Florida Senate - 2021                              CS for SB 200
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Education; and Senator Berman
       
       
       
       
       
       581-01977-21                                           2021200c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to student retention; authorizing a
    3         parent to request that his or her student be retained
    4         in a grade level for a specified school year;
    5         requiring such a request to be submitted in a
    6         specified manner; requiring school district
    7         superintendents to grant such requests if they are
    8         timely received; authorizing school district
    9         superintendents to grant requests that are not timely
   10         received; requiring a retained student to remain in
   11         the grade in which he or she was retained in until the
   12         student qualifies for promotion at the end of the
   13         school year; requiring school districts to report
   14         certain data to the Department of Education by a
   15         specified date; providing an effective date.
   16          
   17  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   18  
   19         Section 1. Notwithstanding s. 1008.25, Florida Statutes, a
   20  parent may request to retain his or her K-8 public school
   21  student in the grade level to which the student was assigned at
   22  the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year for the 2021-2022
   23  school year.
   24         (1) A parent who wishes for his or her student to be
   25  retained under this act shall submit a retention request in
   26  writing to the school district superintendent. Only requests
   27  received by the superintendent on or before June 30, 2021, must
   28  be considered. A school district superintendent who timely
   29  receives such a request shall grant the request. A school
   30  district superintendent who receives such a written request
   31  after the deadline for receipt may grant the request upon his or
   32  her discretion.
   33         (2) A student retained at the request of a parent pursuant
   34  to this act may not qualify for midyear promotion pursuant to s.
   35  1002.3105, Florida Statutes, and shall remain in the grade in
   36  which he or she was retained until the student qualifies for
   37  promotion at the end of the school year.
   38         (3) By June 30, 2022, school districts shall report to the
   39  Department of Education the number of students retained pursuant
   40  to this act for all or part of the 2021-2022 school year.
   41         Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.