Florida Senate - 2016 CS for CS for SB 434
By the Committees on Appropriations; and Education Pre-K - 12;
and Senators Garcia and Gaetz
576-04194-16 2016434c2
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Principal Autonomy Pilot
3 Program Initiative; creating s. 1011.6202, F.S.;
4 creating the Principal Autonomy Pilot Program
5 Initiative; providing a procedure for a school
6 district to participate in the pilot program;
7 providing requirements for participating school
8 districts and schools; exempting participating schools
9 from certain laws and rules; requiring principals of
10 participating schools and specified personnel to
11 complete a nationally recognized school turnaround
12 program; providing for the term of participation in
13 the pilot program; providing for renewal or revocation
14 of authorization to participate in the pilot program;
15 providing for reporting, funding, and rulemaking;
16 amending s. 1011.69, F.S.; requiring participating
17 district school boards to allocate a specified
18 percentage of certain funds to participating schools;
19 amending s. 1012.28, F.S.; providing additional
20 authority and responsibilities of the principal of a
21 participating school; providing an effective date.
22
23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
24
25 Section 1. Section 1011.6202, Florida Statutes, is created
26 to read:
27 1011.6202 Principal Autonomy Pilot Program Initiative.—The
28 Principal Autonomy Pilot Program Initiative is created within
29 the Department of Education. The purpose of the pilot program is
30 to provide the highly effective principal of a participating
31 school with increased autonomy and authority to operate his or
32 her school in a way that produces significant improvements in
33 student achievement and school management while complying with
34 constitutional requirements. The State Board of Education may,
35 upon approval of a principal autonomy proposal, enter into a
36 performance contract with up to three district school boards for
37 participation in the pilot program.
38 (1) PARTICIPATING SCHOOL DISTRICTS.—A Florida school
39 district may submit to the state board for approval a principal
40 autonomy proposal that exchanges statutory and rule exemptions
41 for an agreement to meet performance goals established in the
42 proposal. If approved by the state board, the school district
43 shall be eligible to participate in the pilot program for 3
44 years. At the end of the 3 years, the performance of all
45 participating schools in the school district shall be evaluated.
46 (2) PRINCIPAL AUTONOMY PROPOSAL.—
47 (a) To participate in the pilot program, a school district
48 must:
49 1. Identify three middle or high schools that received at
50 least two school grades of “D” or “F” pursuant to s. 1008.34
51 during the previous 3 school years.
52 2. Identify three principals who have earned a highly
53 effective rating on the prior year’s performance evaluation
54 pursuant to s. 1012.34, one of whom shall be assigned to each of
55 the participating schools.
56 3. Describe the current financial and administrative
57 management of each participating school; identify the areas in
58 which each school principal will have increased fiscal and
59 administrative autonomy, including the authority and
60 responsibilities provided in s. 1012.28(8); and identify the
61 areas in which each participating school will continue to follow
62 district school board fiscal and administrative policies.
63 4. Explain the methods used to identify the educational
64 strengths and needs of the participating school’s students and
65 identify how student achievement can be improved.
66 5. Establish performance goals for student achievement, as
67 defined in s. 1008.34(1), and explain how the increased autonomy
68 of principals will help participating schools improve student
69 achievement and school management.
70 6. Provide each participating school’s mission and a
71 description of its student population.
72 (b) The state board shall establish criteria, which must
73 include the criteria listed in paragraph (a), for the approval
74 of a principal autonomy proposal.
75 (c) A school district must submit its principal autonomy
76 proposal to the state board for approval by December 1 in order
77 to begin participation in the subsequent school year. By
78 February 28 of the school year in which the proposal is
79 submitted, the state board shall notify the district school
80 board in writing whether the proposal is approved.
81 (3) EXEMPTION FROM LAWS.—
82 (a) With the exception of those laws listed in paragraph
83 (b), a participating school is exempt from the provisions of
84 chapters 1000-1013 and rules of the state board that implement
85 those exempt provisions.
86 (b) A participating school shall comply with the provisions
87 of chapters 1000-1013, and rules of the state board that
88 implement those provisions, pertaining to the following:
89 1. Those laws relating to the election and compensation of
90 district school board members, the election or appointment and
91 compensation of district school superintendents, public meetings
92 and public records requirements, financial disclosure, and
93 conflicts of interest.
94 2. Those laws relating to the student assessment program
95 and school grading system, including chapter 1008.
96 3. Those laws relating to the provision of services to
97 students with disabilities.
98 4. Those laws relating to civil rights, including s.
99 1000.05, relating to discrimination.
100 5. Those laws relating to student health, safety, and
101 welfare.
102 6. Section 1001.42(4)(f), relating to the uniform opening
103 date for public schools.
104 7. Section 1003.03, governing maximum class size, except
105 that the calculation for compliance pursuant to s. 1003.03 is
106 the average at the school level for a participating school.
107 8. Sections 1012.22(1)(c) and 1012.27(2), relating to
108 compensation and salary schedules.
109 9. Section 1012.33(5), relating to workforce reductions for
110 annual contracts for instructional personnel. This subparagraph
111 does not apply to at-will employees.
112 10. Section 1012.335, relating to annual contracts for
113 instructional personnel hired on or after July 1, 2011. This
114 subparagraph does not apply to at-will employees.
115 11. Section 1012.34, relating to personnel evaluation
116 procedures and criteria.
117 12. Those laws pertaining to educational facilities,
118 including chapter 1013, except that s. 1013.20, relating to
119 covered walkways for relocatables, and s. 1013.21, relating to
120 the use of relocatable facilities exceeding 20 years of age, are
121 eligible for exemption.
122 13. Those laws pertaining to participating school
123 districts, including this section and ss. 1011.69(2) and
124 1012.28(8).
125 (4) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.—Each participating school
126 district shall require that the principal of each participating
127 school, a three-member leadership team from each participating
128 school, and district personnel working with each participating
129 school complete a nationally recognized school turnaround
130 program which focuses on improving leadership, instructional
131 infrastructure, talent management, and differentiated support
132 and accountability. The required personnel must enroll in the
133 school turnaround program upon acceptance into the pilot
134 program.
135 (5) TERM OF PARTICIPATION.—The state board shall authorize
136 a school district to participate in the pilot program for a
137 period of 3 years commencing with approval of the principal
138 autonomy proposal. Authorization to participate in the pilot
139 program may be renewed upon action of the state board. The state
140 board may revoke authorization to participate in the pilot
141 program if the school district fails to meet the requirements of
142 this section during the 3-year period.
143 (6) REPORTING.—Each participating school district shall
144 submit an annual report to the state board. The state board
145 shall annually report on the implementation of the Principal
146 Autonomy Pilot Program Initiative. Upon completion of the pilot
147 program’s first 3-year term, the Commissioner of Education shall
148 submit to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the
149 House of Representatives by December 1 a full evaluation of the
150 effectiveness of the pilot program.
151 (7) FUNDING.—The Legislature may appropriate funding to the
152 department in the General Appropriations Act for the costs of
153 the pilot program, including administrative costs and enrollment
154 costs for the school turnaround program, and an additional
155 scholarship to each participating principal to be used at his or
156 her school.
157 (8) RULEMAKING.—The State Board of Education shall adopt
158 rules to administer this section.
159 Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 1011.69, Florida
160 Statutes, is amended to read:
161 1011.69 Equity in School-Level Funding Act.—
162 (2) Beginning in the 2003-2004 fiscal year, district school
163 boards shall allocate to schools within the district an average
164 of 90 percent of the funds generated by all schools and
165 guarantee that each school receives at least 80 percent of the
166 funds generated by that school based upon the Florida Education
167 Finance Program as provided in s. 1011.62 and the General
168 Appropriations Act, including gross state and local funds,
169 discretionary lottery funds, and funds from the school
170 district’s current operating discretionary millage levy. A
171 school participating in the Principal Autonomy Pilot Program
172 Initiative under s. 1011.6202 shall be guaranteed an allocation
173 of at least 90 percent of the funds generated by that school.
174 Total funding for each school shall be recalculated during the
175 year to reflect the revised calculations under the Florida
176 Education Finance Program by the state and the actual weighted
177 full-time equivalent students reported by the school during the
178 full-time equivalent student survey periods designated by the
179 Commissioner of Education. If the district school board is
180 providing programs or services to students funded by federal
181 funds, any eligible students enrolled in the schools in the
182 district shall be provided federal funds.
183 Section 3. Subsection (8) is added to section 1012.28,
184 Florida Statutes, to read:
185 1012.28 Public school personnel; duties of school
186 principals.—
187 (8) The principal of a school participating in the
188 Principal Autonomy Pilot Program Initiative under s. 1011.6202
189 has the following additional authority and responsibilities:
190 (a) In addition to the authority provided in subsection
191 (6), the authority to select qualified instructional personnel
192 for placement or to refuse to accept the placement or transfer
193 of instructional personnel by the district school
194 superintendent. Placement of instructional personnel at a
195 participating school in a participating school district does not
196 affect the employee’s status as a school district employee.
197 (b) The authority to deploy financial resources to school
198 programs at the principal’s discretion to help improve student
199 achievement, as defined in s. 1008.34(1), and meet performance
200 goals identified in the principal autonomy proposal submitted
201 pursuant to s. 1011.6202.
202 (c) To annually provide to the district school
203 superintendent and the district school board a budget for the
204 operation of the participating school that identifies how funds
205 provided pursuant to s. 1011.69(2) are allocated. The school
206 district shall include the budget in the annual report provided
207 to the State Board of Education pursuant to s. 1011.6202(6).
208 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.