| 1 | The Committee on Education K-20 recommends the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Committee Substitute |
| 4 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 5 | A bill to be entitled |
| 6 | An act relating to student health and fitness; providing a |
| 7 | popular name; amending s. 1001.42, F.S.; requiring |
| 8 | district school boards to annually provide a student |
| 9 | health report to each parent; requiring school improvement |
| 10 | plans to address issues relative to student health and |
| 11 | fitness; requiring policies that encourage school site |
| 12 | decisionmaking relating to student health and fitness |
| 13 | standards; amending s. 1001.43, F.S.; allowing district |
| 14 | school boards to adopt policies regarding indoor |
| 15 | environmental quality; amending s. 1001.452, F.S.; |
| 16 | requiring each school advisory council to have a member |
| 17 | from a health care profession; providing for input on |
| 18 | composition of school advisory councils from health care |
| 19 | related professional organizations; requiring school |
| 20 | advisory councils to make recommendations each year on |
| 21 | ways to maintain or improve student health and fitness; |
| 22 | requiring district school boards to adopt a districtwide |
| 23 | plan on student health and fitness to be submitted to the |
| 24 | Department of Education; requiring the department to |
| 25 | conduct a study on student health and fitness; requiring |
| 26 | the department to develop and distribute support materials |
| 27 | to assist local implementation of programs to improve |
| 28 | student health and fitness; requiring the department to |
| 29 | report its findings to the Governor and the Legislature; |
| 30 | providing an effective date. |
| 31 |
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| 32 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 33 |
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| 34 | Section 1. Popular name.--This act shall be known by the |
| 35 | popular name the "Healthy Achievers Act." |
| 36 | Section 2. Paragraph (f) is added to subsection (15) of |
| 37 | section 1001.42, Florida Statutes, and paragraph (a) of |
| 38 | subsection (16) and paragraph (a) of subsection (17) of said |
| 39 | section are amended, to read: |
| 40 | 1001.42 Powers and duties of district school board.--The |
| 41 | district school board, acting as a board, shall exercise all |
| 42 | powers and perform all duties listed below: |
| 43 | (15) PUBLIC INFORMATION AND PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT |
| 44 | PROGRAM.-- |
| 45 | (f) Annually provide a student health report to each |
| 46 | parent. The report shall contain information as to whether the |
| 47 | student is overweight, at risk of becoming overweight, a healthy |
| 48 | weight, or underweight. The report shall include general health |
| 49 | information and district contact information. In preparing the |
| 50 | report, districts shall utilize the support materials and |
| 51 | information developed by the Department of Education pursuant to |
| 52 | section 5 of this act. |
| 53 | (16) IMPLEMENT SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT AND |
| 54 | ACCOUNTABILITY.--Maintain a system of school improvement and |
| 55 | Maintain a system of school improvement and education |
| 56 | accountability as provided by statute and State Board of |
| 57 | Education rule. This system of school improvement and education |
| 58 | accountability shall be consistent with, and implemented |
| 59 | through, the district's continuing system of planning and |
| 60 | budgeting required by this section and ss. 1008.385, 1010.01, |
| 61 | and 1011.01. This system of school improvement and education |
| 62 | accountability shall include, but is not limited to, the |
| 63 | following: |
| 64 | (a) School improvement plans.--Annually approve and |
| 65 | require implementation of a new, amended, or continuation school |
| 66 | improvement plan for each school in the district, except that a |
| 67 | district school board may establish a district school |
| 68 | improvement plan that includes all schools in the district |
| 69 | operating for the purpose of providing educational services to |
| 70 | youth in Department of Juvenile Justice programs. Such plan |
| 71 | shall be designed to achieve the state education priorities |
| 72 | pursuant to s. 1000.03(5) and student performance standards. |
| 73 | Each plan shall also address issues relative to budget, |
| 74 | training, instructional materials, technology, staffing, student |
| 75 | support services, specific school safety and discipline |
| 76 | strategies, student health and fitness, and other matters of |
| 77 | resource allocation, as determined by district school board |
| 78 | policy, and shall be based on an analysis of student achievement |
| 79 | and other school performance data. |
| 80 | (17) LOCAL-LEVEL DECISIONMAKING.-- |
| 81 | (a) Adopt policies that clearly encourage and enhance |
| 82 | maximum decisionmaking appropriate to the school site. Such |
| 83 | policies must include guidelines for schools in the adoption and |
| 84 | purchase of district and school site instructional materials and |
| 85 | technology, the implementation of student health and fitness |
| 86 | standards, staff training, school advisory council member |
| 87 | training, student support services, budgeting, and the |
| 88 | allocation of staff resources. |
| 89 | Section 3. Subsection (4) of section 1001.43, Florida |
| 90 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 91 | 1001.43 Supplemental powers and duties of district school |
| 92 | board.--The district school board may exercise the following |
| 93 | supplemental powers and duties as authorized by this code or |
| 94 | State Board of Education rule. |
| 95 | (4) FACILITIES MANAGEMENT.--The district school board may |
| 96 | adopt policies providing for management of the physical campus |
| 97 | and its environs, including, but not limited to, energy |
| 98 | conservation measures; indoor environmental quality; building |
| 99 | and ground maintenance; fencing, landscaping, and other property |
| 100 | improvements; site acquisition; new construction and renovation; |
| 101 | dedication and rededication or naming and renaming of district |
| 102 | buildings and other district facilities; and development of |
| 103 | facilities management planning and priorities. |
| 104 | Section 4. Section 1001.452, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 105 | to read: |
| 106 | 1001.452 District and school advisory councils.-- |
| 107 | (1) ESTABLISHMENT.-- |
| 108 | (a) The district school board shall establish an advisory |
| 109 | council for each school in the district and shall develop |
| 110 | procedures for the election and appointment of advisory council |
| 111 | members. Each school advisory council shall include in its name |
| 112 | the words "school advisory council." The school advisory council |
| 113 | shall be the sole body responsible for final decisionmaking at |
| 114 | the school relating to implementation of the provisions of ss. |
| 115 | 1001.42(16) and 1008.345. A majority of the members of each |
| 116 | school advisory council must be persons who are not employed by |
| 117 | the school. Each advisory council shall be composed of the |
| 118 | principal and an appropriately balanced number of teachers, |
| 119 | education support employees, students, parents, and other |
| 120 | business and community citizens, including at least one person |
| 121 | from a health care profession, who are representative of the |
| 122 | ethnic, racial, and economic community served by the school. |
| 123 | Technical center and high school advisory councils shall include |
| 124 | students, and middle and junior high school advisory councils |
| 125 | may include students. School advisory councils of technical and |
| 126 | adult education centers are not required to include parents as |
| 127 | members. Council members representing teachers, education |
| 128 | support employees, students, and parents shall be elected by |
| 129 | their respective peer groups at the school in a fair and |
| 130 | equitable manner as follows: |
| 131 | 1. Teachers shall be elected by teachers. |
| 132 | 2. Education support employees shall be elected by |
| 133 | education support employees. |
| 134 | 3. Students shall be elected by students. |
| 135 | 4. Parents shall be elected by parents. |
| 136 |
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| 137 | The district school board shall establish procedures for use by |
| 138 | schools in selecting business and community members that include |
| 139 | means of ensuring wide notice of vacancies and of taking input |
| 140 | on possible members from local business, chambers of commerce, |
| 141 | community and civic organizations and groups, health care |
| 142 | related professional organizations, and the public at large. The |
| 143 | district school board shall review the membership composition of |
| 144 | each advisory council. If the district school board determines |
| 145 | that the membership elected by the school is not representative |
| 146 | of the ethnic, racial, and economic community served by the |
| 147 | school, the district school board shall appoint additional |
| 148 | members to achieve proper representation. The commissioner shall |
| 149 | determine if schools have maximized their efforts to include on |
| 150 | their advisory councils minority persons and persons of lower |
| 151 | socioeconomic status. Although schools are strongly encouraged |
| 152 | to establish school advisory councils, the district school board |
| 153 | of any school district that has a student population of 10,000 |
| 154 | or fewer may establish a district advisory council which shall |
| 155 | include at least one duly elected teacher from each school in |
| 156 | the district. For the purposes of school advisory councils and |
| 157 | district advisory councils, the term "teacher" shall include |
| 158 | classroom teachers, certified student services personnel, and |
| 159 | media specialists. For purposes of this paragraph, "education |
| 160 | support employee" means any person employed by a school who is |
| 161 | not defined as instructional or administrative personnel |
| 162 | pursuant to s. 1012.01 and whose duties require 20 or more hours |
| 163 | in each normal working week. |
| 164 | (b) The district school board may establish a district |
| 165 | advisory council representative of the district and composed of |
| 166 | teachers, students, parents, and other citizens or a district |
| 167 | advisory council that may be comprised of representatives of |
| 168 | each school advisory council. Recognized schoolwide support |
| 169 | groups that meet all criteria established by law or rule may |
| 170 | function as school advisory councils. |
| 171 | (c) For those schools operating for the purpose of |
| 172 | providing educational services to youth in Department of |
| 173 | Juvenile Justice programs, district school boards may establish |
| 174 | a district advisory council with appropriate representatives for |
| 175 | the purpose of developing and monitoring a district school |
| 176 | improvement plan that encompasses all such schools in the |
| 177 | district, pursuant to s. 1001.42(16)(a). |
| 178 | (d) Each school advisory council shall adopt bylaws |
| 179 | establishing procedures for: |
| 180 | 1. Requiring a quorum to be present before a vote may be |
| 181 | taken by the school advisory council. A majority of the |
| 182 | membership of the council constitutes a quorum. |
| 183 | 2. Requiring at least 3 days' advance notice in writing to |
| 184 | all members of the advisory council of any matter that is |
| 185 | scheduled to come before the council for a vote. |
| 186 | 3. Scheduling meetings when parents, students, teachers, |
| 187 | businesspersons, and members of the community can attend. |
| 188 | 4. Replacing any member who has two unexcused consecutive |
| 189 | absences from a school advisory council meeting that is noticed |
| 190 | according to the procedures in the bylaws. |
| 191 | 5. Recording minutes of meetings. |
| 192 |
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| 193 | The district school board may review all proposed bylaws of a |
| 194 | school advisory council and shall maintain a record of minutes |
| 195 | of council meetings. |
| 196 | (2) GENERAL DUTIES.--Each school advisory council shall: |
| 197 | (a) Perform such functions as are prescribed by |
| 198 | regulations of the district school board; however, no advisory |
| 199 | council shall have any of the powers and duties now reserved by |
| 200 | law to the district school board. |
| 201 | (b) Each school advisory council shall Assist in the |
| 202 | preparation and evaluation of the school improvement plan |
| 203 | required pursuant to s. 1001.42(16). |
| 204 | (c) Make recommendations by March 1 of each year to |
| 205 | maintain or improve student health and fitness. During the |
| 206 | recommendation process, a public meeting shall be held by each |
| 207 | advisory council to give parents an opportunity to express ideas |
| 208 | or concerns about the school's role in, or effect on, student |
| 209 | health and fitness. When making recommendations, consideration |
| 210 | shall be given to, but not limited to, the following areas: |
| 211 | 1. Nutrition.--Issues affecting student nutrition, |
| 212 | including the school food service program offerings, use of food |
| 213 | of minimal nutritional value as classroom incentives or as |
| 214 | fundraisers, vending machine contents and hours of availability, |
| 215 | and the level of nutrition education in the curriculum. |
| 216 | 2. Physical fitness.--Opportunities to increase student |
| 217 | fitness, including the content, length, and frequency of |
| 218 | physical education classes and recesses; activity requirements |
| 219 | of before school, after school, and summer school programs; |
| 220 | school participation in organized activity programs that include |
| 221 | regular monitoring and assessment of student fitness; and the |
| 222 | use of school grounds as public parks. |
| 223 | 3. Parental information.--The needs of parents to have a |
| 224 | source of information about the health and fitness status of |
| 225 | their children. |
| 226 | 4. Indoor environmental quality.--The need or desirability |
| 227 | of having regular indoor environmental quality inspections or |
| 228 | establishing indoor environmental quality standards. |
| 229 |
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| 230 | The advisory council's recommendations shall be distributed to |
| 231 | the school's parents and principal and submitted to the district |
| 232 | school board. The district school board, using advisory council |
| 233 | recommendations, shall develop a districtwide plan to address |
| 234 | student health and fitness. The presence of a districtwide plan |
| 235 | does not preclude a school from implementing recommendations |
| 236 | from its advisory council if the school would otherwise have the |
| 237 | authority to take the recommended action. By May 1 of each year, |
| 238 | the district school board shall submit the districtwide student |
| 239 | health and fitness plan to the department. |
| 240 | (3) BUDGET DUTIES.--With technical assistance from the |
| 241 | Department of Education, each school advisory council shall |
| 242 | assist in the preparation of the school's annual budget and plan |
| 243 | as required by s. 1008.385(1). A portion of funds provided in |
| 244 | the annual General Appropriations Act for use by school advisory |
| 245 | councils must be used for implementing the school improvement |
| 246 | plan. |
| 247 | Section 5. (1) The Department of Education shall conduct |
| 248 | a study to gather information concerning student health and |
| 249 | fitness in each school district and develop support materials |
| 250 | school districts or individual schools could use to improve |
| 251 | student health and fitness through local action. |
| 252 | (2) The study shall include an examination of: |
| 253 | (a) The average length and frequency of physical education |
| 254 | classes in elementary, middle, and high school, respectively, by |
| 255 | school district. |
| 256 | (b) The percent of physical education classes taught by |
| 257 | certified physical education instructors. |
| 258 | (c) The degree to which individual schools within a school |
| 259 | district are allowed to add to or modify district physical |
| 260 | education requirements. |
| 261 | (d) The availability of fitness assessment programs, like |
| 262 | the President's Challenge Physical Fitness Program, which could |
| 263 | be adopted by schools or entire school districts to provide |
| 264 | feedback on and encourage student fitness. |
| 265 | (e) Methods of providing feedback to a parent through a |
| 266 | student health report that would summarize a student's health |
| 267 | and fitness. |
| 268 | (3) By December 1, 2004, the department shall develop |
| 269 | support materials and distribute them to each school district to |
| 270 | enable implementation of fitness assessment programs recommended |
| 271 | pursuant to s. 1001.452(2)(c), Florida Statutes, or student |
| 272 | health reports required pursuant to s. 1001.42(15)(f), Florida |
| 273 | Statutes. The support materials shall include the necessary |
| 274 | instructions, procedures, and forms to implement and |
| 275 | successfully administer the programs or reports. The department |
| 276 | may develop and distribute other support or informational |
| 277 | materials it determines may assist schools or school districts |
| 278 | to improve student health and fitness through local action. |
| 279 | (4) The Department of Education shall report the results |
| 280 | of the study to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and |
| 281 | the Speaker of the House of Representatives by December 1, 2004. |
| 282 | The report shall include results of the study, any identified |
| 283 | barriers to local action to improve student health and fitness, |
| 284 | and any recommendations based upon the study that would require |
| 285 | funding or statutory changes. |
| 286 | Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2004. |