Florida Senate - 2009                                     SB 398
       
       
       
       By Senator Sobel
       
       
       
       
       31-00534-09                                            2009398__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to district and school advisory
    3         councils; amending s. 1001.452, F.S.; providing that a
    4         majority of the members of a school advisory council
    5         not be employed by the school; providing an effective
    6         date.
    7         
    8  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
    9         
   10         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
   11  1001.452, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   12         1001.452 District and school advisory councils.—
   13         (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—
   14         (a) The district school board shall establish an advisory
   15  council for each school in the district and shall develop
   16  procedures for the election and appointment of advisory council
   17  members. Each school advisory council shall include in its name
   18  the words “school advisory council.” The school advisory council
   19  shall be the sole body responsible for the final decisionmaking
   20  at the school relating to the implementation of ss. 1001.42(18)
   21  and 1008.345. A majority of the members of each school advisory
   22  council must be persons who are not employed by the school
   23  district. Each advisory council shall be composed of the
   24  principal and an appropriately balanced number of teachers,
   25  education support employees, students, parents, and other
   26  business and community citizens who are representative of the
   27  ethnic, racial, and economic community served by the school.
   28  Career center and high school advisory councils shall include
   29  students, and middle and junior high school advisory councils
   30  may include students. School advisory councils of career centers
   31  and adult education centers are not required to include parents
   32  as members. Council members representing teachers, education
   33  support employees, students, and parents shall be elected by
   34  their respective peer groups at the school in a fair and
   35  equitable manner as follows:
   36         1. Teachers shall be elected by teachers.
   37         2. Education support employees shall be elected by
   38  education support employees.
   39         3. Students shall be elected by students.
   40         4. Parents shall be elected by parents.
   41  The district school board shall establish procedures to be used
   42  by schools in selecting business and community members that
   43  include means of ensuring wide notice of vacancies and of taking
   44  input on possible members from local business, chambers of
   45  commerce, community and civic organizations and groups, and the
   46  public at large. The district school board shall review the
   47  membership composition of each advisory council. If the district
   48  school board determines that the membership elected by the
   49  school is not representative of the ethnic, racial, and economic
   50  community served by the school, the district school board shall
   51  appoint additional members to achieve proper representation. The
   52  commissioner shall determine if schools have maximized their
   53  efforts to include on their advisory councils minority persons
   54  and persons of lower socioeconomic status. Although schools are
   55  strongly encouraged to establish school advisory councils, the
   56  district school board of any school district that has a student
   57  population of 10,000 or fewer may establish a district advisory
   58  council which includes at least one duly elected teacher from
   59  each school in the district. For the purposes of school advisory
   60  councils and district advisory councils, the term “teacher”
   61  includes classroom teachers, certified student services
   62  personnel, and media specialists. For purposes of this
   63  paragraph, “education support employee” means any person
   64  employed by a school who is not defined as instructional or
   65  administrative personnel pursuant to s. 1012.01 and whose duties
   66  require 20 or more hours in each normal working week.
   67         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.