Florida Senate - 2013                                     SB 226
       
       
       
       By Senator Ring
       
       
       
       
       29-00087A-13                                           2013226__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to disability awareness; amending s.
    3         1003.4205, F.S.; requiring that each district school
    4         board provide disability history and awareness
    5         instruction in all K-12 public schools; requiring that
    6         the Department of Education assist in creating the
    7         curriculum for the disability history and awareness
    8         instruction; providing for individual presenters who
    9         have disabilities to augment the disability history
   10         and awareness instruction; creating the Disability
   11         History and Awareness Advisory Council within the
   12         Department of Education; providing for certain
   13         individuals to apply to the department for membership
   14         on the council; providing that the Commissioner of
   15         Education, the member of the Senate, and the member of
   16         the House of Representatives are ex officio, nonvoting
   17         members of the council; requiring that the department
   18         provide a liaison to assist the council; requiring
   19         that the department act as the fiscal agent for all
   20         financial transactions required by the council;
   21         providing responsibilities of the council; providing
   22         meeting times for the council; providing an effective
   23         date.
   24  
   25  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   26  
   27         Section 1. Section 1003.4205, Florida Statutes, is amended
   28  to read:
   29         1003.4205 Disability history and awareness instruction.—
   30         (1) Beginning with the 2014-2015 school year, each district
   31  school board shall may provide disability history and awareness
   32  instruction in all K-12 public schools in the district during
   33  the first 2 weeks in October each year. The district school
   34  board shall designate these 2 weeks as “Disability History and
   35  Awareness Weeks.” The Department of Education shall assist in
   36  creating the curriculum for the disability history and awareness
   37  instruction that will be used in each school district.
   38         (2)(a) During this 2-week period, students shall may be
   39  provided intensive instruction to expand their knowledge,
   40  understanding, and awareness of individuals who have with
   41  disabilities, the history of disability, and the disability
   42  rights movement. Disability history must may include the events
   43  and timelines of the development and evolution of services to,
   44  and the civil rights of, individuals who have with disabilities.
   45  Disability history must may also include the contributions of
   46  specific individuals who have with disabilities, including the
   47  contributions of acknowledged national leaders.
   48         (b) Beginning with the 2014-2015 school year, the
   49  instruction shall may be integrated into the existing school
   50  curriculum in ways including, but not limited to, supplementing
   51  lesson plans, holding school assemblies, or providing other
   52  school-related activities. The instruction shall may be
   53  augmented by presentations from individuals who have
   54  disabilities, who have been approved by the school or school
   55  district as presenters, and who the school or school district
   56  has ensured meet appropriate background screening requirements
   57  of s. 1012.465 to enter schools and interact with children
   58  delivered by qualified school personnel or by knowledgeable
   59  guest speakers, with a particular focus on including individuals
   60  with disabilities.
   61         (c)1. There is created within the Department of Education
   62  the Disability History and Awareness Advisory Council. The
   63  council shall consist of the following 15 members:
   64         a. The Commissioner of Education or his or her designee.
   65         b. A member of the House of Representatives, appointed by
   66  the Speaker of the House of Representatives, or his or her
   67  designee.
   68         c. A member of the Senate, appointed by the President of
   69  the Senate, or his or her designee.
   70         d. Six individuals who are younger than 30 years of age and
   71  who must apply to the Department of Education to become members
   72  of the council.
   73         e. Six individuals who are 30 years of age or older and who
   74  must apply to the Department of Education to become members of
   75  the council.
   76         2. The Commissioner of Education, the member of the Senate,
   77  and the member of the House of Representatives, or their
   78  designees, are ex officio, nonvoting members of the council.
   79         3. The department shall provide a liaison to assist the
   80  council in its operation. The department shall act as the fiscal
   81  agent for all financial transactions required by the council.
   82         4. The responsibilities of the council shall be, but are
   83  not limited to:
   84         a. Providing to the Department of Education input regarding
   85  the curriculum for disability history and awareness;
   86         b. Assisting, upon request, schools or school districts in
   87  locating individuals who have disabilities to make presentations
   88  at schools; and
   89         c. Submitting an annual report to the Governor, the
   90  President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
   91  Representatives, and the superintendent of each school district
   92  in this state by August 1, 2014, and each year thereafter. The
   93  annual report must include, but is not limited to,
   94  recommendations and policy alternatives regarding the state of
   95  disability awareness in this state.
   96         5. The council shall meet at least four times a year and
   97  more often as needed.
   98         (3) The goals of disability history and awareness
   99  instruction include:
  100         (a) Better treatment for individuals who have with
  101  disabilities, especially for youth in school, and increased
  102  attention to preventing the bullying or harassment of students
  103  who have with disabilities.
  104         (b) Encouragement to individuals who have with disabilities
  105  to develop increased self-esteem, resulting in more individuals
  106  who have with disabilities gaining pride in being an individual
  107  with a disability, obtaining postsecondary education, entering
  108  the workforce, and contributing to their communities.
  109         (c) Reaffirmation of the local, state, and federal
  110  commitment to the full inclusion in society of, and the equal
  111  opportunity for, all individuals who have with disabilities.
  112         Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.