Florida Senate - 2016                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 830
       
       
       
       
       
       
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                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
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       The Committee on Education Pre-K - 12 (Montford) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with directory and title amendments)
    2  
    3         Between lines 191 and 192
    4  insert:
    5         (7) CHARTER.—The major issues involving the operation of a
    6  charter school shall be considered in advance and written into
    7  the charter. The charter shall be signed by the governing board
    8  of the charter school and the sponsor, following a public
    9  hearing to ensure community input.
   10         (a) The charter shall address and criteria for approval of
   11  the charter shall be based on:
   12         1. The school’s mission, the students to be served, and the
   13  ages and grades to be included.
   14         2. The focus of the curriculum, the instructional methods
   15  to be used, any distinctive instructional techniques to be
   16  employed, and identification and acquisition of appropriate
   17  technologies needed to improve educational and administrative
   18  performance which include a means for promoting safe, ethical,
   19  and appropriate uses of technology which comply with legal and
   20  professional standards.
   21         a. The charter shall ensure that reading is a primary focus
   22  of the curriculum and that resources are provided to identify
   23  and provide specialized instruction for students who are reading
   24  below grade level. The curriculum and instructional strategies
   25  for reading must be consistent with the Next Generation Sunshine
   26  State Standards and grounded in scientifically based reading
   27  research.
   28         b. In order to provide students with access to diverse
   29  instructional delivery models, to facilitate the integration of
   30  technology within traditional classroom instruction, and to
   31  provide students with the skills they need to compete in the
   32  21st century economy, the Legislature encourages instructional
   33  methods for blended learning courses consisting of both
   34  traditional classroom and online instructional techniques.
   35  Charter schools may implement blended learning courses which
   36  combine traditional classroom instruction and virtual
   37  instruction. Students in a blended learning course must be full
   38  time students of the charter school and receive the online
   39  instruction in a classroom setting at the charter school.
   40  Instructional personnel certified pursuant to s. 1012.55 who
   41  provide virtual instruction for blended learning courses may be
   42  employees of the charter school or may be under contract to
   43  provide instructional services to charter school students. At a
   44  minimum, such instructional personnel must hold an active state
   45  or school district adjunct certification under s. 1012.57 for
   46  the subject area of the blended learning course. The funding and
   47  performance accountability requirements for blended learning
   48  courses are the same as those for traditional courses.
   49         3. The current incoming baseline standard of student
   50  academic achievement, the outcomes to be achieved, and the
   51  method of measurement that will be used. The criteria listed in
   52  this subparagraph shall include a detailed description of:
   53         a. How the baseline student academic achievement levels and
   54  prior rates of academic progress will be established.
   55         b. How these baseline rates will be compared to rates of
   56  academic progress achieved by these same students while
   57  attending the charter school.
   58         c. To the extent possible, how these rates of progress will
   59  be evaluated and compared with rates of progress of other
   60  closely comparable student populations.
   61  
   62  The district school board is required to provide academic
   63  student performance data to charter schools for each of their
   64  students coming from the district school system, as well as
   65  rates of academic progress of comparable student populations in
   66  the district school system.
   67         4. The methods used to identify the educational strengths
   68  and needs of students and how well educational goals and
   69  performance standards are met by students attending the charter
   70  school. The methods shall provide a means for the charter school
   71  to ensure accountability to its constituents by analyzing
   72  student performance data and by evaluating the effectiveness and
   73  efficiency of its major educational programs. Students in
   74  charter schools shall, at a minimum, participate in the
   75  statewide assessment program created under s. 1008.22.
   76         5. In secondary charter schools, a method for determining
   77  that a student has satisfied the requirements for graduation in
   78  s. 1002.3105(5), s. 1003.4281, or s. 1003.4282.
   79         6. A method for resolving conflicts between the governing
   80  board of the charter school and the sponsor.
   81         7. The admissions procedures and dismissal procedures,
   82  including the school’s code of student conduct.
   83         8. The ways by which the school will achieve a
   84  racial/ethnic balance reflective of the community it serves or
   85  within the racial/ethnic range of other public schools in the
   86  same school district.
   87         9. The financial and administrative management of the
   88  school, including a reasonable demonstration of the professional
   89  experience or competence of those individuals or organizations
   90  applying to operate the charter school or those hired or
   91  retained to perform such professional services and the
   92  description of clearly delineated responsibilities and the
   93  policies and practices needed to effectively manage the charter
   94  school. A description of internal audit procedures and
   95  establishment of controls to ensure that financial resources are
   96  properly managed must be included. Both public sector and
   97  private sector professional experience shall be equally valid in
   98  such a consideration. The charter must document that the charter
   99  school governing board is independent of any management company
  100  and may, at its sole discretion, terminate the contract with the
  101  management company at any time.
  102         10. The asset and liability projections required in the
  103  application which are incorporated into the charter and shall be
  104  compared with information provided in the annual report of the
  105  charter school.
  106         11. A description of procedures that identify various risks
  107  and provide for a comprehensive approach to reduce the impact of
  108  losses; plans to ensure the safety and security of students and
  109  staff; plans to identify, minimize, and protect others from
  110  violent or disruptive student behavior; and the manner in which
  111  the school will be insured, including whether or not the school
  112  will be required to have liability insurance, and, if so, the
  113  terms and conditions thereof and the amounts of coverage.
  114         12. The term of the charter which shall provide for
  115  cancellation of the charter if insufficient progress has been
  116  made in attaining the student achievement objectives of the
  117  charter and if it is not likely that such objectives can be
  118  achieved before expiration of the charter. The initial term of a
  119  charter shall be for 4 or 5 years. In order to facilitate access
  120  to long-term financial resources for charter school
  121  construction, charter schools that are operated by a
  122  municipality or other public entity as provided by law are
  123  eligible for up to a 15-year charter, subject to approval by the
  124  district school board. A charter lab school is eligible for a
  125  charter for a term of up to 15 years. In addition, to facilitate
  126  access to long-term financial resources for charter school
  127  construction, charter schools that are operated by a private,
  128  not-for-profit, s. 501(c)(3) status corporation are eligible for
  129  up to a 15-year charter, subject to approval by the district
  130  school board. Such long-term charters remain subject to annual
  131  review and may be terminated during the term of the charter, but
  132  only according to the provisions set forth in subsection (8).
  133         13. The facilities to be used and their location. The
  134  sponsor may not require a charter school to have a certificate
  135  of occupancy or a temporary certificate of occupancy for such a
  136  facility earlier than 15 calendar days before the first day of
  137  school.
  138         14. The qualifications to be required of the teachers and
  139  the potential strategies used to recruit, hire, train, and
  140  retain qualified staff to achieve best value.
  141         15. The governance structure of the school, including the
  142  status of the charter school as a public or private employer as
  143  required in paragraph (12)(i). At least one member of the
  144  charter school governing board must be the parent of a student
  145  enrolled in that school.
  146         16. A timetable for implementing the charter which
  147  addresses the implementation of each element thereof and the
  148  date by which the charter shall be awarded in order to meet this
  149  timetable.
  150         17. In the case of an existing public school that is being
  151  converted to charter status, alternative arrangements for
  152  current students who choose not to attend the charter school and
  153  for current teachers who choose not to teach in the charter
  154  school after conversion in accordance with the existing
  155  collective bargaining agreement or district school board rule in
  156  the absence of a collective bargaining agreement. However,
  157  alternative arrangements shall not be required for current
  158  teachers who choose not to teach in a charter lab school, except
  159  as authorized by the employment policies of the state university
  160  which grants the charter to the lab school.
  161         18. Full disclosure of the identity of all relatives
  162  employed by the charter school who are related to the charter
  163  school owner, president, chairperson of the governing board of
  164  directors, superintendent, governing board member, principal,
  165  assistant principal, or any other person employed by the charter
  166  school who has equivalent decisionmaking authority. For the
  167  purpose of this subparagraph, the term “relative” means father,
  168  mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first
  169  cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, father-in-law, mother-in
  170  law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law,
  171  stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother,
  172  stepsister, half brother, or half sister.
  173         19. Implementation of the activities authorized under s.
  174  1002.331 by the charter school when it satisfies the eligibility
  175  requirements for a high-performing charter school. A high
  176  performing charter school shall notify its sponsor in writing by
  177  March 1 if it intends to increase enrollment or expand grade
  178  levels the following school year. The written notice shall
  179  specify the amount of the enrollment increase and the grade
  180  levels that will be added, as applicable.
  181  
  182  ====== D I R E C T O R Y  C L A U S E  A M E N D M E N T ======
  183  And the directory clause is amended as follows:
  184         Between lines 40 and 41
  185  insert:
  186  paragraph (a) of subsection (7),
  187  
  188  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  189  And the title is amended as follows:
  190         Delete line 4
  191  and insert:
  192         school application; revising the information that a
  193         charter must address; revising the membership of the
  194         charter school governing board; providing for the
  195         automatic