Senate Bill sb0584c1

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    Florida Senate - 2005                            CS for SB 584

    By the Committee on Education; and Senator Jones





    581-2161-05

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the John M. McKay

  3         Scholarships for Students with Disabilities

  4         Program; amending s. 1002.39, F.S.; revising

  5         definition of the term "students with

  6         disabilities"; revising student eligibility

  7         requirements for receipt of a scholarship;

  8         revising provisions relating to scholarship

  9         funding and payment; providing funding and

10         payment requirements for former Florida School

11         for the Deaf and the Blind students and for

12         students exiting a Department of Juvenile

13         Justice program; providing an effective date.

14  

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

16  

17         Section 1.  Subsections (1), (2), and (6) of section

18  1002.39, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:

19         1002.39  The John M. McKay Scholarships for Students

20  with Disabilities Program.--There is established a program

21  that is separate and distinct from the Opportunity Scholarship

22  Program and is named the John M. McKay Scholarships for

23  Students with Disabilities Program, pursuant to this section.

24         (1)  THE JOHN M. MCKAY SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STUDENTS WITH

25  DISABILITIES PROGRAM.--The John M. McKay Scholarships for

26  Students with Disabilities Program is established to provide

27  the option to attend a public school other than the one to

28  which assigned, or to provide a scholarship to a private

29  school of choice, for students with disabilities for whom an

30  individual education plan has been written in accordance with

31  rules of the State Board of Education. Students with

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    Florida Senate - 2005                            CS for SB 584
    581-2161-05




 1  disabilities include K-12 students who are documented as

 2  having mental retardation; a mentally handicapped, speech or

 3  and language impairment; a impaired, deaf or hard of hearing

 4  impairment, including deafness; a visual impairment, including

 5  blindness; a visually impaired, dual sensory impairment; a

 6  physical impairment; a serious emotional disturbance,

 7  including an emotional handicap; a impaired, physically

 8  impaired, emotionally handicapped, specific learning

 9  disability, including, but not limited to, dyslexia,

10  dyscalculia, or developmental aphasia; a traumatic brain

11  injury; disabled, hospitalized or homebound, or autism

12  autistic.

13         (2)  SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY.--The parent of a public

14  school student with a disability who is dissatisfied with the

15  student's progress may request and receive from the state a

16  John M. McKay Scholarship for the child to enroll in and

17  attend a private school in accordance with this section if:

18         (a)  By assigned school attendance area or by special

19  assignment, The student has spent the prior school year in

20  attendance at a Florida public school or the Florida School

21  for the Deaf and the Blind. Prior school year in attendance

22  means that the student was:

23         1.  Enrolled and reported by a school district for

24  funding during the preceding October and February Florida

25  Education Finance Program surveys in kindergarten through

26  grade 12, which shall include time spent in a Department of

27  Juvenile Justice commitment program if funded under the

28  Florida Education Finance Program; or

29         2.  Enrolled and reported by the Florida School for the

30  Deaf and the Blind during the preceding October and February

31  student membership surveys in kindergarten through grade 12.

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    Florida Senate - 2005                            CS for SB 584
    581-2161-05




 1  

 2  However, this paragraph does not apply to a dependent child of

 3  a member of the United States Armed Forces who transfers to a

 4  school in this state from out of state or from a foreign

 5  country pursuant to a parent's permanent change of station

 6  orders is exempt from this paragraph but. A dependent child of

 7  a member of the United States Armed Forces who transfers to a

 8  school in this state from out of state or from a foreign

 9  country pursuant to a parent's permanent change of station

10  orders must meet all other eligibility requirements to

11  participate in the program.

12         (b)  The parent has obtained acceptance for admission

13  of the student to a private school that is eligible for the

14  program under subsection (4) and has notified the school

15  district of the request for a scholarship at least 60 days

16  prior to the date of the first scholarship payment. The

17  parental notification must be through a communication directly

18  to the district or through the Department of Education to the

19  district in a manner that creates a written or electronic

20  record of the notification and the date of receipt of the

21  notification.

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23  This section does not apply to A student who is enrolled in a

24  school operating for the purpose of providing educational

25  services to youth in Department of Juvenile Justice commitment

26  programs shall not receive a John M. McKay Scholarship during

27  the period of time that he or she is enrolled in such school.

28  For purposes of continuity of educational choice, the

29  scholarship shall remain in force until the student returns to

30  a public school or graduates from high school. However, at any

31  time, the student's parent may remove the student from the

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    Florida Senate - 2005                            CS for SB 584
    581-2161-05




 1  private school and place the student in another private school

 2  that is eligible for the program under subsection (4) or in a

 3  public school as provided in subsection (3).

 4         (6)  SCHOLARSHIP FUNDING AND PAYMENT.--

 5         (a)1.  The maximum scholarship granted for an eligible

 6  student with disabilities shall be a calculated amount

 7  equivalent to the base student allocation in the Florida

 8  Education Finance Program multiplied by the appropriate cost

 9  factor for the educational program that would have been

10  provided for the student in the district school to which he or

11  she was assigned, multiplied by the district cost

12  differential.

13         2.  In addition, a share of the guaranteed allocation

14  for exceptional students shall be determined and added to the

15  calculated amount. The calculation shall be based on the

16  methodology and the data used to calculate the guaranteed

17  allocation for exceptional students for each district in

18  chapter 2000-166, Laws of Florida. Except as provided in

19  subparagraphs subparagraph 3. and 4., the calculation shall be

20  based on the student's grade, matrix level of services, and

21  the difference between the 2000-2001 basic program and the

22  appropriate level of services cost factor, multiplied by the

23  2000-2001 base student allocation and the 2000-2001 district

24  cost differential for the sending district. Also, the

25  calculated amount shall include the per-student share of

26  supplemental academic instruction funds, instructional

27  materials funds, technology funds, and other categorical funds

28  as provided for such purposes in the General Appropriations

29  Act.

30         3.  The calculated scholarship amount for a student who

31  has spent the prior school year in attendance at the Florida

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    Florida Senate - 2005                            CS for SB 584
    581-2161-05




 1  School for the Deaf and the Blind shall be calculated as

 2  provided in subparagraphs 1. and 2. However, the calculation

 3  shall be based on the school district in which the parent

 4  resides at the time of the scholarship request.

 5         4.3.  Until the school district completes the matrix

 6  required by paragraph (3)(b), the calculation shall be based

 7  on the matrix that assigns the student to support level I of

 8  service as it existed prior to the 2000-2001 school year. When

 9  the school district completes the matrix, the amount of the

10  payment shall be adjusted as needed.

11         (b)  The amount of the John M. McKay Scholarship shall

12  be the calculated amount or the amount of the private school's

13  tuition and fees, whichever is less. The amount of any

14  assessment fee required by the participating private school

15  may be paid from the total amount of the scholarship.

16         (c)  If the participating private school requires

17  partial payment of tuition prior to the start of the academic

18  year to reserve space for students admitted to the school,

19  that partial payment may be paid by the Department of

20  Education prior to the first quarterly payment of the year in

21  which the John M. McKay Scholarship is awarded, up to a

22  maximum of $1,000, and deducted from subsequent scholarship

23  payments. If a student decides not to attend the participating

24  private school, the partial reservation payment must be

25  returned to the Department of Education by the participating

26  private school. There is a limit of one reservation payment

27  per student per year.

28         (c)1.(d)  The school district shall report all students

29  who are attending a private school under this program. The

30  students with disabilities attending private schools on John

31  M. McKay Scholarships shall be reported separately from other

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    Florida Senate - 2005                            CS for SB 584
    581-2161-05




 1  students reported for purposes of the Florida Education

 2  Finance Program.

 3         2.  For program participants who are eligible under

 4  subparagraph (2)(a)2., the school district that is used as the

 5  basis for the calculation of the scholarship amount as

 6  provided in subparagraph (a)3. shall:

 7         a.  Report to the department all such students who are

 8  attending a private school under this program.

 9         b.  Be held harmless for such students from the

10  weighted enrollment ceiling for group 2 programs in s.

11  1011.62(1)(d)3.a. during the first school year in which the

12  students are reported.

13         (d)(e)  Following notification on July 1, September 1,

14  December 1, or February 1 of the number of program

15  participants, the department of Education shall transfer, from

16  General Revenue funds only, the amount calculated under

17  paragraph (b) from the school district's total funding

18  entitlement under the Florida Education Finance Program and

19  from authorized categorical accounts to a separate account for

20  the scholarship program for quarterly disbursement to the

21  parents of participating students. Funds may not be

22  transferred from any funding provided to the Florida School

23  for the Deaf and the Blind for program participants who are

24  eligible under subparagraph (2)(a)2. For a student exiting a

25  Department of Juvenile Justice commitment program who chooses

26  to participate in the scholarship program, the amount of the

27  John M. McKay Scholarship calculated pursuant to paragraph (b)

28  shall be transferred from the school district in which the

29  student last attended a public school prior to commitment to

30  the Department of Juvenile Justice. When a student enters the

31  scholarship program, the department of Education must receive

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    Florida Senate - 2005                            CS for SB 584
    581-2161-05




 1  all documentation required for the student's participation,

 2  including the private school's and student's fee schedules, at

 3  least 30 days before the first quarterly scholarship payment

 4  is made for the student. The Department of Education may not

 5  make any retroactive payments.

 6         (e)(f)  Upon proper documentation reviewed and approved

 7  by the Department of Education, the Chief Financial Officer

 8  shall make scholarship payments in four equal amounts no later

 9  than September 1, November 1, February 1, and April 15 of each

10  academic year in which the scholarship is in force. The

11  initial payment shall be made after Department of Education

12  verification of admission acceptance, and subsequent payments

13  shall be made upon verification of continued enrollment and

14  attendance at the private school. Payment must be by

15  individual warrant made payable to the student's parent and

16  mailed by the Department of Education to the private school of

17  the parent's choice, and the parent shall restrictively

18  endorse the warrant to the private school for deposit into the

19  account of the private school.

20         Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

21  law.

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    Florida Senate - 2005                            CS for SB 584
    581-2161-05




 1          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
 2                         Senate Bill 584

 3                                 

 4  The committee substitute makes the following changes:

 5       -Revises the definition of a student with a disability to
         include K-12 students who are documented as having mental
 6       retardation; a speech or language impairment; a hearing
         impairment, including deafness; a visual impairment,
 7       including blindness; a dual sensory impairment; a
         physical impairment; a serious emotional disturbance,
 8       including an emotional handicap; a specific learning
         disability, including, but not limited to, dyslexia,
 9       dyscalculia, or developmental aphasia; a traumatic brain
         injury; or autism.
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         -Provides for the eligibility of students from the
11       Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind for McKay
         Scholarships, the method for calculating the scholarship
12       amount, and the reporting requirements for school
         districts.
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         -Revises the requirement for "prior school year in
14       attendance at a Florida public school" to include time
         spent by students in a Department of Juvenile Justice
15       commitment program that is funded under the Florida
         Education Finance Program.
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         -Revises the requirement that prior school year in
17       attendance must be at an assigned school.

18       -Eliminates the provision authorizing partial payment of
         tuition.
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