HB 0549 2004
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to educational choice programs; creating
3	s. 1002.395, F.S.; establishing the K-12 GI Bill Program
4	to provide educational options for dependents of Florida's
5	veterans and active military personnel; providing that a
6	student may attend a public school in the school district
7	other than the one to which assigned; providing that a
8	student may receive a K-12 GI Bill to attend a public
9	school in an adjacent school district or to attend a
10	private school; providing K-12 GI Bill eligibility
11	requirements; providing school district and Department of
12	Education obligations; providing private school
13	eligibility requirements; providing obligations of
14	families choosing the private school option; providing for
15	the amount, funding, and payment of a K-12 GI Bill;
16	exempting the state from liability; authorizing State
17	Board of Education rules; amending s. 1002.20, F.S.,
18	relating to student and parent rights to educational
19	choice, to conform; providing an effective date.
20
21	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
22
23	Section 1. Section 1002.395, Florida Statutes, is created
24	to read:
25	1002.395 K-12 GI Bill Program.--
26	(1) PURPOSE.--The purpose of this section is to:
27	(a) Recognize, honor, and reward the courage and
28	sacrifices made by Florida's veterans and active military
29	personnel and their families.
30	(b) Expand educational opportunities for children who are
31	dependents of veterans and active military personnel.
32	(c) Provide a new benefit to Florida's veterans and active
33	military personnel by giving them the option to choose their
34	children's education.
35	(2) THE K-12 GI BILL PROGRAM.--The K-12 GI Bill Program is
36	established as a benefit to Florida's veterans and active
37	military personnel that provides the option for their dependents
38	to attend a public school in the school district other than the
39	one to which assigned, to receive a K-12 GI Bill to attend a
40	public school in an adjacent school district, or to receive a K-
41	12 GI Bill to attend a private school of their choice.
42	(3) K-12 GI BILL ELIGIBILITY.--The parent of a public
43	school student who is a dependent of a Florida veteran or active
44	military personnel may request and receive from the state a K-12
45	GI Bill for the child to enroll in and attend a private school
46	in accordance with this section if:
47	(a) By assigned school attendance area or by special
48	assignment, the student has spent the prior school year in
49	attendance at a Florida public school. Prior school year in
50	attendance means that the student was enrolled and reported by a
51	school district for funding during the preceding October and
52	February Florida Education Finance Program surveys in
53	kindergarten through grade 12.
54	(b) The parent has notified the school district that the
55	student is a dependent of a Florida veteran or active military
56	personnel, has obtained acceptance for admission of the student
57	to a private school that is eligible for the program under
58	subsection (5), and has notified the school district of the
59	request for a K-12 GI Bill at least 60 days prior to the date of
60	the first K-12 GI Bill payment. The parental notification must
61	be through a communication directly to the district or through
62	the Department of Education to the district in a manner that
63	creates a written or electronic record of the notification and
64	the date of receipt of the notification.
65	This section does not apply to a student who is enrolled in a
66	school operating for the purpose of providing educational
67	services to youth in Department of Juvenile Justice commitment
68	programs. For purposes of continuity of educational choice, the
69	K-12 GI Bill shall remain in force until the student returns to
70	a public school or graduates from high school. However, at any
71	time, the student's parent may remove the student from the
72	private school and place the student in another private school
73	that is eligible to provide educational opportunities for
74	students whose families opt to use a K-12 GI Bill under
75	subsection (5) or in a public school as provided in subsection
76	(4).
77	(4) SCHOOL DISTRICT AND DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
78	OBLIGATIONS.--
79	(a) A school district shall timely notify the parent of
80	each student who the school district has knowledge is a
81	dependent of a Florida veteran or active military personnel of
82	all options available pursuant to this section and offer that
83	student's parent an opportunity to enroll the student in another
84	public school within the district. The parent is not required to
85	accept this offer in lieu of requesting a K-12 GI Bill for the
86	student to attend a public school in an adjacent school district
87	or to attend a private school. However, if the parent chooses to
88	enroll the student in another public school within the district,
89	the student may continue attending the public school chosen by
90	the parent until the student graduates from high school. If the
91	parent chooses a public school consistent with the district
92	school board's choice plan under s. 1002.31, the school district
93	shall provide transportation to the public school selected by
94	the parent. The parent is responsible to provide transportation
95	to a public school chosen that is not consistent with the
96	district school board's choice plan under s. 1002.31.
97	(b) If the parent chooses the private school option and
98	the student is accepted by the private school pending the
99	availability of a space for the student, the parent of the
100	student must notify the school district at least 60 days prior
101	to the date of the first K-12 GI Bill payment and before the
102	student enters the private school in order to be eligible for
103	the K-12 GI Bill when a space becomes available for the student
104	in the private school.
105	(c) The parent of a student may choose, as an alternative,
106	to enroll the student in and transport the student to a public
107	school in an adjacent school district that has available space,
108	and that school district shall accept the student and report the
109	student for purposes of the district's funding pursuant to the
110	Florida Education Finance Program.
111	(d) For a student in the school district who participates
112	in the K-12 GI Bill Program whose parent requests that the
113	student take the statewide assessments under s. 1008.22, the
114	district shall provide locations and times to take all statewide
115	assessments.
116	(e) A school district must notify the Department of
117	Education within 10 days after it receives notification of a
118	parent's intent to apply for a student to receive a K-12 GI
119	Bill.
120	(5) PRIVATE SCHOOL ELIGIBILITY.--To be eligible to provide
121	educational opportunities for students whose families opt to use
122	a K-12 GI Bill, a private school must be a Florida private
123	school, may be sectarian or nonsectarian, and must:
124	(a) Demonstrate fiscal soundness by being in operation for
125	2 school years or file with the Department of Education a surety
126	bond or letter of credit for the amount equal to the K-12 GI
127	Bill funds for each quarter.
128	(b) Notify the Department of Education of its intent to
129	provide educational opportunities for students whose families
130	opt to use a K-12 GI Bill. The notice must specify the grade
131	levels and services that the private school has available for
132	students attending on a K-12 GI Bill.
133	(c) Comply with the antidiscrimination provisions of 42
134	U.S.C. s. 2000d.
135	(d) Meet state and local health and safety laws and codes.
136	(e) Be academically accountable to the parent for meeting
137	the educational needs of the student.
138	(f) Employ or contract with teachers who hold
139	baccalaureate or higher degrees, have at least 3 years of
140	teaching experience in public or private schools, or have
141	special skills, knowledge, or expertise that qualifies them to
142	provide instruction in subjects taught.
143	(g) Comply with all state laws relating to general
144	regulation of private schools.
145	(h) Adhere to the tenets of its published disciplinary
146	procedures prior to the expulsion of a student attending the
147	school on a K-12 GI Bill.
148	(6) OBLIGATION OF FAMILIES OPTING TO USE A K-12 GI BILL.--
149	(a) A parent who applies for a K-12 GI Bill to enable his
150	or her child to attend a private school is exercising his or her
151	parental option to place his or her child in a private school.
152	The parent must select the private school and apply for the
153	admission of his or her child.
154	(b) The parent must have requested the K-12 GI Bill at
155	least 60 days prior to the date of the first K-12 GI Bill
156	payment.
157	(c) Any student attending a private school on a K-12 GI
158	Bill must remain in attendance throughout the school year,
159	unless excused by the school for illness or other good cause,
160	and must comply fully with the school's code of conduct.
161	(d) The parent of each student attending a private school
162	on a K-12 GI Bill must comply fully with the private school's
163	parental involvement requirements unless excused by the school
164	for illness or other good cause.
165	(e) If the parent requests that the student attending a
166	private school on a K-12 GI Bill take all statewide assessments
167	required pursuant to s. 1008.22, the parent is responsible for
168	transporting the student to the assessment site designated by
169	the school district.
170	(f) Upon receipt of a K-12 GI Bill warrant, the parent to
171	whom the warrant is made must restrictively endorse the warrant
172	to the private school for deposit into the account of the
173	private school.
174	(g) Any failure to comply with this subsection results in
175	forfeit of the K-12 GI Bill.
176	(7) K-12 GI BILL FUNDING AND PAYMENT.--
177	(a) The amount of a K-12 GI Bill provided to any child for
178	any single school year shall not exceed the following annual
179	limits:
180	1. Three thousand six hundred dollars or the amount of
181	tuition and fees, whichever is less, for a K-12 GI Bill awarded
182	to a student enrolled in an eligible private school.
183	2. Five hundred dollars, or the amount of transportation
184	expenses, whichever is less, for a K-12 GI Bill awarded to a
185	student enrolled in a Florida public school that is located
186	outside the school district in which the student resides.
187	(b) If a participating private school requires partial
188	payment of tuition prior to the start of the academic year to
189	reserve space for students admitted to the school, that partial
190	payment may be paid by the Department of Education prior to the
191	first quarterly payment of the year in which the K-12 GI Bill is
192	awarded, up to a maximum of $1,000, and deducted from subsequent
193	K-12 GI Bill payments. If a student decides not to attend the
194	participating private school, the partial reservation payment
195	must be returned to the Department of Education by the
196	participating private school. There is a limit of one
197	reservation payment per student per year.
198	(c) The school district shall report all students who are
199	attending a private school on a K-12 GI Bill. The students
200	attending private schools on K-12 GI Bills shall be reported
201	separately from other students reported for purposes of the
202	Florida Education Finance Program.
203	(d) Following notification on July 1, September 1,
204	December 1, or February 1 of the number of students attending
205	private schools on K-12 GI Bills, the Department of Education
206	shall transfer, from General Revenue funds only, the amount of
207	the K-12 GI Bills from the school district's total funding
208	entitlement under the Florida Education Finance Program to a
209	separate account for the K-12 GI Bills for quarterly
210	disbursement to the parents of K-12 GI Bill students. When a
211	student enters a private school on a K-12 GI Bill, the
212	Department of Education must receive all documentation required
213	for the student's K-12 GI Bill, including the private school's
214	and student's fee schedules, at least 30 days before the first
215	quarterly K-12 GI Bill payment is made for the student. The
216	Department of Education may not make any retroactive payments.
217	(e) Upon proper documentation reviewed and approved by the
218	Department of Education, the Chief Financial Officer shall make
219	K-12 GI Bill payments in four equal amounts no later than
220	September 1, November 1, February 1, and April 15 of each
221	academic year in which the K-12 GI Bill is in force. The initial
222	payment for attendance at a private school shall be made after
223	Department of Education verification of admission acceptance,
224	and subsequent payments shall be made upon verification of
225	continued enrollment and attendance at the private school.
226	Payment must be by individual warrant made payable to the
227	student's parent and mailed by the Department of Education to
228	the private school of the parent's choice, and the parent shall
229	restrictively endorse the warrant to the private school for
230	deposit into the account of the private school.
231	(8) LIABILITY.--No liability shall arise on the part of
232	the state based on the award or use of a K-12 GI Bill.
233	(9) RULES.--The State Board of Education may adopt rules
234	pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to administer this
235	section. However, the inclusion of eligible private schools
236	within options available to Florida public school students does
237	not expand the regulatory authority of the state, its officers,
238	or any school district to impose any additional regulation of
239	private schools beyond those reasonably necessary to enforce
240	requirements expressly set forth in this section.
241	Section 2. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (6) of
242	section 1002.20, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
243	1002.20 K-12 student and parent rights.--Parents of public
244	school students must receive accurate and timely information
245	regarding their child's academic progress and must be informed
246	of ways they can help their child to succeed in school. K-12
247	students and their parents are afforded numerous statutory
248	rights including, but not limited to, the following:
249	(6) EDUCATIONAL CHOICE.--
250	(a) Public school choices.--Parents of public school
251	students may seek whatever public school choice options that are
252	applicable to their students and are available to students in
253	their school districts. These options may include controlled
254	open enrollment, lab schools, charter schools, charter technical
255	career centers, magnet schools, alternative schools, special
256	programs, advanced placement, dual enrollment, International
257	Baccalaureate, early admissions, credit by examination or
258	demonstration of competency, the New World School of the Arts,
259	the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, and the Florida
260	Virtual School. These options may also include the public school
261	choice options of the Opportunity Scholarship Program, andthe
262	McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program, and
263	the K-12 GI Bill Program.
264	(b) Private school choices.--Parents of public school
265	students may seek private school choice options under certain
266	programs.
267	1. Under the Opportunity Scholarship Program, the parent
268	of a student in a failing public school may request and receive
269	an opportunity scholarship for the student to attend a private
270	school in accordance with the provisions of s. 1002.38.
271	2. Under the McKay Scholarships for Students with
272	Disabilities Program, the parent of a public school student with
273	a disability who is dissatisfied with the student's progress may
274	request and receive a McKay Scholarship for the student to
275	attend a private school in accordance with the provisions of s.
276	1002.39.
277	3. Under the K-12 GI Bill Program, the parent of a public
278	school student who is a dependent of a Florida veteran or active
279	military personnel may request and receive a K-12 GI Bill for
280	the student to attend a private school in accordance with the
281	provisions of s. 1002.395.
282	4.3.Under the corporate income tax credit scholarship
283	program, the parent of a student who qualifies for free or
284	reduced-price school lunch may seek a scholarship from an
285	eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organization in
286	accordance with the provisions of s. 220.187.
287	Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.