HB 1227

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to inservice professional development
3	academies; amending s. 1012.985, F.S.; revising provisions
4	relating to regional inservice professional development
5	academies; requiring that one school district be
6	designated to serve as the fiscal agent for each regional
7	academy; deleting provisions that require such academies
8	to meet certain criteria in order to receive start-up
9	funds; providing an effective date.
10
11	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
12
13	Section 1.  Section 1012.985, Florida Statutes, is amended
14	to read:
15	1012.985  Regional Statewide system for inservice
16	professional development academies.--
17	(1)  The intent of this section is to facilitate establish
18	a statewide system of professional development that provides a
19	wide range of targeted inservice training to teachers, managers,
20	and administrative personnel designed to upgrade skills and
21	knowledge needed to attain reach world class standards in
22	education. The system shall consist of a network of professional
23	development academies in each region of the state which are
24	operated in partnership with area business partners to develop
25	and deliver high-quality training programs for purchased by
26	school districts. One school district shall be designated to
27	serve as the fiscal agent for each regional academy. The
28	academies shall be established to meet the human resource
29	development needs of professional educators, schools, and school
30	districts and shall. Funds appropriated for the initiation of
31	professional development academies shall be allocated by the
32	Commissioner of Education, unless otherwise provided in an
33	appropriations act. To be eligible for startup funds, the
34	academy must:
35	(a)  Support Be established by the collaborative efforts of
36	one or more district school boards, members of the business
37	community, and the postsecondary educational institutions, which
38	may award college credits for courses taught at the academy.
39	(b)  Demonstrate the capacity to provide effective training
40	to improve teaching skills in the areas of elementary reading
41	and mathematics, the use of instructional technology, high
42	school algebra, and classroom management, and to deliver such
43	training using face-to-face, distance learning, and
44	individualized computer-based delivery systems.
45	(c)  Propose a plan for responding in an effective and
46	timely manner to the professional development needs of teachers,
47	managers, administrative personnel, schools, and school
48	districts relating to improving student achievement and meeting
49	state and local education goals.
50	(b)(d)  Demonstrate the ability to Provide high-quality
51	trainers and training, appropriate followup and coaching for all
52	participants, and support school personnel in increasing student
53	achievement in positively impacting student performance.
54	(c)(e)  Be operated under contract with its public partners
55	and governed by an independent board of directors, which should
56	include at least one district school superintendent and one
57	district school board chair from the participating school
58	districts, the president of the collective bargaining unit that
59	represents the majority of the region's teachers, and at least
60	three individuals who are not employees or elected or appointed
61	officials of the participating school districts. Regional
62	educational consortia as defined in s. 1001.451 satisfy the
63	requirements of this paragraph.
64	(f)  Be financed during the first year of operation by an
65	equal or greater match from private funding sources and
66	demonstrate the ability to be self-supporting within 1 year
67	after opening through fees for services, grants, or private
68	contributions. Regional educational consortia as defined in s.
69	1001.451 which serve rural areas of critical economic concern
70	are exempt from the funding match required by this paragraph.
71	(g)  Own or lease a facility that can be used to deliver
72	training onsite and through distance learning and other
73	technology-based delivery systems. The participating district
74	school boards may lease a site or facility to the academy for a
75	nominal fee and may pay all or part of the costs of renovating a
76	facility to accommodate the academy. The academy is responsible
77	for all operational, maintenance, and repair costs.
78	(d)(h)  Provide professional development services for the
79	participating school districts as specified in the contract and
80	may provide professional development services to other school
81	districts, private schools, and individuals on a fee-for-
82	services basis.
83	(2)  Upon compliance with the requirements for the first
84	year of operation in paragraph (1)(f), A regional professional
85	development academy:
86	(a)  may receive funds from the Department of Education or
87	as provided in the General Appropriations Act for the purpose of
88	developing programs, expanding services, assessing inservice
89	training and professional development, or other programs that
90	are consistent with the mission of the academy and the needs of
91	the state and region; and
92	(b)  Is not, by virtue of providing services to one or more
93	school districts, a component of any school district or any
94	governmental unit to which the regional professional development
95	academy provides services.
96	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.

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