HB 0093

CS

CHAMBER ACTION

1	The Choice & Innovation Committee recommends the following:
2
3	Council/Committee Substitute
4	Remove the entire bill and insert:
5	A bill to be entitled
6	An act relating to the John M. McKay Scholarships for
7	Students with Disabilities Program; amending s. 1002.39,
8	F.S.; revising definition of the term "students with
9	disabilities"; revising student eligibility requirements
10	for receipt of a scholarship; revising provisions relating
11	to scholarship funding and payment; providing funding and
12	payment requirements for former Florida School for the
13	Deaf and the Blind students and for students exiting a
14	Department of Juvenile Justice program; providing an
15	effective date.
16
17	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19	Section 1.  Subsections (1), (2), and (6) of section
20	1002.39, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
21	1002.39  The John M. McKay Scholarships for Students with
22	Disabilities Program.--There is established a program that is
23	separate and distinct from the Opportunity Scholarship Program
24	and is named the John M. McKay Scholarships for Students with
25	Disabilities Program, pursuant to this section.
26	(1)  THE JOHN M. MCKAY SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STUDENTS WITH
27	DISABILITIES PROGRAM.--The John M. McKay Scholarships for
28	Students with Disabilities Program is established to provide the
29	option to attend a public school other than the one to which
30	assigned, or to provide a scholarship to a private school of
31	choice, for students with disabilities for whom an individual
32	education plan has been written in accordance with rules of the
33	State Board of Education. Students with disabilities include K-
34	12 students who are documented as having mental retardation; a
35	mentally handicapped, speech or and language impairment; a
36	impaired, deaf or hard of hearing impairment, including
37	deafness; a visual impairment, including blindness; a visually
38	impaired, dual sensory impairment; a physical impairment; a
39	serious emotional disturbance, including an emotional handicap;
40	a impaired, physically impaired, emotionally handicapped,
41	specific learning disability, including, but not limited to,
42	dyslexia, dyscalculia, or developmental aphasia; a traumatic
43	brain injury; disabled, hospitalized or homebound, or autism
44	autistic.
45	(2)  SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY.--The parent of a public
46	school student with a disability who is dissatisfied with the
47	student's progress may request and receive from the state a John
48	M. McKay Scholarship for the child to enroll in and attend a
49	private school in accordance with this section if:
50	(a)  By assigned school attendance area or by special
51	assignment, The student has spent the prior school year in
52	attendance at a Florida public school or the Florida School for
53	the Deaf and the Blind. Prior school year in attendance means
54	that the student was:
55	1.  Enrolled and reported by a school district for funding
56	during the preceding October and February Florida Education
57	Finance Program surveys in kindergarten through grade 12, which
58	shall include time spent in a Department of Juvenile Justice
59	commitment program if funded under the Florida Education Finance
60	Program; or
61	2.  Enrolled and reported by the Florida School for the
62	Deaf and the Blind during the preceding October and February
63	student membership surveys in kindergarten through grade 12.
64
65	However, this paragraph does not apply to a dependent child of a
66	member of the United States Armed Forces who transfers to a
67	school in this state from out of state or from a foreign country
68	pursuant to a parent's permanent change of station orders is
69	exempt from this paragraph but. A dependent child of a member of
70	the United States Armed Forces who transfers to a school in this
71	state from out of state or from a foreign country pursuant to a
72	parent's permanent change of station orders must meet all other
73	eligibility requirements to participate in the program.
74	(b)  The parent has obtained acceptance for admission of
75	the student to a private school that is eligible for the program
76	under subsection (4) and has notified the school district of the
77	request for a scholarship at least 60 days prior to the date of
78	the first scholarship payment. The parental notification must be
79	through a communication directly to the district or through the
80	Department of Education to the district in a manner that creates
81	a written or electronic record of the notification and the date
82	of receipt of the notification.
83
84	This section does not apply to A student who is enrolled in a
85	school operating for the purpose of providing educational
86	services to youth in Department of Juvenile Justice commitment
87	programs shall not receive a John M. McKay Scholarship during
88	the period of time that he or she is enrolled in such school.
89	For purposes of continuity of educational choice, the
90	scholarship shall remain in force until the student returns to a
91	public school or graduates from high school. However, at any
92	time, the student's parent may remove the student from the
93	private school and place the student in another private school
94	that is eligible for the program under subsection (4) or in a
95	public school as provided in subsection (3).
96	(6)  SCHOLARSHIP FUNDING AND PAYMENT.--
97	(a)1.  The maximum scholarship granted for an eligible
98	student with disabilities shall be a calculated amount
99	equivalent to the base student allocation in the Florida
100	Education Finance Program multiplied by the appropriate cost
101	factor for the educational program that would have been provided
102	for the student in the district school to which he or she was
103	assigned, multiplied by the district cost differential.
104	2.  In addition, a share of the guaranteed allocation for
105	exceptional students shall be determined and added to the
106	calculated amount. The calculation shall be based on the
107	methodology and the data used to calculate the guaranteed
108	allocation for exceptional students for each district in chapter
109	2000-166, Laws of Florida. Except as provided in subparagraphs
110	subparagraph 3. and 4., the calculation shall be based on the
111	student's grade, matrix level of services, and the difference
112	between the 2000-2001 basic program and the appropriate level of
113	services cost factor, multiplied by the 2000-2001 base student
114	allocation and the 2000-2001 district cost differential for the
115	sending district. Also, the calculated amount shall include the
116	per-student share of supplemental academic instruction funds,
117	instructional materials funds, technology funds, and other
118	categorical funds as provided for such purposes in the General
119	Appropriations Act.
120	3.  The calculated scholarship amount for a student who has
121	spent the prior school year in attendance at the Florida School
122	for the Deaf and the Blind shall be calculated as provided in
123	subparagraphs 1. and 2. However, the calculation shall be based
124	on the school district in which the parent resides at the time
125	of the scholarship request.
126	4.3.  Until the school district completes the matrix
127	required by paragraph (3)(b), the calculation shall be based on
128	the matrix that assigns the student to support level I of
129	service as it existed prior to the 2000-2001 school year. When
130	the school district completes the matrix, the amount of the
131	payment shall be adjusted as needed.
132	(b)  The amount of the John M. McKay Scholarship shall be
133	the calculated amount or the amount of the private school's
134	tuition and fees, whichever is less. The amount of any
135	assessment fee required by the participating private school may
136	be paid from the total amount of the scholarship.
137	(c)  If the participating private school requires partial
138	payment of tuition prior to the start of the academic year to
139	reserve space for students admitted to the school, that partial
140	payment may be paid by the Department of Education prior to the
141	first quarterly payment of the year in which the John M. McKay
142	Scholarship is awarded, up to a maximum of $1,000, and deducted
143	from subsequent scholarship payments. If a student decides not
144	to attend the participating private school, the partial
145	reservation payment must be returned to the Department of
146	Education by the participating private school. There is a limit
147	of one reservation payment per student per year.
148	(c)(d)1.  The school district shall report all students who
149	are attending a private school under this program. The students
150	with disabilities attending private schools on John M. McKay
151	Scholarships shall be reported separately from other students
152	reported for purposes of the Florida Education Finance Program.
153	2.  For program participants who are eligible under
154	subparagraph (2)(a)2., the school district that is used as the
155	basis for the calculation of the scholarship amount as provided
156	in subparagraph (a)3. shall:
157	a.  Report to the department all such students who are
158	attending a private school under this program.
159	b.  Be held harmless for such students from the weighted
160	enrollment ceiling for group 2 programs in s. 1011.62(1)(d)3.a.
161	during the first school year in which the students are reported.
162	(d)(e)  Following notification on July 1, September 1,
163	December 1, or February 1 of the number of program participants,
164	the department of Education shall transfer, from General Revenue
165	funds only, the amount calculated under paragraph (b) from the
166	school district's total funding entitlement under the Florida
167	Education Finance Program and from authorized categorical
168	accounts to a separate account for the scholarship program for
169	quarterly disbursement to the parents of participating students.
170	Funds may not be transferred from any funding provided to the
171	Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind for program
172	participants who are eligible under subparagraph (2)(a)2. For a
173	student exiting a Department of Juvenile Justice commitment
174	program who chooses to participate in the scholarship program,
175	the amount of the John M. McKay Scholarship calculated pursuant
176	to paragraph (b) shall be transferred from the school district
177	in which the student last attended a public school prior to
178	commitment to the Department of Juvenile Justice. When a student
179	enters the scholarship program, the department of Education must
180	receive all documentation required for the student's
181	participation, including the private school's and student's fee
182	schedules, at least 30 days before the first quarterly
183	scholarship payment is made for the student. The Department of
184	Education may not make any retroactive payments.
185	(e)(f)  Upon proper documentation reviewed and approved by
186	the Department of Education, the Chief Financial Officer shall
187	make scholarship payments in four equal amounts no later than
188	September 1, November 1, February 1, and April 15 of each
189	academic year in which the scholarship is in force. The initial
190	payment shall be made after Department of Education verification
191	of admission acceptance, and subsequent payments shall be made
192	upon verification of continued enrollment and attendance at the
193	private school. Payment must be by individual warrant made
194	payable to the student's parent and mailed by the Department of
195	Education to the private school of the parent's choice, and the
196	parent shall restrictively endorse the warrant to the private
197	school for deposit into the account of the private school.
198	Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.