| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to class size requirements; amending s. |
| 3 | 1003.03, F.S.; revising provisions relating to the amount |
| 4 | of penalties calculated by the Department of Education |
| 5 | when a school district fails to comply with the class size |
| 6 | requirements; prohibiting the penalties from exceeding |
| 7 | $1,000 per school in each district; providing an effective |
| 8 | date. |
| 9 |
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| 10 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 11 |
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| 12 | Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 1003.03, Florida |
| 13 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 14 | 1003.03 Maximum class size.- |
| 15 | (4) ACCOUNTABILITY.- |
| 16 | (a) If the department determines that the number of |
| 17 | students assigned to any individual class exceeds the class size |
| 18 | maximum, as required in subsection (1), based upon the October |
| 19 | student membership survey, the department shall: |
| 20 | 1. Identify, for each grade group, the number of classes |
| 21 | in which the number of students exceeds the maximum and the |
| 22 | total number of students which exceeds the maximum for all |
| 23 | classes. |
| 24 | 2. Determine the number of FTE students which exceeds the |
| 25 | maximum for each grade group. |
| 26 | 3. Multiply the total number of FTE students which exceeds |
| 27 | the maximum for each grade group by the district's FTE dollar |
| 28 | amount of the class size categorical allocation for that year |
| 29 | and calculate the total for all three grade groups. |
| 30 | 4. Multiply the total number of FTE students which exceeds |
| 31 | the maximum for all classes by an amount equal to 50 percent of |
| 32 | the base student allocation adjusted by the district cost |
| 33 | differential for the 2010-2011 fiscal year and by an amount |
| 34 | equal to the base student allocation adjusted by the district |
| 35 | cost differential beginning in the 2011-2012 fiscal year and |
| 36 | thereafter. |
| 37 | 5. Reduce the district's class size categorical allocation |
| 38 | by an amount equal to the sum of the calculations in |
| 39 | subparagraphs 3. and 4. |
| 40 | (b) The amount of funds reduced shall be the lesser of the |
| 41 | amount calculated in paragraph (a) or the undistributed balance |
| 42 | of the district's class size categorical allocation, and may not |
| 43 | exceed $1,000 per school. The Florida Education Finance Program |
| 44 | Appropriation Allocation Conference shall verify the |
| 45 | department's calculation in paragraph (a). The commissioner may |
| 46 | withhold distribution of the class size categorical allocation |
| 47 | to the extent necessary to comply with paragraph (a). |
| 48 | (c) In lieu of the reduction calculation in paragraph (a), |
| 49 | if the Commissioner of Education has evidence that a district |
| 50 | was unable to meet the class size requirements despite |
| 51 | appropriate efforts to do so or because of an extreme emergency, |
| 52 | the commissioner may recommend by February 15, subject to |
| 53 | approval of the Legislative Budget Commission, the reduction of |
| 54 | an alternate amount of funds from the district's class size |
| 55 | categorical allocation. |
| 56 | (d) Upon approval of the reduction calculation in |
| 57 | paragraphs (a)-(c), the commissioner must prepare a reallocation |
| 58 | of the funds made available for the districts that have fully |
| 59 | met the class size requirements. The funds shall be reallocated |
| 60 | by calculating an amount of up to 5 percent of the base student |
| 61 | allocation multiplied by the total district FTE students. The |
| 62 | reallocation total may not exceed 25 percent of the total funds |
| 63 | reduced. |
| 64 | (e) Each district that has not complied with the |
| 65 | requirements in subsection (1) shall submit to the commissioner |
| 66 | by February 15 a plan certified by the district school board |
| 67 | that describes the specific actions the district will take in |
| 68 | order to fully comply with the requirements in subsection (1) by |
| 69 | October of the following school year. If a district submits the |
| 70 | certified plan by the required deadline, the funds remaining |
| 71 | after the reallocation calculation in paragraph (d) shall be |
| 72 | added back to the district's class size categorical allocation |
| 73 | based on each qualifying district's proportion of the total |
| 74 | reduction for all qualifying districts for which a reduction was |
| 75 | calculated in paragraphs (a)-(c). However, no district shall |
| 76 | have an amount added back that is greater than the amount that |
| 77 | was reduced. |
| 78 | (f) The department shall adjust school district class size |
| 79 | reduction categorical allocation distributions based on the |
| 80 | calculations in paragraphs (a)-(e). |
| 81 |
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| 82 | Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the penalties for |
| 83 | noncompliance of class size requirements may not exceed $1,000 |
| 84 | per school in each district. |
| 85 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011. |