Florida Senate - 2015                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SPB 7046
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì784762>Î784762                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                   Comm: TP            .                                
                  03/11/2015           .                                
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       The Committee on Education Pre-K - 12 (Gaetz) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Between lines 405 and 406
    4  insert:
    5         Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 1011.71, Florida
    6  Statutes, is amended to read:
    7         1011.71 District school tax.—
    8         (2) In addition to the maximum millage levy as provided in
    9  subsection (1), each school board may levy not more than 1.5
   10  mills against the taxable value for school purposes for district
   11  schools, including charter schools. The first 50 percent of the
   12  revenue from this millage shall be allocated to both charter
   13  schools and traditional public schools on a per capital outlay
   14  FTE basis by the school district. Each charter school eligible
   15  to receive capital outlay funding under s. 1013.62 shall receive
   16  its proportional share of the millage revenue. The school
   17  district shall retain discretion over the expenditure of these
   18  funds that are allocated to traditional public schools, as well
   19  as the remaining 50 percent of the millage revenue. These funds
   20  may be used for the following at the discretion of the school
   21  board, to fund:
   22         (a) New construction and remodeling projects, as set forth
   23  in s. 1013.64(3)(b) and (6)(b) and included in the district’s
   24  educational plant survey pursuant to s. 1013.31, without regard
   25  to prioritization, sites and site improvement or expansion to
   26  new sites, existing sites, auxiliary facilities, athletic
   27  facilities, or ancillary facilities.
   28         (b) Maintenance, renovation, and repair of existing school
   29  plants or of leased facilities to correct deficiencies pursuant
   30  to s. 1013.15(2).
   31         (c) The purchase, lease-purchase, or lease of school buses.
   32         (d) The purchase, lease-purchase, or lease of new and
   33  replacement equipment; computer hardware, including electronic
   34  hardware and other hardware devices necessary for gaining access
   35  to or enhancing the use of electronic content and resources or
   36  to facilitate the access to and the use of a school district’s
   37  digital classrooms plan pursuant to s. 1011.62, excluding
   38  software other than the operating system necessary to operate
   39  the hardware or device; and enterprise resource software
   40  applications that are classified as capital assets in accordance
   41  with definitions of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board,
   42  have a useful life of at least 5 years, and are used to support
   43  districtwide administration or state-mandated reporting
   44  requirements. Enterprise resource software may be acquired by
   45  annual license fees, maintenance fees, or lease agreements.
   46         (e) Payments for educational facilities and sites due under
   47  a lease-purchase agreement entered into by a district school
   48  board pursuant to s. 1003.02(1)(f) or s. 1013.15(2), not
   49  exceeding, in the aggregate, an amount equal to three-fourths of
   50  the proceeds from the millage levied by a district school board
   51  pursuant to this subsection. The three-fourths limit is waived
   52  for lease-purchase agreements entered into before June 30, 2009,
   53  by a district school board pursuant to this paragraph.
   54         (f) Payment of loans approved pursuant to ss. 1011.14 and
   55  1011.15.
   56         (g) Payment of costs directly related to complying with
   57  state and federal environmental statutes, rules, and regulations
   58  governing school facilities.
   59         (h) Payment of costs of leasing relocatable educational
   60  facilities, of renting or leasing educational facilities and
   61  sites pursuant to s. 1013.15(2), or of renting or leasing
   62  buildings or space within existing buildings pursuant to s.
   63  1013.15(4).
   64         (i) Payment of the cost of school buses when a school
   65  district contracts with a private entity to provide student
   66  transportation services if the district meets the requirements
   67  of this paragraph.
   68         1. The district’s contract must require that the private
   69  entity purchase, lease-purchase, or lease, and operate and
   70  maintain, one or more school buses of a specific type and size
   71  that meet the requirements of s. 1006.25.
   72         2. Each such school bus must be used for the daily
   73  transportation of public school students in the manner required
   74  by the school district.
   75         3. Annual payment for each such school bus may not exceed
   76  10 percent of the purchase price of the state pool bid.
   77         4. The proposed expenditure of the funds for this purpose
   78  must have been included in the district school board’s notice of
   79  proposed tax for school capital outlay as provided in s.
   80  200.065(10).
   81         (j) Payment of the cost of the opening day collection for
   82  the library media center of a new school.
   83         Section 4. Subsections (1), (4), (5), and (6) of section
   84  1013.62, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   85         1013.62 Charter schools capital outlay funding.—
   86         (1) Charter schools may receive the discretionary millage
   87  revenue authorized under s. 1011.71, provided they meet the
   88  following eligibility criteria. In each year in which funds are
   89  appropriated for charter school capital outlay purposes, the
   90  Commissioner of Education shall allocate the funds among
   91  eligible charter schools.
   92         (a) To be eligible for a funding allocation, A charter
   93  school must:
   94         (a)1.a. Have been in operation for 3 or more years;
   95         b. Be governed by a governing board established in the
   96  state for 3 or more years which operates both charter schools
   97  and conversion charter schools within the state;
   98         2.c. Be an expanded feeder chain of a charter school within
   99  the same school district that is currently receiving charter
  100  school capital outlay funds;
  101         3.d. Have been accredited by the Commission on Schools of
  102  the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools; or
  103         4.e. Serve students in facilities that are provided by a
  104  business partner for a charter school-in-the-workplace pursuant
  105  to s. 1002.33(15)(b).
  106         (b)2. Have financial stability for future operation as a
  107  charter school.
  108         (c)3. Have satisfactory student achievement based on state
  109  accountability standards applicable to the charter school.
  110         (d)4. Have received final approval from its sponsor
  111  pursuant to s. 1002.33 for operation during that fiscal year.
  112         (e)5. Serve students in facilities that are not provided by
  113  the charter school’s sponsor.
  114         (b) The first priority for charter school capital outlay
  115  funding is to allocate to charter schools that received funding
  116  in the 2005-2006 fiscal year an allocation of the same amount
  117  per capital outlay full-time equivalent student, up to the
  118  lesser of the actual number of capital outlay full-time
  119  equivalent students in the current year, or the capital outlay
  120  full-time equivalent students in the 2005-2006 fiscal year.
  121  After calculating the first priority, the second priority is to
  122  allocate excess funds remaining in the appropriation in an
  123  amount equal to the per capital outlay full-time equivalent
  124  student amount in the first priority calculation to eligible
  125  charter schools not included in the first priority calculation
  126  and to schools in the first priority calculation with growth
  127  greater than the 2005-2006 capital outlay full-time equivalent
  128  students. After calculating the first and second priorities,
  129  excess funds remaining in the appropriation must be allocated to
  130  all eligible charter schools.
  131         (c) A charter school’s allocation may not exceed one
  132  fifteenth of the cost per student station specified in s.
  133  1013.64(6)(b). Before releasing capital outlay funds to a school
  134  district on behalf of the charter school, the Department of
  135  Education must ensure that the district school board and the
  136  charter school governing board enter into a written agreement
  137  that provides for the reversion of any unencumbered funds and
  138  all equipment and property purchased with public education funds
  139  to the ownership of the district school board, as provided for
  140  in subsection (3) if the school terminates operations. Any funds
  141  recovered by the state shall be deposited in the General Revenue
  142  Fund.
  143         (d) A charter school is not eligible for a funding
  144  allocation if it was created by the conversion of a public
  145  school and operates in facilities provided by the charter
  146  school’s sponsor for a nominal fee, or at no charge, or if it is
  147  directly or indirectly operated by the school district.
  148         (e) Unless otherwise provided in the General Appropriations
  149  Act, the funding allocation for each eligible charter school is
  150  determined by multiplying the school’s projected student
  151  enrollment by one-fifteenth of the cost-per-student station
  152  specified in s. 1013.64(6)(b) for an elementary, middle, or high
  153  school, as appropriate. If the funds appropriated are not
  154  sufficient, the commissioner shall prorate the available funds
  155  among eligible charter schools. However, a charter school or
  156  charter lab school may not receive state charter school capital
  157  outlay funds greater than the one-fifteenth cost per student
  158  station formula if the charter school’s combination of state
  159  charter school capital outlay funds, capital outlay funds
  160  calculated through the reduction in the administrative fee
  161  provided in s. 1002.33(20), and capital outlay funds allowed in
  162  s. 1002.32(9)(e) and (h) exceeds the one-fifteenth cost per
  163  student station formula.
  164         (f) Funds shall be distributed on the basis of the capital
  165  outlay full-time equivalent membership by grade level, which is
  166  calculated by averaging the results of the second and third
  167  enrollment surveys. The Department of Education shall distribute
  168  capital outlay funds monthly, beginning in the first quarter of
  169  the fiscal year, based on one-twelfth of the amount the
  170  department reasonably expects the charter school to receive
  171  during that fiscal year. The commissioner shall adjust
  172  subsequent distributions as necessary to reflect each charter
  173  school’s actual student enrollment as reflected in the second
  174  and third enrollment surveys. The commissioner shall establish
  175  the intervals and procedures for determining the projected and
  176  actual student enrollment of eligible charter schools.
  177         (4) The Commissioner of Education shall specify procedures
  178  for submitting and approving requests for funding under this
  179  section and procedures for documenting expenditures.
  180         (5) The annual legislative budget request of the Department
  181  of Education shall include a request for capital outlay funding
  182  for charter schools. The request shall be based on the projected
  183  number of students to be served in charter schools who meet the
  184  eligibility requirements of this section. A dedicated funding
  185  source, if identified in writing by the Commissioner of
  186  Education and submitted along with the annual charter school
  187  legislative budget request, may be considered an additional
  188  source of funding.
  189         (6) Unless authorized otherwise by the Legislature,
  190  allocation and proration of charter school capital outlay funds
  191  shall be made to eligible charter schools by the Commissioner of
  192  Education in an amount and in a manner authorized by subsection
  193  (1).
  194  
  195  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  196  And the title is amended as follows:
  197         Delete line 20
  198  and insert:
  199         year; deleting obsolete language; amending s. 1011.71,
  200         F.S.; revising requirements for the allocation of the
  201         millage revenue for charter schools and traditional
  202         public schools; authorizing enterprise resource
  203         software to be acquired by certain fees and
  204         agreements; amending s. 1013.62, F.S.; revising the
  205         eligibility criteria for and the allocation of
  206         discretionary millage revenue for charter schools;
  207         deleting duties of the Commissioner of Education and
  208         the Department of Education relating to the
  209         allocation; requiring the Board