Florida Senate - 2012 SB 1450
By Senator Braynon
33-00567A-12 20121450__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the allocation and expenditure of
3 state lottery revenues; amending s. 24.121, F.S.;
4 requiring that certain unencumbered funds of the
5 Educational Enhancement Trust Fund be allocated to
6 voluntary prekindergarten education programs;
7 providing for the use of funds; providing an effective
8 date.
9
10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
11
12 Section 1. Subsection (5) of section 24.121, Florida
13 Statutes, is amended to read:
14 24.121 Allocation of revenues and expenditure of funds for
15 public education.—
16 (5)(a) Public educational programs and purposes funded by
17 the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund may include, but are not
18 limited to, endowment, scholarship, matching funds, direct
19 grants, research and economic development related to education,
20 salary enhancement, contracts with independent institutions to
21 conduct programs consistent with the state master plan for
22 postsecondary education, or any other educational program or
23 purpose deemed desirable by the Legislature. Prior to the
24 expenditure of these funds, each school district shall establish
25 policies and procedures that define enhancement and the types of
26 expenditures consistent with that definition.
27 (b) Except as provided in paragraphs (c), (d), and (e), and
28 (f), the Legislature shall equitably apportion moneys in the
29 trust fund among public schools, community colleges, and
30 universities.
31 (c) A portion of such net revenues, as determined annually
32 by the Legislature, shall be distributed to each school district
33 and shall be made available to each public school in the
34 district for enhancing school performance through development
35 and implementation of a school improvement plan pursuant to s.
36 1001.42(18). A portion of these moneys, as determined annually
37 in the General Appropriations Act, must be allocated to each
38 school in an equal amount for each student enrolled. These
39 moneys may be expended only on programs or projects selected by
40 the school advisory council or by a parent advisory committee
41 created pursuant to this paragraph. If a school does not have a
42 school advisory council, the district advisory council must
43 appoint a parent advisory committee composed of parents of
44 students enrolled in that school, which is representative of the
45 ethnic, racial, and economic community served by the school, to
46 advise the school’s principal on the programs or projects to be
47 funded. Neither school district staff nor principals may
48 override the recommendations of the school advisory council or
49 the parent advisory committee. These moneys may not be used for
50 capital improvements or for any project or program that has a
51 duration of more than 1 year; however, a school advisory council
52 or parent advisory committee may independently determine that a
53 program or project formerly funded under this paragraph should
54 receive funds in a subsequent year.
55 (d) No funds shall be released for any purpose from the
56 Educational Enhancement Trust Fund to any school district in
57 which one or more schools do not have an approved school
58 improvement plan pursuant to s. 1001.42(18) or do not comply
59 with school advisory council membership composition requirements
60 pursuant to s. 1001.452(1). The Commissioner of Education shall
61 withhold disbursements from the trust fund to any school
62 district that fails to adopt the performance-based salary
63 schedule required by s. 1012.22(1).
64 (e) All components of the Florida Bright Futures
65 Scholarship Program shall be funded annually from the
66 Educational Enhancement Trust Fund. Funds shall be allocated to
67 this program prior to application of the formula for equitable
68 distribution to public schools, community colleges, and state
69 universities. If shortages require reductions in estimated
70 distributions from the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund, funds
71 for the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program shall be
72 reduced only after reductions in all other distributions are
73 made.
74 (f) Fifty percent of unencumbered funds not spent in the
75 previous fiscal year shall be allocated to enhance voluntary
76 prekindergarten education programs pursuant to a final audit of
77 those funds. Such unencumbered funds shall be allocated to each
78 voluntary prekindergarten education program in an equal amount
79 for each student enrolled. Such funds must be used for direct
80 classroom expenditures and may not be used for administrative
81 costs.
82 (g)(f) Each school district shall, on a quarterly basis,
83 make available to the public and distribute, in an easy to
84 understand format, the expenditures of lottery funds allocated
85 to the school district.
86 Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2012.