Florida Senate - 2005 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 584
Barcode 353066
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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11 The Committee on Education (Wise) recommended the following
12 amendment:
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14 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
15 Delete everything after the enacting clause
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17 and insert:
18 Section 1. Subsections (1), (2), and (6) of section
19 1002.39, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
20 1002.39 The John M. McKay Scholarships for Students
21 with Disabilities Program.--There is established a program
22 that is separate and distinct from the Opportunity Scholarship
23 Program and is named the John M. McKay Scholarships for
24 Students with Disabilities Program, pursuant to this section.
25 (1) THE JOHN M. MCKAY SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STUDENTS WITH
26 DISABILITIES PROGRAM.--The John M. McKay Scholarships for
27 Students with Disabilities Program is established to provide
28 the option to attend a public school other than the one to
29 which assigned, or to provide a scholarship to a private
30 school of choice, for students with disabilities for whom an
31 individual education plan has been written in accordance with
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Florida Senate - 2005 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 584
Barcode 353066
1 rules of the State Board of Education. Students with
2 disabilities include K-12 students who are documented as
3 having mental retardation; a mentally handicapped, speech or
4 and language impairment; a impaired, deaf or hard of hearing
5 impairment, including deafness; a visual impairment, including
6 blindness; a visually impaired, dual sensory impairment; a
7 physical impairment; a serious emotional disturbance,
8 including an emotional handicap; a impaired, physically
9 impaired, emotionally handicapped, specific learning
10 disability, including, but not limited to, dyslexia,
11 dyscalculia, or developmental aphasia; a traumatic brain
12 injury; disabled, hospitalized or homebound, or autism
13 autistic.
14 (2) SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY.--The parent of a public
15 school student with a disability who is dissatisfied with the
16 student's progress may request and receive from the state a
17 John M. McKay Scholarship for the child to enroll in and
18 attend a private school in accordance with this section if:
19 (a) By assigned school attendance area or by special
20 assignment, The student has spent the prior school year in
21 attendance at a Florida public school or the Florida School
22 for the Deaf and the Blind. Prior school year in attendance
23 means that the student was:
24 1. Enrolled and reported by a school district for
25 funding during the preceding October and February Florida
26 Education Finance Program surveys in kindergarten through
27 grade 12, which shall include time spent in a Department of
28 Juvenile Justice commitment program if funded under the
29 Florida Education Finance Program; or
30 2. Enrolled and reported by the Florida School for the
31 Deaf and the Blind during the preceding October and February
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Florida Senate - 2005 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 584
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1 student membership surveys in kindergarten through grade 12.
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3 However, this paragraph does not apply to a dependent child of
4 a member of the United States Armed Forces who transfers to a
5 school in this state from out of state or from a foreign
6 country pursuant to a parent's permanent change of station
7 orders is exempt from this paragraph but. A dependent child of
8 a member of the United States Armed Forces who transfers to a
9 school in this state from out of state or from a foreign
10 country pursuant to a parent's permanent change of station
11 orders must meet all other eligibility requirements to
12 participate in the program.
13 (b) The parent has obtained acceptance for admission
14 of the student to a private school that is eligible for the
15 program under subsection (4) and has notified the school
16 district of the request for a scholarship at least 60 days
17 prior to the date of the first scholarship payment. The
18 parental notification must be through a communication directly
19 to the district or through the Department of Education to the
20 district in a manner that creates a written or electronic
21 record of the notification and the date of receipt of the
22 notification.
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24 This section does not apply to A student who is enrolled in a
25 school operating for the purpose of providing educational
26 services to youth in Department of Juvenile Justice commitment
27 programs shall not receive a John M. McKay Scholarship during
28 the period of time that he or she is enrolled in such school.
29 For purposes of continuity of educational choice, the
30 scholarship shall remain in force until the student returns to
31 a public school or graduates from high school. However, at any
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Florida Senate - 2005 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 584
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1 time, the student's parent may remove the student from the
2 private school and place the student in another private school
3 that is eligible for the program under subsection (4) or in a
4 public school as provided in subsection (3).
5 (6) SCHOLARSHIP FUNDING AND PAYMENT.--
6 (a)1. The maximum scholarship granted for an eligible
7 student with disabilities shall be a calculated amount
8 equivalent to the base student allocation in the Florida
9 Education Finance Program multiplied by the appropriate cost
10 factor for the educational program that would have been
11 provided for the student in the district school to which he or
12 she was assigned, multiplied by the district cost
13 differential.
14 2. In addition, a share of the guaranteed allocation
15 for exceptional students shall be determined and added to the
16 calculated amount. The calculation shall be based on the
17 methodology and the data used to calculate the guaranteed
18 allocation for exceptional students for each district in
19 chapter 2000-166, Laws of Florida. Except as provided in
20 subparagraphs subparagraph 3. and 4., the calculation shall be
21 based on the student's grade, matrix level of services, and
22 the difference between the 2000-2001 basic program and the
23 appropriate level of services cost factor, multiplied by the
24 2000-2001 base student allocation and the 2000-2001 district
25 cost differential for the sending district. Also, the
26 calculated amount shall include the per-student share of
27 supplemental academic instruction funds, instructional
28 materials funds, technology funds, and other categorical funds
29 as provided for such purposes in the General Appropriations
30 Act.
31 3. The calculated scholarship amount for a student who
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Florida Senate - 2005 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 584
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1 has spent the prior school year in attendance at the Florida
2 School for the Deaf and the Blind shall be calculated as
3 provided in subparagraphs 1. and 2. However, the calculation
4 shall be based on the school district in which the parent
5 resides at the time of the scholarship request.
6 4.3. Until the school district completes the matrix
7 required by paragraph (3)(b), the calculation shall be based
8 on the matrix that assigns the student to support level I of
9 service as it existed prior to the 2000-2001 school year. When
10 the school district completes the matrix, the amount of the
11 payment shall be adjusted as needed.
12 (b) The amount of the John M. McKay Scholarship shall
13 be the calculated amount or the amount of the private school's
14 tuition and fees, whichever is less. The amount of any
15 assessment fee required by the participating private school
16 may be paid from the total amount of the scholarship.
17 (c) If the participating private school requires
18 partial payment of tuition prior to the start of the academic
19 year to reserve space for students admitted to the school,
20 that partial payment may be paid by the Department of
21 Education prior to the first quarterly payment of the year in
22 which the John M. McKay Scholarship is awarded, up to a
23 maximum of $1,000, and deducted from subsequent scholarship
24 payments. If a student decides not to attend the participating
25 private school, the partial reservation payment must be
26 returned to the Department of Education by the participating
27 private school. There is a limit of one reservation payment
28 per student per year.
29 (c)(d)1. The school district shall report all students
30 who are attending a private school under this program. The
31 students with disabilities attending private schools on John
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Florida Senate - 2005 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 584
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1 M. McKay Scholarships shall be reported separately from other
2 students reported for purposes of the Florida Education
3 Finance Program.
4 2. For program participants who are eligible under
5 subparagraph (2)(a)2., the school district that is used as the
6 basis for the calculation of the scholarship amount as
7 provided in subparagraph (a)3. shall:
8 a. Report to the department all such students who are
9 attending a private school under this program.
10 b. Be held harmless for such students from the
11 weighted enrollment ceiling for group 2 programs in s.
12 1011.62(1)(d)3.a. during the first school year in which the
13 students are reported.
14 (d)(e) Following notification on July 1, September 1,
15 December 1, or February 1 of the number of program
16 participants, the department of Education shall transfer, from
17 General Revenue funds only, the amount calculated under
18 paragraph (b) from the school district's total funding
19 entitlement under the Florida Education Finance Program and
20 from authorized categorical accounts to a separate account for
21 the scholarship program for quarterly disbursement to the
22 parents of participating students. Funds may not be
23 transferred from any funding provided to the Florida School
24 for the Deaf and the Blind for program participants who are
25 eligible under subparagraph (2)(a)2. For a student exiting a
26 Department of Juvenile Justice commitment program who chooses
27 to participate in the scholarship program, the amount of the
28 John M. McKay Scholarship calculated pursuant to paragraph (b)
29 shall be transferred from the school district in which the
30 student last attended a public school prior to commitment to
31 the Department of Juvenile Justice. When a student enters the
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Florida Senate - 2005 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 584
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1 scholarship program, the department of Education must receive
2 all documentation required for the student's participation,
3 including the private school's and student's fee schedules, at
4 least 30 days before the first quarterly scholarship payment
5 is made for the student. The Department of Education may not
6 make any retroactive payments.
7 (e)(f) Upon proper documentation reviewed and approved
8 by the Department of Education, the Chief Financial Officer
9 shall make scholarship payments in four equal amounts no later
10 than September 1, November 1, February 1, and April 15 of each
11 academic year in which the scholarship is in force. The
12 initial payment shall be made after Department of Education
13 verification of admission acceptance, and subsequent payments
14 shall be made upon verification of continued enrollment and
15 attendance at the private school. Payment must be by
16 individual warrant made payable to the student's parent and
17 mailed by the Department of Education to the private school of
18 the parent's choice, and the parent shall restrictively
19 endorse the warrant to the private school for deposit into the
20 account of the private school.
21 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
22 law.
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25 ================ T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ===============
26 And the title is amended as follows:
27 Delete everything before the enacting clause
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29 and insert:
30 A bill to be entitled
31 An act relating to the John M. McKay
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Florida Senate - 2005 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 584
Barcode 353066
1 Scholarships for Students with Disabilities
2 Program; amending s. 1002.39, F.S.; revising
3 definition of the term "students with
4 disabilities"; revising student eligibility
5 requirements for receipt of a scholarship;
6 revising provisions relating to scholarship
7 funding and payment; providing funding and
8 payment requirements for former Florida School
9 for the Deaf and the Blind students and for
10 students exiting a Department of Juvenile
11 Justice program; providing an effective date.
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