| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to education; amending s. 1000.05, F.S.; |
| 3 | providing that students may be separated by gender for |
| 4 | specified single-gender programs; amending s. 1002.20, |
| 5 | F.S.; providing that public school choice options may |
| 6 | include single-gender programs; creating s. 1002.311, |
| 7 | F.S.; authorizing district school boards to establish a |
| 8 | nonvocational class, extracurricular activity, or school |
| 9 | in which enrollment is limited to students of a single |
| 10 | gender; providing conditions for such authorization; |
| 11 | requiring that student participation in single-gender |
| 12 | programs be voluntary; requiring evaluation of single- |
| 13 | gender programs every 2 years; providing an effective |
| 14 | date. |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 17 |
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| 18 | Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of section |
| 19 | 1000.05, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 20 | 1000.05 Discrimination against students and employees in |
| 21 | the Florida K-20 public education system prohibited; equality of |
| 22 | access required.-- |
| 23 | (2) |
| 24 | (d) Students may be separated by gender for a single- |
| 25 | gender program under s. 1002.311, for any portion of a class |
| 26 | that deals with human reproduction, or during participation in |
| 27 | bodily contact sports. For the purpose of this section, bodily |
| 28 | contact sports include wrestling, boxing, rugby, ice hockey, |
| 29 | football, basketball, and other sports in which the purpose or |
| 30 | major activity involves bodily contact. |
| 31 | Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (6) of section |
| 32 | 1002.20, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 33 | 1002.20 K-12 student and parent rights.--Parents of public |
| 34 | school students must receive accurate and timely information |
| 35 | regarding their child's academic progress and must be informed |
| 36 | of ways they can help their child to succeed in school. K-12 |
| 37 | students and their parents are afforded numerous statutory |
| 38 | rights including, but not limited to, the following: |
| 39 | (6) EDUCATIONAL CHOICE.-- |
| 40 | (a) Public school choices.--Parents of public school |
| 41 | students may seek whatever public school choice options that are |
| 42 | applicable to their students and are available to students in |
| 43 | their school districts. These options may include controlled |
| 44 | open enrollment, single-gender programs, lab schools, charter |
| 45 | schools, charter technical career centers, magnet schools, |
| 46 | alternative schools, special programs, advanced placement, dual |
| 47 | enrollment, International Baccalaureate, International General |
| 48 | Certificate of Secondary Education (pre-AICE), Advanced |
| 49 | International Certificate of Education, early admissions, credit |
| 50 | by examination or demonstration of competency, the New World |
| 51 | School of the Arts, the Florida School for the Deaf and the |
| 52 | Blind, and the Florida Virtual School. These options may also |
| 53 | include the public school choice options of the Opportunity |
| 54 | Scholarship Program and the McKay Scholarships for Students with |
| 55 | Disabilities Program. |
| 56 | Section 3. Section 1002.311, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 57 | to read: |
| 58 | 1002.311 Single-gender programs authorized.-- |
| 59 | (1) Subject to subsection (2) and in accordance with 34 |
| 60 | C.F.R. s. 106.34, a district school board may establish and |
| 61 | maintain a nonvocational class, extracurricular activity, or |
| 62 | school for elementary, middle, or high school students in which |
| 63 | enrollment is limited to a single gender if the school district |
| 64 | also makes available a substantially equal: |
| 65 | (a) Single-gender class, extracurricular activity, or |
| 66 | school to students of the other gender; and |
| 67 | (b) Coeducational class, extracurricular activity, or |
| 68 | school to all students. |
| 69 | (2) A district school board that establishes a single- |
| 70 | gender class, extracurricular activity, or school: |
| 71 | (a) May not require participation by any student. The |
| 72 | district school board must ensure that participation in the |
| 73 | single-gender class, extracurricular activity, or school is |
| 74 | voluntary. |
| 75 | (b) Must evaluate each single-gender class, |
| 76 | extracurricular activity, or school in the school district at |
| 77 | least once every 2 years in order to ensure that it is in |
| 78 | compliance with this section and 34 C.F.R. s. 106.34. |
| 79 | Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2008. |