Amendment
Bill No. 0461
Amendment No. 230899
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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1Representative(s) Pickens offered the following:
2
3     Amendment to Senate Amendment (935344) (with title
4amendment)
5     On page 1, line 17, through page 14, line 8, remove all of
6said lines and insert:
7     Section 1.  Effective August 1, 2008, subsections (1)
8through (8) of section 1006.20, Florida Statutes, are amended to
9read:
10     1006.20  Athletics in public K-12 schools.--
11     (1)  GOVERNING NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.--The Florida High
12School Athletic Association is designated as the governing
13nonprofit organization of athletics in Florida public schools.
14If the Florida High School Athletic Association fails to comply
15with meet the provisions of this section, the Commissioner of
16Education shall designate a nonprofit organization to govern
17athletics with the approval of the State Board of Education. The
18organization is not to be a state agency as defined in s.
19120.52. The organization is shall be subject to the provisions
20of s. 1006.19. A nonpublic private school that wishes to engage
21in high school athletic competition with a public high school
22may become a member of the organization. The bylaws of the
23organization are to be the rules by which high school athletic
24programs in its member schools, and the students who participate
25in them, are governed, unless otherwise specifically provided by
26law statute. For the purposes of this section, "high school"
27includes grades 6 through 12.
28     (2)  ADOPTION OF BYLAWS.--
29     (a)  The organization shall adopt bylaws that, unless
30specifically provided by law statute, establish eligibility
31requirements for all students who participate in high school
32athletic competition in its member schools. The bylaws governing
33residence and transfer shall allow a the student to be eligible
34in the school in which he or she first enrolls each school year,
35or makes himself or herself a candidate for an athletic team by
36engaging in a practice before prior to enrolling in any member
37school. The student is shall be eligible in that school so long
38as he or she remains enrolled in that school. Subsequent
39eligibility shall be determined and enforced through the
40organization's bylaws.
41     (b)  The organization shall adopt bylaws that specifically
42prohibit the recruiting of students for athletic purposes. The
43bylaws shall prescribe penalties and an appeals process for
44athletic recruiting violations.
45     (c)  The organization shall adopt bylaws that require all
46students participating in interscholastic athletic competition
47or who are candidates for an interscholastic athletic team to
48satisfactorily pass a medical evaluation each year before prior
49to participating in interscholastic athletic competition or
50engaging in any practice, tryout, workout, or other physical
51activity associated with the student's candidacy for an
52interscholastic athletic team. Such medical evaluation can only
53be administered by a practitioner licensed under the provisions
54of chapter 458, chapter 459, chapter 460, or s. 464.012, and in
55good standing with the practitioner's regulatory board. The
56bylaws shall establish requirements for eliciting a student's
57medical history and performing the medical evaluation required
58under this paragraph, which shall include a physical assessment
59of the student's physical capabilities to participate in
60interscholastic athletic competition as contained in a uniform
61preparticipation physical evaluation and history form. The
62evaluation form shall incorporate the recommendations of the
63American Heart Association for participation cardiovascular
64screening and shall provide a place for the signature of the
65practitioner performing the evaluation with an attestation that
66each examination procedure listed on the form was performed by
67the practitioner or by someone under the direct supervision of
68the practitioner. The form shall also contain a place for the
69practitioner to indicate if a referral to another practitioner
70was made in lieu of completion of a certain examination
71procedure. The form shall provide a place for the practitioner
72to whom the student was referred to complete the remaining
73sections and attest to that portion of the examination. The
74preparticipation physical evaluation form shall advise students
75to complete a cardiovascular assessment and shall include
76information concerning alternative cardiovascular evaluation and
77diagnostic tests. Results of such medical evaluation must be
78provided to the school. A No student is not shall be eligible to
79participate in any interscholastic athletic competition or
80engage in any practice, tryout, workout, or other physical
81activity associated with the student's candidacy for an
82interscholastic athletic team until the results of the medical
83evaluation are have been received and approved by the school.
84     (d)  Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (c), a
85student may participate in interscholastic athletic competition
86or be a candidate for an interscholastic athletic team if the
87parent of the student objects in writing to the student
88undergoing a medical evaluation because such evaluation is
89contrary to his or her religious tenets or practices. However,
90in such case, there is shall be no liability on the part of any
91person or entity in a position to otherwise rely on the results
92of such medical evaluation for any damages resulting from the
93student's injury or death arising directly from the student's
94participation in interscholastic athletics where an undisclosed
95medical condition that would have been revealed in the medical
96evaluation is a proximate cause of the injury or death.
97     (3)  GOVERNING STRUCTURE OF THE ORGANIZATION.--
98     (a)  The organization shall operate as a representative
99democracy in which the sovereign authority is within its member
100schools. Except as provided in this section, the organization
101shall govern its affairs through its bylaws.
102     (b)  Each member school, on its annual application for
103membership, shall name its official representative to the
104organization. This representative must be either the school
105principal or his or her designee. That designee must either be
106an assistant principal or athletic director housed within that
107same school.
108     (c)  The organization's membership shall be divided along
109existing county lines into four contiguous and compact
110administrative sections regions, each containing an equal or
111nearly equal number of member schools to ensure equitable
112representation on the organization's board of directors,
113representative assembly, and sectional committee on appeals
114committees, and state appeals boards.
115     (4)  BOARD OF DIRECTORS.--
116     (a)  The executive authority of the organization shall be
117vested in its board of directors. Any entity that appoints
118members to the board of directors shall examine the ethnic and
119demographic composition of the board when selecting candidates
120for appointment and shall, to the greatest extent possible, make
121appointments that reflect state demographic and population
122trends. The board of directors shall be composed of 16 persons,
123as follows:
124     1.  Four member public member school representatives, each
125one elected from among the member its public school
126representatives representative members within each of the four
127administrative sections regions.
128     2.  Four member nonpublic member school representatives,
129each one elected from among the member its nonpublic school
130representatives representative members within each of the four
131administrative sections regions.
132     3.  Three representatives appointed by the Commissioner of
133Education, one appointed from the two northernmost
134administrative sections regions and one appointed from the two
135southernmost administrative sections regions. The third
136representative shall be appointed to balance the board for
137diversity or state population trends, or both.
138     4.  Two district school superintendents, one elected from
139the two northernmost administrative sections regions by the
140members in those sections regions and one elected from the two
141southernmost administrative sections regions by the members in
142those sections regions.
143     5.  Two district school board members, one elected from the
144two northernmost administrative sections regions by the members
145in those sections regions and one elected from the two
146southernmost administrative sections regions by the members in
147those sections regions.
148     6.  The Commissioner of Education or his or her designee
149from the department's department executive staff.
150     (b)  A quorum of the board of directors is shall consist of
151nine members.
152     (c)  The board of directors shall elect a president and a
153vice president from among its members. These officers shall also
154serve as officers of the organization.
155     (d)  Members of the board of directors shall serve terms of
1563 years and are eligible to succeed themselves only once. A
157member of the board of directors, other than the Commissioner of
158Education or his or her designee, may serve a maximum of 6
159consecutive years. The organization's bylaws shall establish a
160rotation of terms to ensure that a majority of the members'
161terms do not expire concurrently.
162     (e)  The authority and duties of the board of directors,
163acting as a body and in accordance with the organization's
164bylaws, are as follows:
165     1.  To act as the incorporated organization's board of
166directors and to fulfill its obligations as required by the
167organization's charter and articles of incorporation.
168     2.  To establish such guidelines, regulations, policies,
169and procedures as are authorized by the bylaws.
170     3.  To provide an executive director organization
171commissioner, who shall have the authority to waive the bylaws
172of the organization if necessary in order to comply with
173statutory changes.
174     4.  To levy annual dues and other fees and to set the
175percentage of contest receipts to be collected by the
176organization.
177     5.  To approve the budget of the organization.
178     6.  To organize and conduct statewide interscholastic
179competitions, which may or may not lead to state championships,
180and to establish the terms and conditions for these
181competitions. The terms and conditions must establish separate
182interscholastic playoff systems for public schools and nonpublic
183schools which lead to separate championships.
184     7.  To act as an administrative board in the interpretation
185of, and final decision on, all questions and appeals arising
186from the directing of interscholastic athletics of member
187schools.
188     (5)  REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY.--
189     (a)  The legislative authority of the organization is
190vested in its representative assembly.
191     (b)  The representative assembly shall be composed of the
192following:
193     1.  An equal number of member school representatives from
194each of the four administrative sections, divided
195proportionately between the public and nonpublic member schools
196in each section regions.
197     2.  Four district school superintendents, one elected from
198each of the four administrative sections regions by the district
199school superintendents in the their respective administrative
200section regions.
201     3.  Four district school board members, one elected from
202each of the four administrative sections regions by the district
203school board members in the their respective administrative
204section regions.
205     4.  The Commissioner of Education or his or her designee
206from the department's department executive staff.
207     (c)  The organization's bylaws shall establish the number
208of member school representatives to serve in the representative
209assembly from each of the four administrative sections regions
210and shall establish the method for their selection.
211     (d)  A No member of the board of directors other than the
212Commissioner of Education or his or her designee may not can
213serve in the representative assembly.
214     (e)  The representative assembly shall elect a chairperson
215and a vice chairperson from among its members.
216     (f)  Elected members of the representative assembly shall
217serve terms of 2 years and are eligible to succeed themselves
218for two additional terms. An elected member, other than the
219Commissioner of Education or his or her designee, may serve a
220maximum of 6 consecutive years in the representative assembly.
221     (g)  A quorum of the representative assembly is consists of
222one more than half of its members.
223     (h)  The authority of the representative assembly is
224limited to its sole duty, which is to consider, adopt, or reject
225any proposed amendments to the organization's bylaws.
226     (i)  The representative assembly shall meet as a body
227annually. A two-thirds majority of the votes cast by members
228present is required for passage of any proposal.
229     (6)  PUBLIC LIAISON ADVISORY COMMITTEE.--
230     (a)  The organization shall establish, sustain, fund, and
231provide staff support to a public liaison advisory committee
232composed of the following:
233     1.  The Commissioner of Education or his or her designee.
234     2.  A member public school principal.
235     3.  A member nonpublic private school principal.
236     4.  A member school principal who is a member of a racial
237minority.
238     5.  An active athletic director.
239     6.  An active coach, who is employed full time by a member
240school.
241     7.  A student athlete.
242     8.  A district school superintendent.
243     9.  A district school board member.
244     10.  A member of the Florida House of Representatives.
245     11.  A member of the Florida Senate.
246     12.  A parent of a high school student.
247     13.  A member of a home education association.
248     14.  A representative of the business community.
249     15.  A representative of the news media.
250     (b)  A No member of the board of directors, sectional
251committee on appeals committee, state appeals board, or the
252representative assembly may not is eligible to serve on the
253public liaison advisory committee.
254     (c)  The public liaison advisory committee shall elect a
255chairperson and vice chairperson from among its members.
256     (d)  The authority and duties of the public liaison
257advisory committee are as follows:
258     1.  To act as a conduit through which the general public
259may have input into the decisionmaking process of the
260organization and to assist the organization in the development
261of procedures regarding the receipt of public input and
262disposition of complaints related to high school athletic and
263competition programs.
264     2.  To conduct public hearings annually in each of the four
265administrative sections regions during which interested parties
266may address issues regarding the effectiveness of the rules,
267operation, and management of the organization.
268     3.  To conduct an annual evaluation of the organization as
269a whole and present a report of its findings, conclusions
270conclusion, and recommendations to the board of directors, to
271the Commissioner of Education, and to the respective education
272committees of the Florida Senate and the Florida House of
273Representatives. The recommendations must delineate policies and
274procedures that will improve the implementation and oversight of
275high school athletic programs by the organization.
276     (e)  The public liaison advisory committee shall meet four
277times annually. Additional meetings may be called by the
278committee chairperson, the organization president, or the
279executive director of the organization commissioner.
280     (7)  DUE PROCESS PROCEDURES APPEALS.--
281     (a)1.  The bylaws of the organization shall provide for the
282appointment of a judicial officer. The four member public school
283representatives and four member nonpublic school representatives
284on the organization's board of directors shall jointly nominate
285at least three candidates for the judicial officer, and the full
286board of directors shall appoint the judicial officer from among
287the nominees. The organization's executive director may not
288serve as the judicial officer.
289     2.  The organization's executive director or designee shall
290investigate alleged violations of the organization's bylaws, or
291of guidelines, regulations, policies, and procedures authorized
292by the bylaws, and submit investigative findings to the judicial
293officer. The judicial officer may not participate in the
294investigation. The member school or student athlete accused of a
295violation must have the opportunity to review the investigative
296findings and submit a written response within a period specified
297in the bylaws. Upon review of the investigative findings and
298written response of the accused school or student athlete, if
299submitted, the judicial officer shall determine whether the
300accused school or student athlete committed a violation and, if
301a violation is committed, impose the penalties authorized by the
302bylaws.
303     (b)1.(a)  The organization shall establish a procedure of
304due process which ensures each member school or student athlete
305the opportunity to appeal an unfavorable ruling with regard to
306his or her eligibility to compete.
307     2.  The initial appeal of an unfavorable ruling adversely
308affecting a student athlete shall be made to a sectional appeals
309committee on appeals within the administrative section region in
310which the student athlete resides lives. The organization's
311bylaws shall establish the number, size, and composition of the
312sectional committee on appeals committees.
313     3.  The initial appeal of an unfavorable ruling adversely
314affecting a member school shall be made to one of two state
315appeals boards. One board shall decide appeals from member
316public schools and the other board shall decide appeals from
317member nonpublic schools. Each board shall be composed of five
318members. The public school representatives on the representative
319assembly from each of the four administrative sections shall
320each appoint one member to the state appeals board for public
321schools. The nonpublic school representatives on the
322representative assembly from each of the four administrative
323sections shall each appoint one member to the state appeals
324board for nonpublic schools. The Commissioner of Education shall
325appoint one additional member to each state appeals board, who
326shall serve as chair of the respective board. At least one
327member of each state appeals board must be an attorney.
328     (c)(b)  A No member of the board of directors may not is
329eligible to serve on a sectional appeals the committee or state
330on appeals board.
331     (d)(c)  Members of the sectional committee on appeals
332committees or state appeals boards shall serve terms of 3 years
333and are eligible to succeed themselves only once. A member of a
334sectional the committee on appeals committee or state appeals
335board may serve a maximum of 6 consecutive years. The
336organization's bylaws shall establish a rotation of terms to
337ensure that a majority of the members' terms do not expire
338concurrently.
339     (e)(d)  The authority and duties of the sectional committee
340on appeals committees shall be to consider requests by member
341schools seeking exceptions to bylaws and regulations, to hear
342undue hardship eligibility cases filed by member schools on
343behalf of student athletes, and to hear appeals filed by member
344schools relating to a student athlete's eligibility.
345     (f)(e)  A student athlete or member school that receives an
346unfavorable ruling from a sectional committee on appeals
347committee or state appeals board is shall be entitled to appeal
348the that decision to the board of directors at its next
349regularly scheduled meeting or called meeting. The board of
350directors has shall have the authority to uphold, reverse, or
351amend the decision of the sectional committee on appeals
352committee or state appeals board. In all such cases, the
353decision of the board of directors is shall be final.
354     (8)  AMENDMENT OF BYLAWS.--Each member school
355representative, the board of directors acting as a whole or as
356members acting individually, any advisory committee acting as a
357whole to be established by the organization, and the
358organization's executive director commissioner are empowered to
359propose amendments to the bylaws. Any other individual may
360propose an amendment by securing the sponsorship of any of the
361aforementioned individuals or bodies. All proposed amendments
362must be submitted directly to the representative assembly for
363its consideration. The representative assembly, while empowered
364to adopt, reject, or revise proposed amendments, may not, in and
365of itself, as a body be allowed to propose any amendment for its
366own consideration.
367     Section 2.  Subsection (10) is added to section 1006.20,
368Florida Statutes, to read:
369     1006.20  Athletics in public K-12 schools.--
370     (10)  RANDOM DRUG TESTING PROGRAM.--
371
372======= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T =========
373     On page 14, remove line(s) 18-27, and insert:
374
375revising the membership of board of directors and representative
376assembly of the Florida High School Athletic Association;
377redesignating the association's commissioner as executive
378director; limiting the executive director's authority to waive
379the organization's bylaws; requiring separate playoff systems
380for public and nonpublic schools; revising requirements for the
381association's bylaws; requiring the executive director or
382designee to investigate violations of the association's bylaws
383and policies; providing for the nomination and appointment of a
384judicial officer to determine violations of the association's
385bylaws and policies and impose penalties; authorizing a member
386school or student athlete accused of a violation to review
387investigative findings and submit a written response; specifying
388that an appeal of a student athlete is made to a sectional
389appeals committee; providing for the appointment of state
390appeals boards to decide the appeals of member schools;
391providing minimum qualifications for board members; providing
392for future effect; amending s. 1006.20, F.S.;


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