Florida Senate - 2011                                     SB 254
       
       
       
       By Senator Sobel
       
       
       
       
       31-00398-11                                            2011254__
    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 restrictions; providing requirements for the
    6         submission of a request for an extension to the
    7         Department of Education and requiring department
    8         approval; providing restrictions on school district
    9         construction during the extension period; requiring
   10         the State Board of Education to adopt rules; providing
   11         an effective date.
   12  
   13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   14  
   15         Section 1. Paragraph (e) is added to subsection (1) of
   16  section 1013.31, Florida Statutes, to read:
   17         1013.31 Educational plant survey; localized need
   18  assessment; PECO project funding.—
   19         (1) At least every 5 years, each board shall arrange for an
   20  educational plant survey, to aid in formulating plans for
   21  housing the educational program and student population, faculty,
   22  administrators, staff, and auxiliary and ancillary services of
   23  the district or campus, including consideration of the local
   24  comprehensive plan. The Department of Education shall document
   25  the need for additional career and adult education programs and
   26  the continuation of existing programs before facility
   27  construction or renovation related to career or adult education
   28  may be included in the educational plant survey of a school
   29  district or community college that delivers career or adult
   30  education programs. Information used by the Department of
   31  Education to establish facility needs must include, but need not
   32  be limited to, labor market data, needs analysis, and
   33  information submitted by the school district or community
   34  college.
   35         (e) Request for extension.—
   36         1. Upon request by a district school superintendent to the
   37  Department of Education and upon approval by the department, an
   38  extension to a survey submission deadline may be granted for up
   39  to 180 days, not to exceed four consecutive extensions per
   40  survey. A request for an extension to a survey submission
   41  deadline must be submitted to the department no later than 90
   42  days prior to the current submission deadline. A request shall
   43  contain the following:
   44         a. A letter from the district school superintendent to the
   45  department, submitted on behalf of the district school board and
   46  on district school board letterhead, formally requesting an
   47  extension which cites the specific need for the extension.
   48         b. A formal application, developed by the department, that
   49  includes sections for the following information: the purpose for
   50  requesting the extension; data that clearly and objectively
   51  supports the need for the extension; the signatures of all
   52  current district school board members; and the signature of the
   53  director of the department responsible for oversight of the
   54  educational facility planning, design, and construction for the
   55  school district, if one exists.
   56         2. School districts may not contract for new construction
   57  projects, except for local bonded projects and those financed
   58  with the voter-approved one-half-cent sales surtax for public
   59  school capital outlay authorized by s. 212.055(6), during an
   60  extension period.
   61         3. The State Board of Education shall adopt rules pursuant
   62  to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement this paragraph.
   63         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.