Florida Senate - 2010                                    SB 2356
       
       
       
       By Senator Sobel
       
       
       
       
       31-01652A-10                                          20102356__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to educational plant surveys; amending
    3         s. 1013.31, F.S.; authorizing an extension to a school
    4         district educational plant survey submission deadline;
    5         providing requirements for the submission of a request
    6         for an extension to the Department of Education and
    7         requiring department approval; providing restrictions
    8         on school district construction during the extension
    9         period; requiring the State Board of Education to
   10         adopt rules; providing an effective date.
   11  
   12  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   13  
   14         Section 1. Paragraph (e) is added to subsection (1) of
   15  section 1013.31, Florida Statutes, to read:
   16         1013.31 Educational plant survey; localized need
   17  assessment; PECO project funding.—
   18         (1) At least every 5 years, each board shall arrange for an
   19  educational plant survey, to aid in formulating plans for
   20  housing the educational program and student population, faculty,
   21  administrators, staff, and auxiliary and ancillary services of
   22  the district or campus, including consideration of the local
   23  comprehensive plan. The Department of Education shall document
   24  the need for additional career and adult education programs and
   25  the continuation of existing programs before facility
   26  construction or renovation related to career or adult education
   27  may be included in the educational plant survey of a school
   28  district or community college that delivers career or adult
   29  education programs. Information used by the Department of
   30  Education to establish facility needs must include, but need not
   31  be limited to, labor market data, needs analysis, and
   32  information submitted by the school district or community
   33  college.
   34         (e) Request for extension.—
   35         1. Upon request by a district school superintendent to the
   36  Department of Education and upon approval by the department, an
   37  extension to a survey submission deadline may be granted for up
   38  to 180 days, not to exceed a total of four consecutive
   39  extensions per survey. A request for an extension to a survey
   40  submission deadline shall be submitted to the department no
   41  later than 90 days prior to the current submission deadline. A
   42  request shall contain the following:
   43         a. A letter from the district school superintendent to the
   44  department, submitted on behalf of the district school board and
   45  on district school board letterhead, formally requesting an
   46  extension which cites the specific need for the extension.
   47         b. A formal application, developed by the department, that
   48  includes sections for the following information: the purpose for
   49  requesting the extension; data that clearly and objectively
   50  supports the need for the extension; the signatures of all
   51  current district school board members; and the signature of the
   52  director of the department responsible for oversight of the
   53  educational facility planning, design, and construction for the
   54  school district, if one exists.
   55         2. School districts shall not contract for new construction
   56  projects, except for local bonded projects and those financed
   57  with the voter-approved one-half-cent sales surtax for public
   58  school capital outlay authorized by s. 212.055(6), during the
   59  extension period.
   60         3. The State Board of Education shall adopt rules pursuant
   61  to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement this paragraph.
   62         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.