HB 0149A 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to charter schools; amending s. 1002.33,
3	F.S.; authorizing an educational facilities benefit
4	district or a community development district to apply for
5	a conversion charter school; providing a procedure for
6	certain school districts to participate in a pilot program
7	to convert public-school-feeder systems into charter-
8	school-feeder systems; providing definitions; providing
9	participation requirements; providing an appeals process;
10	providing for operational and capital outlay funding;
11	providing for new construction; amending s. 1013.355,
12	F.S.; prescribing additional purposes of educational
13	facilities benefit districts; providing for appeal of
14	certain school board decisions; providing for creation of
15	such districts by general purpose governments; amending s.
16	1013.356, F.S.; expanding the purpose of educational
17	facilities benefit districts and community development
18	districts; providing for capital outlay funding;
19	authorizing leases for use of land or facilities;
20	providing for construction of the act in pari materia with
21	laws enacted during the 2003 Regular Session of the
22	Legislature; providing an effective date.
23
24	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
25
26	Section 1. Subsections (3) and (10) of section 1002.33,
27	Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
28	1002.33 Charter schools.--
29	(3) APPLICATION FOR CHARTER STATUS.--
30	(a) An application for a new charter school may be made by
31	an individual, teachers, parents, a group of individuals, a
32	municipality, or a legal entity organized under the laws of this
33	state.
34	(b) An application for a conversion charter school shall
35	be made by the district school board, the principal, teachers,
36	parents, and/or the school advisory council at an existing
37	public school that has been in operation for at least 2 years
38	prior to the application to convert, including a public school-
39	within-a-school that is designated as a school by the district
40	school board, or by an educational facilities benefit district
41	or a community development district. An application submitted
42	proposing to convert an existing public school to a charter
43	school shall demonstrate the support of at least 50 percent of
44	the teachers employed at the school and 50 percent of the
45	parents voting whose children are enrolled at the school,
46	provided that a majority of the parents eligible to vote
47	participate in the ballot process, according to rules adopted by
48	the State Board of Education. A district school board denying an
49	application for a conversion charter school shall provide notice
50	of denial to the applicants in writing within 30 days after the
51	meeting at which the district school board denied the
52	application. The notice must specify the exact reasons for
53	denial and must provide documentation supporting those reasons.
54	A private school, parochial school, or home education program
55	shall not be eligible for charter school status.
56	(c) The Miami-Dade County School Board and the Broward
57	County School Board are authorized to accept applications from
58	educational facilities benefit districts or community
59	development districts to establish a pilot program to convert 5
60	feeder systems of public schools per county to conversion
61	charter-school-feeder systems. Applications for four of the
62	conversion charter-school-feeder systems must be from
63	educational facilities benefit districts or community
64	development districts located within municipal service areas
65	with a population of 75,000 or more in Miami-Dade County and
66	58,000 or more in Broward County as reported on the most recent
67	United States Census and one application must be from an
68	educational facilities benefit district or community development
69	district located in the unincorporated municipal service area.
70	Not more than one educational facilities benefit district or
71	community development district within a municipality may be
72	awarded a conversion charter-school-feeder system.
73	1. A conversion charter-school-feeder system is defined as
74	one high school and the middle schools and elementary schools
75	where more than one-half of the students are zoned to attend
76	that high school and must include at least one high school, one
77	middle school, and one elementary school.
78	2. To participate in the pilot program, all schools
79	included in the conversion charter-school-feeder system must be
80	located within the boundaries of the educational facilities
81	benefit district or community development district applying to
82	participate in the conversion pilot program.
83	3. Decisions of the school district regarding the
84	establishment of a conversion charter-school-feeder system may
85	be appealed to the State Board of Education.
86	4. Operational funding for students attending charter
87	schools in a conversion charter-school-feeder system shall be
88	provided at the same full-time equivalent (FTE) student rate as
89	the student generates for the district with no administrative
90	hold back for district operations. Should the educational
91	facilities benefit district or community development district
92	provide operational funding for the conversion charter-school-
93	feeder system, the district's contribution per FTE shall be
94	reduced on a dollar-for-dollar basis to maintain equal funding
95	per FTE throughout the district.
96	5. Capital outlay funding for a conversion charter-school-
97	feeder system shall be addressed in the charter agreement with
98	the school board. The charter may provide for the district to
99	continue to be responsible for the maintenance, repair,
100	renovation, and remodeling of the facility or may provide a per-
101	student amount to the conversion charter-school-feeder system
102	equal to the district's average per-student capital outlay
103	funding amount. Should the educational facilities benefit
104	district or community development district provide capital
105	outlay funding for the conversion charter-school-feeder system,
106	the district's contribution per FTE shall be reduced on a dollar
107	for dollar basis to maintain equal funding per FTE throughout
108	the district.
109	6. If the educational facilities benefit district or
110	community development district decides that a new school
111	facility must be constructed, the district school board shall
112	provide capital outlay funding for new construction in an amount
113	that is equal to the district-wide average amount per FTE
114	student generated from 2 mills of nonvoted discretionary capital
115	outlay authorized in s. 1011.71(2). These funds may not be
116	pledged for debt service or financial obligations entered into
117	by the educational facilities benefit district or community
118	development district.
119	7. The purpose of the pilot program is to produce
120	significant improvements in student achievement and school
121	management including administrative efficiency, to encourage and
122	measure the use of innovative learning methods, and to make the
123	school the unit of improvement.
124	8. The approved conversion charter-school-feeder system
125	application shall be the basis for evaluation of the pilot
126	program.
127	(10) ELIGIBLE STUDENTS.--
128	(a) A charter school shall be open to any student covered
129	in an interdistrict agreement or residing in the school district
130	in which the charter school is located; however, in the case of
131	a charter lab school, the charter lab school shall be open to
132	any student eligible to attend the lab school as provided in s.
133	1002.32 or who resides in the school district in which the
134	charter lab school is located. Any eligible student shall be
135	allowed interdistrict transfer to attend a charter school when
136	based on good cause.
137	(b) The charter school shall enroll an eligible student
138	who submits a timely application, unless the number of
139	applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade
140	level, or building. In such case, all applicants shall have an
141	equal chance of being admitted through a random selection
142	process.
143	(c) When a public school converts to charter status, or in
144	schools that are part of a conversion charter-school-feeder
145	system,enrollment preference shall be given to students who
146	would have otherwise attended that public school.
147	(d) A charter school may give enrollment preference to the
148	following student populations:
149	1. Students who are siblings of a student enrolled in the
150	charter school.
151	2. Students who are the children of a member of the
152	governing board of the charter school.
153	3. Students who are the children of an employee of the
154	charter school.
155	(e) A charter school may limit the enrollment process only
156	to target the following student populations:
157	1. Students within specific age groups or grade levels.
158	2. Students considered at risk of dropping out of school
159	or academic failure. Such students shall include exceptional
160	education students.
161	3. Students enrolling in a charter school-in-the-workplace
162	or charter school-in-a-municipality established pursuant to
163	subsection (16).
164	4. Students residing within a reasonable distance of the
165	charter school, as described in paragraph (21)(c). Such students
166	shall be subject to a random lottery and to the racial/ethnic
167	balance provisions described in subparagraph (7)(a)8. or any
168	federal provisions that require a school to achieve a
169	racial/ethnic balance reflective of the community it serves or
170	within the racial/ethnic range of other public schools in the
171	same school district.
172	5. Students who meet reasonable academic, artistic, or
173	other eligibility standards established by the charter school
174	and included in the charter school application and charter or,
175	in the case of existing charter schools, standards that are
176	consistent with the school's mission and purpose. Such standards
177	shall be in accordance with current state law and practice in
178	public schools and may not discriminate against otherwise
179	qualified individuals.
180	6. Students articulating from one charter school to
181	another pursuant to an articulation agreement between the
182	charter schools that has been approved by the sponsor.
183	(f) Students with handicapping conditions and students
184	served in English for Speakers of Other Languages programs shall
185	have an equal opportunity of being selected for enrollment in a
186	charter school.
187	(g) A student may withdraw from a charter school at any
188	time and enroll in another public school as determined by
189	district school board rule.
190	(h) The capacity of the charter school shall be determined
191	annually by the governing board, in conjunction with the
192	sponsor, of the charter school in consideration of the factors
193	identified in this subsection.
194	Section 2. Subsections (2), (3), and (4) of section
195	1013.355, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
196	1013.355 Educational facilities benefit districts.--
197	(2) The Legislature hereby authorizes the creation of
198	educational facilities benefit districts pursuant to interlocal
199	cooperation agreements between a district school board and all
200	local general purpose governments within whose jurisdiction a
201	district is located. The purpose of educational facilities
202	benefit districts is to assist in financing the construction,
203	operation,and maintenance of educational facilities.
204	(3)(a) An educational facilities benefit district may be
205	created pursuant to this act and chapters 125, 163, 166, and
206	189. An educational facilities benefit district charter may be
207	created by a county or municipality by entering into an
208	interlocal agreement, as authorized by s. 163.01, with the
209	district school board and any local general purpose government
210	within whose jurisdiction a portion of the district is located
211	and adoption of an ordinance that includes all provisions
212	contained within s. 189.4041. The creating entity shall be the
213	local general purpose government within whose boundaries a
214	majority of the educational facilities benefit district's lands
215	are located.
216	(b) Creation of any educational facilities benefit
217	district shall be conditioned upon the consent of the district
218	school board, all local general purpose governments within whose
219	jurisdiction any portion of the educational facilities benefit
220	district is located, and all landowners within the district.
221	Decisions of the school district regarding the establishment of
222	an educational facilities benefit district may be appealed to
223	the State Board of Education.The membership of the governing
224	board of any educational facilities benefit district shall
225	include representation of the district school board, each
226	cooperating local general purpose government, and the landowners
227	within the district. In the case of an educational facilities
228	benefit district's decision to create a charter school, the
229	board of directors of the charter school may constitute the
230	members of the governing board for the educational facilities
231	benefit district. (c) An educational facilities benefit
232	district may also be created by the local general purpose
233	government within whose jurisdiction the educational facilities
234	benefit district is located by adoption of an ordinance
235	establishing the district and approval by the electors within
236	the educational facilities benefit district at a general
237	election.
238	(4) The educational facilities benefit district shall
239	have, and its governing board may exercise, the following
240	powers:
241	(a) To acquire through lease, purchase, gift, or bequest;
242	finance;and construct educational facilities within the
243	district's boundaries.
244	(b) To sue and be sued in the name of the district; to
245	adopt and use a seal and authorize the use of a facsimile
246	thereof; to acquire, by purchase, gift, devise, or otherwise,
247	and to dispose of real and personal property or any estate
248	therein; and to make and execute contracts and other instruments
249	necessary or convenient to the exercise of its powers.
250	(c) To contract for the services of consultants to perform
251	planning, engineering, legal, or other appropriate services of a
252	professional nature. Such contracts shall be subject to the
253	public bidding or competitive negotiations required of local
254	general purpose governments.
255	(d) To borrow money and accept gifts; to apply for unused
256	grants or loans of money or other property from the United
257	States, the state, a unit of local government, or any person for
258	any district purposes and enter into agreements required in
259	connection therewith; and to hold, use, and dispose of such
260	moneys or property for any district purposes in accordance with
261	the terms of the gift, grant, loan, or agreement relating
262	thereto.
263	(e) To adopt resolutions and policies prescribing the
264	powers, duties, and functions of the officers of the district,
265	the conduct of the business of the district, and the maintenance
266	of records and documents of the district.
267	(f) To maintain an office at such place or places as it
268	may designate within the district or within the boundaries of
269	the local general purpose government that created the district.
270	(g) To lease as lessor or lessee to or from any person,
271	firm, corporation, association, or body, public or private, any
272	projects of the type that the district is authorized to
273	undertake and facilities or property of any nature for use of
274	the district to carry out any of the purposes authorized by this
275	act.
276	(h) To borrow money and issue bonds, certificates,
277	warrants, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness pursuant to
278	this act for periods not longer than 30 years, provided such
279	bonds, certificates, warrants, notes, or other indebtedness
280	shall only be guaranteed by non-ad valorem assessments legally
281	imposed by the district and other available sources of funds
282	provided in this act and shall not pledge the full faith and
283	credit of any local general purpose government or the district
284	school board.
285	(i) To cooperate with or contract with other governmental
286	agencies as may be necessary, convenient, incidental, or proper
287	in connection with any of the powers, duties, or purposes
288	authorized by this act and to accept funding from local and
289	state agencies as provided in this act.
290	(j) To levy, impose, collect, and enforce non-ad valorem
291	assessments, as defined by s. 197.3632(1)(d), pursuant to this
292	act, chapters 125 and 166, and ss. 197.3631, 197.3632, and
293	197.3635.
294	(k) To exercise all powers necessary, convenient,
295	incidental, or proper in connection with any of the powers,
296	duties, or purposes authorized by this act.
297	Section 3. Section 1013.356, Florida Statutes, as amended
298	by section 131 of chapter 2003-1, Laws of Florida, is amended to
299	read:
300	1013.356 Local funding for educational facilities benefit
301	districts or community development districts.--Upon confirmation
302	by a district school board of the commitment of revenues by an
303	educational facilities benefit district or community development
304	district necessary to construct, operate,and maintain an
305	educational facility contained within an individual district
306	facilities work program or proposed by an approved charter
307	school or a charter school applicant, the following funds shall
308	be provided to the educational facilities benefit district or
309	community development district annually, beginning with the next
310	fiscal year after confirmation until the district's financial
311	obligations are completed:
312	(1) All educational facilities impact fee revenue
313	collected for new development within the educational facilities
314	benefit district or community development district. Funds
315	provided under this subsection shall be used to fund the
316	acquisition, construction,and capital maintenance costs of
317	educational facilities.
318	(2) For construction and capital maintenance costs not
319	covered by the funds provided under subsection (1), an annual
320	amount contributed by the district school board equal to one-
321	half of the remaining costs of construction and capital
322	maintenance of the educational facility. Any construction costs
323	above the cost-per-student criteria established for the SIT
324	Program in s. 1013.72(2) shall be funded exclusively by the
325	educational facilities benefit district or the community
326	development district. Funds contributed by a district school
327	board shall not be used to fund operational costs. If an
328	educational facilities benefit district or community development
329	district determines that a new school is to be established, the
330	district school board shall provide capital outlay funding in an
331	amount that is equal to the district-wide average amount per FTE
332	student generated from 2 mills of nonvoted discretionary capital
333	outlay authorized in s. 1011.71(2). These funds may not be
334	pledged for debt service or financial obligations entered into
335	by the educational facilities benefit district or community
336	development district. These new schools are not eligible to
337	receive state capital outlay funds.
338
339	Educational facilities funded pursuant to this act may be
340	constructed on land that is owned by any person after the
341	district school board, the charter school, the educational
342	facilities benefit district, or the community development
343	districthas acquired from the owner of the land a long-term
344	lease for the use of this land or facilitiesfor a period of not
345	less than 40 years or the life expectancy of the permanent
346	facilities constructed thereon, whichever is longer. All
347	interlocal agreements entered into pursuant to this act shall
348	provide for ownership of educational facilities funded pursuant
349	to this act to revert to the district school board if such
350	facilities cease to be used for public educational purposes
351	prior to 40 years after construction or prior to the end of the
352	life expectancy of the educational facilities, whichever is
353	longer.
354	Section 4. If any law amended by this act was also amended
355	by a law enacted at the 2003 Regular Session of the Legislature,
356	such laws shall be construed as if they had been enacted at the
357	same session of the Legislature, and full effect shall be given
358	to each if possible.
359	Section 5. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.