| 1 | The Education Council recommends the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Council/Committee Substitute |
| 4 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 5 | A bill to be entitled |
| 6 | An act relating to the public school grading system; |
| 7 | amending s. 1008.34, F.S.; adding certain feeder pattern |
| 8 | schools to list of schools receiving a school grade; |
| 9 | prescribing circumstances in which a feeder pattern |
| 10 | exists; amending s. 1002.38, F.S.; allowing students |
| 11 | served by certain feeder pattern schools to participate in |
| 12 | the Opportunity Scholarship Program; amending s. 1008.36, |
| 13 | F.S.; allowing certain feeder pattern schools to |
| 14 | participate in the Florida School Recognition Program; |
| 15 | providing an effective date. |
| 16 |
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| 17 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 18 |
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| 19 | Section 1. Subsection (3) of section 1008.34, Florida |
| 20 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 21 | 1008.34 School grading system; district performance |
| 22 | grade.-- |
| 23 | (3) DESIGNATION OF SCHOOL PERFORMANCE GRADE CATEGORIES.--A |
| 24 | school that serves any combination of students in kindergarten |
| 25 | through grade 3 that does not receive a school grade because its |
| 26 | students are not tested and included in the school grading |
| 27 | system shall receive the school grade designation of a feeder |
| 28 | pattern school identified by the Department of Education and |
| 29 | verified by the school district. A school feeder pattern exists |
| 30 | if at least 60 percent of the students in the school serving a |
| 31 | combination of students in kindergarten through grade 3 are |
| 32 | scheduled to be assigned to the graded school. School |
| 33 | performance grade category designations itemized in subsection |
| 34 | (2) shall be based on the following: |
| 35 | (a) Timeframes.-- |
| 36 | 1. School performance grade category designations shall be |
| 37 | based on the school's current year performance and the school's |
| 38 | annual learning gains. |
| 39 | 2. A school's performance grade category designation shall |
| 40 | be based on a combination of student achievement scores, student |
| 41 | learning gains as measured by annual FCAT assessments in grades |
| 42 | 3 through 10, and improvement of the lowest 25th percentile of |
| 43 | students in the school in reading, math, or writing on the FCAT, |
| 44 | unless these students are performing above satisfactory |
| 45 | performance. |
| 46 | (b) Student assessment data.--Student assessment data used |
| 47 | in determining school performance grade categories shall |
| 48 | include: |
| 49 | 1. The aggregate scores of all eligible students enrolled |
| 50 | in the school who have been assessed on the FCAT. |
| 51 | 2. The aggregate scores of all eligible students enrolled |
| 52 | in the school who have been assessed on the FCAT, including |
| 53 | Florida Writes, and who have scored at or in the lowest 25th |
| 54 | percentile of students in the school in reading, math, or |
| 55 | writing, unless these students are performing above satisfactory |
| 56 | performance. |
| 57 |
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| 58 | The Department of Education shall study the effects of mobility |
| 59 | on the performance of highly mobile students and recommend |
| 60 | programs to improve the performance of such students. The State |
| 61 | Board of Education shall adopt appropriate criteria for each |
| 62 | school performance grade category. The criteria must also give |
| 63 | added weight to student achievement in reading. Schools |
| 64 | designated as performance grade category "C," making |
| 65 | satisfactory progress, shall be required to demonstrate that |
| 66 | adequate progress has been made by students in the school who |
| 67 | are in the lowest 25th percentile in reading, math, or writing |
| 68 | on the FCAT, including Florida Writes, unless these students are |
| 69 | performing above satisfactory performance. |
| 70 | Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) and paragraphs |
| 71 | (a) and (b) of subsection (3) of section 1002.38, Florida |
| 72 | Statutes, are amended to read: |
| 73 | 1002.38 Opportunity Scholarship Program.-- |
| 74 | (2) OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY.--A public school |
| 75 | student's parent may request and receive from the state an |
| 76 | opportunity scholarship for the student to enroll in and attend |
| 77 | a private school in accordance with the provisions of this |
| 78 | section if: |
| 79 | (a)1. By assigned school attendance area or by special |
| 80 | assignment, the student has spent the prior school year in |
| 81 | attendance at a public school, including a K-3 feeder pattern |
| 82 | school, that has been designated pursuant to s. 1008.34 as |
| 83 | performance grade category "F," failing to make adequate |
| 84 | progress, and that has had 2 school years in a 4-year period of |
| 85 | such low performance, and the student's attendance occurred |
| 86 | during a school year in which such designation was in effect; |
| 87 | 2. The student has been in attendance elsewhere in the |
| 88 | public school system and has been assigned to such school for |
| 89 | the next school year; or |
| 90 | 3. The student is entering kindergarten or first grade and |
| 91 | has been notified that the student has been assigned to such |
| 92 | school for the next school year. |
| 93 |
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| 94 | The provisions of this section shall not apply to a student who |
| 95 | is enrolled in a school operating for the purpose of providing |
| 96 | educational services to youth in Department of Juvenile Justice |
| 97 | commitment programs. For purposes of continuity of educational |
| 98 | choice, the opportunity scholarship shall remain in force until |
| 99 | the student returns to a public school or, if the student |
| 100 | chooses to attend a private school the highest grade of which is |
| 101 | grade 8, until the student matriculates to high school and the |
| 102 | public high school to which the student is assigned is an |
| 103 | accredited school with a performance grade category designation |
| 104 | of "C" or better. However, at any time upon reasonable notice to |
| 105 | the Department of Education and the school district, the |
| 106 | student's parent may remove the student from the private school |
| 107 | and place the student in a public school, as provided in |
| 108 | subparagraph (3)(a)2. |
| 109 | (3) SCHOOL DISTRICT OBLIGATIONS.-- |
| 110 | (a) A school district shall, for each student enrolled in |
| 111 | or assigned to a school, including a K-3 feeder pattern school, |
| 112 | that has been designated as performance grade category "F" for 2 |
| 113 | school years in a 4-year period: |
| 114 | 1. Timely notify the parent of the student as soon as such |
| 115 | designation is made of all options available pursuant to this |
| 116 | section. |
| 117 | 2. Offer that student's parent an opportunity to enroll |
| 118 | the student in the public school within the district that has |
| 119 | been designated by the state pursuant to s. 1008.34 as a school |
| 120 | performing higher than that in which the student is currently |
| 121 | enrolled or to which the student has been assigned, but not less |
| 122 | than performance grade category "C." The parent is not required |
| 123 | to accept this offer in lieu of requesting a state opportunity |
| 124 | scholarship to a private school. The opportunity to continue |
| 125 | attending the higher performing public school shall remain in |
| 126 | force until the student graduates from high school. |
| 127 | (b) The parent of a student enrolled in or assigned to a |
| 128 | school, including a K-3 feeder pattern school, that has been |
| 129 | designated performance grade category "F" for 2 school years in |
| 130 | a 4-year period may choose as an alternative to enroll the |
| 131 | student in and transport the student to a higher-performing |
| 132 | public school that has available space in an adjacent school |
| 133 | district, and that school district shall accept the student and |
| 134 | report the student for purposes of the district's funding |
| 135 | pursuant to the Florida Education Finance Program. |
| 136 | Section 3. Subsection (3) of section 1008.36, Florida |
| 137 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 138 | 1008.36 Florida School Recognition Program.-- |
| 139 | (3) All public schools, including charter schools and K-3 |
| 140 | feeder pattern schools, that receive a school grade pursuant to |
| 141 | s. 1008.34 are eligible to participate in the program. |
| 142 |
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| 143 | Notwithstanding statutory provisions to the contrary, incentive |
| 144 | awards are not subject to collective bargaining. |
| 145 | Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006. |