Florida Senate - 2020 SB 526 By Senator Diaz 36-00681-20 2020526__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to charter schools; amending s. 3 1002.33, F.S.; prohibiting specified individuals and 4 entities from submitting an application to open a 5 charter school for specified periods of time; 6 providing an exception; defining the term “relative” 7 for the purpose of applying the prohibition; providing 8 an effective date. 9 10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 11 12 Section 1. Paragraph (r) is added to subsection (9) of 13 section 1002.33, Florida Statutes, to read: 14 1002.33 Charter schools.— 15 (9) CHARTER SCHOOL REQUIREMENTS.— 16 (r) If a sponsor chooses not to renew or chooses to 17 terminate a charter pursuant to paragraph (8)(a) or paragraph 18 (8)(c), or if a charter school voluntarily closes before the end 19 of a school year or within 1 year after beginning operations, 20 excluding a charter school that closes due to consolidation with 21 another charter school, the charter school applicant, owner, 22 president, superintendent, principal, governing board members, 23 and the relatives of the applicant, owner, president, 24 superintendent, principal, or governing board member may not 25 submit an application to open a charter school in this state 26 pursuant to subsection (6) for a period of 5 years after the 27 charter is not renewed or is terminated, or the charter school 28 closes pursuant to this paragraph. If a charter school 29 applicant, owner, president, superintendent, principal, or a 30 member of a charter school governing board, a charter management 31 organization, or an education management organization is 32 convicted of a crime, including, but not limited to, fraud or 33 financial offenses related to the operation of a charter school, 34 such applicant, owner, president, superintendent, principal, or 35 governing board member, including any relatives of such 36 individuals, or the charter management organization or the 37 education management organization may not apply for a charter 38 pursuant to subsection (6) or operate or manage a charter school 39 in this state for a period of 10 years after such conviction. 40 For the purpose of this paragraph, the term “relative” has the 41 same meaning as specified under subparagraph (24)(a)2. 42 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.