Senate Bill sb1028

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 1028

    By the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Services





    577-871B-05

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to public records; amending s.

  3         411.011, F.S.; specifying that the exemption

  4         from public-records requirements provided for

  5         records of children in school readiness

  6         programs applies to the personally identifiable

  7         records of children enrolled in the programs;

  8         extending the exemption to records held by

  9         certain contractors of early learning

10         coalitions; providing for future repeal and

11         legislative review of the exemption; providing

12         a statement of public necessity; providing an

13         effective date.

14  

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

16  

17         Section 1.  Section 411.011, Florida Statutes, as

18  amended by section 9 of chapter 2004-484, Laws of Florida, is

19  amended to read:

20         411.011  Records of children in school readiness

21  programs.--

22         (1)  The personally identifiable individual records of

23  children enrolled in school readiness programs provided under

24  s. 411.01, and any personal information contained in those

25  records when held in the possession of the early learning

26  coalition or the Agency for Workforce Innovation, are

27  confidential and exempt from s. 119.07 and s. 24(a), Art. I of

28  the State Constitution when held by any of the following

29  entities:.

30         (a)  The Agency for Workforce Innovation.

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 1028
    577-871B-05




 1         (b)  An early learning coalition established under s.

 2  411.01.

 3         (c)  The fiscal agent of an early learning coalition

 4  which is designated under s. 411.01(5)(f).

 5         (d)  A central agency or other entity performing duties

 6  assigned to an early learning coalition which are performed

 7  under contract with the coalition. For purposes of this

 8  section, records include assessment data, health data, records

 9  of teacher observations, and identifying data, including the

10  child's social security number.

11         (2)  A parent, guardian, or individual acting as a

12  parent in the absence of a parent or guardian has the right to

13  inspect and review the individual school readiness program

14  records record of his or her child and to obtain a copy of the

15  records record.

16         (3)  School readiness records may be released:

17         (a)  To the United States Secretary of Education, the

18  United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the

19  Comptroller General of the United States for the purpose of

20  federal audits;

21         (b)  To individuals or organizations conducting studies

22  for institutions to develop, validate, or administer

23  assessments or improve instruction;

24         (c)  To accrediting organizations in order to carry out

25  their accrediting functions;

26         (d)  To appropriate parties in connection with an

27  emergency if the information is necessary to protect the

28  health or safety of the child student or other individuals;

29         (e)  To the Auditor General in connection with his or

30  her official functions;

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 1028
    577-871B-05




 1         (f)  To a court of competent jurisdiction in compliance

 2  with an order of that court in accordance with a lawfully

 3  issued subpoena; and

 4         (g)  To parties to an interagency agreement among early

 5  learning coalitions, local governmental agencies, providers of

 6  school readiness programs, state agencies, and the Agency for

 7  Workforce Innovation for purposes the purpose of administering

 8  implementing the school readiness program.

 9         (4)  Agencies, organizations, or individuals that

10  receive school readiness records in order to carry out their

11  official functions must protect the data in a manner that does

12  not permit the personal identification of children or students

13  and their parents by persons other than those authorized to

14  receive the records.

15         (5)  This section is subject to the Open Government

16  Sunset Review Act of 1995 in accordance with s. 119.15 and

17  shall stand repealed on October 2, 2010 2005, unless reviewed

18  and saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.

19         Section 2.  (1)  The Legislature finds that:

20         (a)  The records of children enrolled in school

21  readiness programs contain sensitive personal information

22  about the children and that public disclosure of the records

23  would likely cause harm to children, including, but not

24  limited to, labeling and other social stigmas resulting from

25  the public disclosure of the sensitive personal information;

26  and

27         (b)  The content of these school-readiness records are

28  substantially similar to the content of educational records

29  for which a student has a right of privacy under federal law

30  and section 1002.22(3)(d), Florida Statutes.

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 1028
    577-871B-05




 1         (2)  The Legislature finds that public disclosure of

 2  these school-readiness records would jeopardize the safety of

 3  children by increasing the availability of information that

 4  could be used to endanger the safety of children, including

 5  their abduction.

 6         (3)  The Legislature further finds that it is a public

 7  necessity to ensure the privacy and safety of children

 8  enrolled in school readiness programs by keeping the

 9  personally identifiable records of the children, and any

10  personal information contained in those records, confidential

11  and exempt from public disclosure, whether the records are

12  held by the Agency for Workforce Innovation, an early learning

13  coalition, a coalition's fiscal agent, or a central agency or

14  other entity performing duties under contract with a

15  coalition.

16         Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

17  law.

18  

19            *****************************************

20                          SENATE SUMMARY

21    Revises the exemption from the public-records law
      provided for school-readiness records to specify that the
22    personally identifiable records of children enrolled in
      school readiness programs are exempt from disclosure.
23    Extends the exemption to records held by certain
      contractors of early learning coalitions. Provides for
24    future repeal and legislative review under the Open
      Government Sunset Review Act.
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