| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to education; amending ss. 218.39, |
| 3 | 1002.34, and 1004.99, F.S.; redesignating "technical |
| 4 | centers" as "technical colleges"; providing an effective |
| 5 | date. |
| 6 |
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| 7 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 8 |
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| 9 | Section 1. Paragraph (f) of subsection (1) of section |
| 10 | 218.39, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 11 | 218.39 Annual financial audit reports.-- |
| 12 | (1) If, by the first day in any fiscal year, a local |
| 13 | governmental entity, district school board, charter school, or |
| 14 | charter technical career center has not been notified that a |
| 15 | financial audit for that fiscal year will be performed by the |
| 16 | Auditor General, each of the following entities shall have an |
| 17 | annual financial audit of its accounts and records completed |
| 18 | within 12 months after the end of its fiscal year by an |
| 19 | independent certified public accountant retained by it and paid |
| 20 | from its public funds: |
| 21 | (f) Each charter technical college center established |
| 22 | under s. 1002.34. |
| 23 | Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) and subsections |
| 24 | (4) and (19) of section 1002.34, Florida Statutes, are amended |
| 25 | to read: |
| 26 | 1002.34 Charter technical career centers.-- |
| 27 | (3) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section, the term: |
| 28 | (a) "Charter technical career center" or "center" means a |
| 29 | public school or a public technical college center operated |
| 30 | under a charter granted by a district school board or community |
| 31 | college board of trustees or a consortium, including one or more |
| 32 | district school boards and community college boards of trustees, |
| 33 | that includes the district in which the facility is located, |
| 34 | that is nonsectarian in its programs, admission policies, |
| 35 | employment practices, and operations, and is managed by a board |
| 36 | of directors. |
| 37 | (4) CHARTER.--A sponsor may designate centers as provided |
| 38 | in this section. An application to establish a center may be |
| 39 | submitted by a sponsor or another organization that is |
| 40 | determined, by rule of the State Board of Education, to be |
| 41 | appropriate. However, an independent school is not eligible for |
| 42 | status as a center. The charter must be signed by the governing |
| 43 | body of the center and the sponsor, and must be approved by the |
| 44 | district school board and community college board of trustees in |
| 45 | whose geographic region the facility is located. If a charter |
| 46 | technical career center is established by the conversion to |
| 47 | charter status of a public technical college center formerly |
| 48 | governed by a district school board, the charter status of that |
| 49 | center takes precedence in any question of governance. The |
| 50 | governance of the center or of any program within the center |
| 51 | remains with its board of directors unless the board agrees to a |
| 52 | change in governance or its charter is revoked as provided in |
| 53 | subsection (15). Such a conversion charter technical career |
| 54 | center is not affected by a change in the governance of public |
| 55 | technical colleges centers or of programs within other centers |
| 56 | that are or have been governed by district school boards. A |
| 57 | charter technical career center, or any program within such a |
| 58 | center, that was governed by a district school board and |
| 59 | transferred to a community college prior to the effective date |
| 60 | of this act is not affected by this provision. An applicant who |
| 61 | wishes to establish a center must submit to the district school |
| 62 | board or community college board of trustees, or a consortium of |
| 63 | one or more of each, an application that includes: |
| 64 | (a) The name of the proposed center. |
| 65 | (b) The proposed structure of the center, including a list |
| 66 | of proposed members of the board of directors or a description |
| 67 | of the qualifications for and method of their appointment or |
| 68 | election. |
| 69 | (c) The workforce development goals of the center, the |
| 70 | curriculum to be offered, and the outcomes and the methods of |
| 71 | assessing the extent to which the outcomes are met. |
| 72 | (d) The admissions policy and criteria for evaluating the |
| 73 | admission of students. |
| 74 | (e) A description of the staff responsibilities and the |
| 75 | proposed qualifications of the teaching staff. |
| 76 | (f) A description of the procedures to be implemented to |
| 77 | ensure significant involvement of representatives of business |
| 78 | and industry in the operation of the center. |
| 79 | (g) A method for determining whether a student has |
| 80 | satisfied the requirements for graduation specified in s. |
| 81 | 1003.43 and for completion of a postsecondary certificate or |
| 82 | degree. |
| 83 | (h) A method for granting secondary and postsecondary |
| 84 | diplomas, certificates, and degrees. |
| 85 | (i) A description of and address for the physical facility |
| 86 | in which the center will be located. |
| 87 | (j) A method of resolving conflicts between the governing |
| 88 | body of the center and the sponsor and between consortium |
| 89 | members, if applicable. |
| 90 | (k) A method for reporting student data as required by law |
| 91 | and rule. |
| 92 | (l) Other information required by the district school |
| 93 | board or community college board of trustees. |
| 94 |
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| 95 | Students at a center must meet the same testing and academic |
| 96 | performance standards as those established by law and rule for |
| 97 | students at public schools and public technical colleges |
| 98 | centers. The students must also meet any additional assessment |
| 99 | indicators that are included within the charter approved by the |
| 100 | district school board or community college board of trustees. |
| 101 | (19) EVALUATION; REPORT.--The Commissioner of Education |
| 102 | shall provide for an annual comparative evaluation of charter |
| 103 | technical career centers and public technical colleges centers. |
| 104 | The evaluation may be conducted in cooperation with the sponsor, |
| 105 | through private contracts, or by department staff. At a |
| 106 | minimum, the comparative evaluation must address the demographic |
| 107 | and socioeconomic characteristics of the students served, the |
| 108 | types and costs of services provided, and the outcomes achieved. |
| 109 | By December 30 of each year, the Commissioner of Education |
| 110 | shall submit to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the |
| 111 | Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Senate and |
| 112 | House committees that have responsibility for secondary and |
| 113 | postsecondary career and technical education a report of the |
| 114 | comparative evaluation completed for the previous school year. |
| 115 | Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 1004.99, Florida |
| 116 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 117 | 1004.99 Florida Ready to Work Certification Program.-- |
| 118 | (2) The Florida Ready to Work Certification Program may be |
| 119 | conducted in public middle and high schools, community colleges, |
| 120 | technical colleges centers, one-stop career centers, vocational |
| 121 | rehabilitation centers, and Department of Juvenile Justice |
| 122 | educational facilities. The program may be made available to |
| 123 | other entities that provide job training. The Department of |
| 124 | Education shall establish institutional readiness criteria for |
| 125 | program implementation. |
| 126 | Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007. |