymity of students in large schools, the district school

19  board shall adopt policies effective for the 2002-2003 school

20  year, and thereafter, to encourage any school that does not

21  meet the definition of a small school, as established by s.

22  235.2157(2), to subdivide into schools-within-a-school, which

23  shall operate within existing resources. A

24  "school-within-a-school" means an operational program that

25  uses flexible scheduling, team planning, and curricular and

26  instructional innovation to organize groups of students with

27  groups of teachers as smaller units, so as to functionally

28  operate as a smaller school. Examples of this include, but are

29  not limited to:

30         (d)  A physical plant design that would house students

31  grouped by the smaller school designation in buildings that

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 475

    794-110-02






  1  surround or are easily accessible to a structure containing

  2  core facilities, as defined by rule of the Department of

  3  Education, which would be shared by the surrounding buildings.

  4         Section 2.  Subsections (2) and (4) of section

  5  235.2157, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:

  6         235.2157  Small school requirement.--

  7         (2)  DEFINITION.--As used in this section, "small

  8  school" means:

  9         (a)  An elementary school with a student population of

10  not more than 500 students.

11         (b)  A middle school with a student population of not

12  more than 900 700 students.

13         (c)  A high school with a student population of not

14  more than 1,200 900 students.

15         (d)  A school serving kindergarten through grade 8 with

16  a student population of not more than 900 700 students.

17         (e)  A school serving kindergarten through grade 12

18  with a student population of not more than 1,200 900 students.

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20  A school on a single campus which operates as a

21  school-within-a-school, as defined by s. 230.23(20), shall be

22  considered a small school if each smaller unit located on the

23  single campus meets the requirements of this subsection.

24         (4)  EXCEPTIONS.--

25         (a)  This section does not apply to plans for new

26  educational facilities already under architectural contract on

27  July 1, 2003.

28         (b)  The Commissioner of Education may approve an

29  exemption to the small school requirement under any of the

30  following conditions:

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 475

    794-110-02






  1         1.  An interlocal agreement between the school district

  2  and the local governmental body having geographic jurisdiction

  3  requires specified construction of schools under s. 163.3177;

  4         2.  The school district has submitted documentation

  5  that the lowest bid or request for proposals meeting small

  6  schools specifications would exceed the per-pupil station cost

  7  defined in s. 235.216; or

  8         3.  The school district has submitted documentation

  9  that school siting is unavailable or excessively priced above

10  appraisal and that to pursue a small school in the particular

11  location would not be in the best interest of the district's

12  students.

13         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2002.

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16                          SENATE SUMMARY

17    Provides an example of a school-within-a-school. Modifies
      small school student population limits and provides for
18    exceptions to the small schools requirement.

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