Florida Senate - 2009 SB 2272
By Senator Wise
5-01071D-09 20092272__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to inservice professional development
3 academies; amending s. 1012.985, F.S.; revising
4 provisions relating to regional inservice professional
5 development academies; requiring that one school
6 district be designated to serve as the fiscal agent
7 for each regional academy; deleting provisions that
8 require such academies to meet certain criteria in
9 order to receive start-up funds; providing an
10 effective date.
11
12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14 Section 1. Section 1012.985, Florida Statutes, is amended
15 to read:
16 1012.985 Regional Statewide system for inservice
17 professional development academies.—
18 (1) The intent of this section is to facilitate establish a
19 statewide system of professional development that provides a
20 wide range of targeted inservice training to teachers, managers,
21 and administrative personnel designed to upgrade skills and
22 knowledge needed to attain reach world class standards in
23 education. The system shall consist of a network of professional
24 development academies in each region of the state which are
25 operated in partnership with area business partners to develop
26 and deliver high-quality training programs for purchased by
27 school districts. One school district shall be designated to
28 serve as the fiscal agent for each regional academy. The
29 academies shall be established to meet the human resource
30 development needs of professional educators, schools, and school
31 districts and shall. Funds appropriated for the initiation of
32 professional development academies shall be allocated by the
33 Commissioner of Education, unless otherwise provided in an
34 appropriations act. To be eligible for startup funds, the
35 academy must:
36 (a) Support Be established by the collaborative efforts of
37 one or more district school boards, members of the business
38 community, and the postsecondary educational institutions, which
39 may award college credits for courses taught at the academy.
40 (b) Demonstrate the capacity to provide effective training
41 to improve teaching skills in the areas of elementary reading
42 and mathematics, the use of instructional technology, high
43 school algebra, and classroom management, and to deliver such
44 training using face-to-face, distance learning, and
45 individualized computer-based delivery systems.
46 (c) Propose a plan for responding in an effective and
47 timely manner to the professional development needs of teachers,
48 managers, administrative personnel, schools, and school
49 districts relating to improving student achievement and meeting
50 state and local education goals.
51 (b)(d) Demonstrate the ability to Provide high-quality
52 trainers and training, appropriate followup and coaching for all
53 participants, and support school personnel in increasing student
54 achievement in positively impacting student performance.
55 (c)(e) Be operated under contract with its public partners
56 and governed by an independent board of directors, which should
57 include at least one district school superintendent and one
58 district school board chair from the participating school
59 districts, the president of the collective bargaining unit that
60 represents the majority of the region's teachers, and at least
61 three individuals who are not employees or elected or appointed
62 officials of the participating school districts. Regional
63 educational consortia as defined in s. 1001.451 satisfy the
64 requirements of this paragraph.
65 (f) Be financed during the first year of operation by an
66 equal or greater match from private funding sources and
67 demonstrate the ability to be self-supporting within 1 year
68 after opening through fees for services, grants, or private
69 contributions. Regional educational consortia as defined in s.
70 1001.451 which serve rural areas of critical economic concern
71 are exempt from the funding match required by this paragraph.
72 (g) Own or lease a facility that can be used to deliver
73 training onsite and through distance learning and other
74 technology-based delivery systems. The participating district
75 school boards may lease a site or facility to the academy for a
76 nominal fee and may pay all or part of the costs of renovating a
77 facility to accommodate the academy. The academy is responsible
78 for all operational, maintenance, and repair costs.
79 (d)(h) Provide professional development services for the
80 participating school districts as specified in the contract and
81 may provide professional development services to other school
82 districts, private schools, and individuals on a fee-for
83 services basis.
84 (2) Upon compliance with the requirements for the first
85 year of operation in paragraph (1)(f), A regional professional
86 development academy:
87 (a) may receive funds from the Department of Education or
88 as provided in the General Appropriations Act for the purpose of
89 developing programs, expanding services, assessing inservice
90 training and professional development, or other programs that
91 are consistent with the mission of the academy and the needs of
92 the state and region; and
93 (b) Is not, by virtue of providing services to one or more
94 school districts, a component of any school district or any
95 governmental unit to which the regional professional development
96 academy provides services.
97 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.