Florida Senate - 2025 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 140
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LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
03/17/2025 .
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The Committee on Education Pre-K - 12 (Gaetz) recommended the
following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (3), paragraph (d)
6 of subsection (10), paragraph (c) of subsection (15), and
7 paragraph (e) of subsection (18) of section 1002.33, Florida
8 Statutes, are amended to read:
9 1002.33 Charter schools.—
10 (3) APPLICATION FOR CHARTER STATUS.—
11 (b) An application for a conversion charter school must
12 shall be made by the district school board, the principal,
13 teachers, parents whose children are enrolled at the school, or
14 and/or the school advisory council at an existing public school
15 that has been in operation for at least 2 years before prior to
16 the application to convert. A public school-within-a-school that
17 is designated as a school by the district school board may also
18 apply submit an application to convert to charter status. A
19 municipality seeking to attract job-producing entities by
20 establishing a job engine charter school pursuant to paragraph
21 (15)(c) may apply to the district school board to convert an
22 existing public school to a charter school. An application
23 submitted proposing to convert an existing public school to a
24 charter school must shall demonstrate the support of at least 50
25 percent of the teachers employed at the school and 50 percent of
26 the parents voting whose children are enrolled at the school,
27 provided that a majority of the parents eligible to vote
28 participate in the ballot process, according to rules adopted by
29 the State Board of Education. A district school board, college,
30 or state university that denies denying an application for a
31 conversion charter school shall provide notice of denial to the
32 applicants in writing within 10 days after the meeting at which
33 the district school board denied the application. The notice
34 must articulate in writing the specific reasons for denial and
35 must provide documentation supporting those reasons. A private
36 school, parochial school, or home education program is shall not
37 be eligible for charter school status.
38 (10) ELIGIBLE STUDENTS.—
39 (d) A charter school may give enrollment preference to the
40 following student populations:
41 1. Students who are siblings of a student enrolled in the
42 charter school.
43 2. Students who are the children of a member of the
44 governing board of the charter school.
45 3. Students who are the children of an employee of the
46 charter school.
47 4. Students who are the children of:
48 a. An employee of the business partner of a charter school
49 in-the-workplace established under paragraph (15)(b) or a
50 resident of the municipality in which such charter school is
51 located; or
52 b. A resident or employee of a municipality that operates a
53 charter school-in-a-municipality pursuant to paragraph (15)(c)
54 or allows a charter school to use a school facility or portion
55 of land provided by the municipality for the operation of the
56 charter school.
57 5. Students who have successfully completed, during the
58 previous year, a voluntary prekindergarten education program
59 under ss. 1002.51-1002.79 provided by the charter school, the
60 charter school’s governing board, or a voluntary prekindergarten
61 provider that has a written agreement with the governing board.
62 6. Students who are the children of an active duty member
63 of any branch of the United States Armed Forces.
64 7. Students who attended or are assigned to failing schools
65 pursuant to s. 1002.38(2).
66 8. Students who are the children of a safe-school officer,
67 as defined in s. 1006.12, at the school.
68 9. Students who transfer from a classical school in this
69 state to a charter classical school in this state. For purposes
70 of this subparagraph, the term “classical school” means a
71 traditional public school or charter school that implements a
72 classical education model that emphasizes the development of
73 students in the principles of moral character and civic virtue
74 through a well-rounded education in the liberal arts and
75 sciences which is based on the classical trivium stages of
76 grammar, logic, and rhetoric.
77 10. Students who attend a job engine charter school under
78 paragraph (15)(c) who are the children of an employee of a job
79 producing entity identified by the municipality in the annual
80 job engine charter report.
81 (15) CHARTER SCHOOLS-IN-THE-WORKPLACE; CHARTER SCHOOLS-IN
82 A-MUNICIPALITY.—
83 (c)1. A charter school-in-a-municipality designation may be
84 granted to a municipality that possesses a charter; enrolls
85 students based upon a random lottery that involves all of the
86 children of the residents of that municipality who are seeking
87 enrollment, as provided for in subsection (10); and enrolls
88 students according to the racial and ethnic racial/ethnic
89 balance provisions described in subparagraph (7)(a)8. When a
90 municipality has submitted charter applications for the
91 establishment of a charter school feeder pattern, consisting of
92 elementary, middle, and senior high schools, and each individual
93 charter application is approved by the sponsor, such schools
94 shall then be designated as one charter school for all purposes
95 listed pursuant to this section. Any portion of the land and
96 facility used for a public charter school shall be exempt from
97 ad valorem taxes, as provided for in s. 1013.54, for the
98 duration of its use as a public school.
99 2. A municipality may seek a charter under subparagraph 1.
100 from a sponsor in subsection (5). If granted, such a charter may
101 be designated a job engine charter. The purpose of a job engine
102 charter school is to attract job-producing entities to the
103 municipality. The charter must require the municipality to:
104 a. Provide an annual report to the sponsor which will be
105 made publicly available and include investments made to attract
106 and maintain job-producing entities, such as private sector
107 industries, in the municipality.
108 b. Include career education opportunities.
109 c. Include the provision of exceptional student education
110 administration services, pursuant to subparagraph (20)(a)1.
111 d. Require the use of sufficient security technology to
112 ensure a secure facility.
113 e. Notwithstanding paragraph (8)(e), accept responsibility
114 for all debts incurred by the job engine charter school.
115 3. A job engine charter school may give enrollment
116 preferences pursuant to subparagraph (10)(d)10.
117 (18) FACILITIES.—
118 (e) If a district school board facility or property is
119 available because it is surplus, marked for disposal, or
120 otherwise unused, it shall be provided for a charter school’s
121 use on the same basis as it is made available to other public
122 schools in the district. A charter school receiving property
123 from the sponsor may not sell or dispose of such property
124 without written permission of the sponsor. Similarly, for an
125 existing public school converting to charter status, a district
126 school board may not charge no rental or leasing fees fee for
127 the existing facility or for the property normally inventoried
128 to the conversion school may be charged by the district school
129 board to the parents and, principal, school advisory council, or
130 teachers organizing the charter school. The municipality must
131 negotiate rental or leasing fees with the district school board.
132 Property normally inventoried to the school may not be removed.
133 The charter school shall agree to reasonable maintenance
134 provisions in order to maintain the facility in a manner similar
135 to district school board standards. The Public Education Capital
136 Outlay maintenance funds or any other maintenance funds
137 generated by the facility operated as a conversion school shall
138 remain with the conversion school.
139 Section 2. Section 1011.801, Florida Statutes, is amended
140 to read:
141 1011.801 Workforce Development Capitalization Incentive
142 Grant Program.—The Legislature recognizes that the need for
143 school districts, charter schools, and Florida College System
144 institutions to be able to respond to emerging local or
145 statewide economic development needs is critical to the
146 workforce development system. The Workforce Development
147 Capitalization Incentive Grant Program is created to provide
148 grants to school districts, charter schools, and Florida College
149 System institutions to fund some or all of the costs associated
150 with the creation or expansion of career and technical education
151 programs that lead to industry certifications included on the
152 CAPE Industry Certification Funding List. The programs may serve
153 secondary students or postsecondary students if the
154 postsecondary career and technical education program also serves
155 secondary students in grades 6-12.
156 (1) Funds awarded for a workforce development
157 capitalization incentive grant may be used for instructional
158 equipment, laboratory equipment, supplies, personnel, student
159 services, or other expenses associated with the creation or
160 expansion of a career and technical education program that
161 serves secondary students. Expansion of a program may include
162 either the expansion of enrollments in a program or expansion
163 into new areas of specialization within a program. No grant
164 funds may be used for recurring instructional costs or for
165 institutions’ indirect costs.
166 (2) The Department of Education shall administer the
167 program. The State Board of Education may adopt rules for
168 program administration. The State Board of Education shall
169 consider the statewide geographic dispersion of grant funds in
170 ranking the applications and shall give priority to applications
171 from education agencies that are making maximum use of their
172 workforce development funding by offering high-performing, high
173 demand programs or to applications from a job engine charter
174 school under s. 1002.33(15)(c).
175 Section 3. Subsection (5) is added to section 1013.15,
176 Florida Statutes, to read:
177 1013.15 Lease, rental, and lease-purchase of educational
178 plants, ancillary plants, and auxiliary facilities and sites.—
179 (5) Before occupying purchased or acquired real property, a
180 district school board shall, in a public meeting, approve a 5
181 year plan for the proposed use of the real property, taking into
182 consideration enrollment growth, demographic shifts, and changes
183 in curriculum.
184 (a) A school board must demonstrate actual or projected 5
185 year growth in certain areas of a school district before
186 purchasing or acquiring real property, if enrollment in the
187 school district has declined by more than 4 percent in the
188 preceding 5-year period. If such a decline has occurred, a
189 school board must dispose of real property pursuant to s.
190 1013.28 in areas of the district which have declining
191 enrollment.
192 (b) Surplus real property must be disposed of only in the
193 best interests of the public, but priority must be given for
194 conversion to affordable housing for teachers, first responders,
195 or military servicemembers; charter school facilities; or the
196 use by a local government for the development of a recreational
197 facility.
198 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.
199
200 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
201 And the title is amended as follows:
202 Delete everything before the enacting clause
203 and insert:
204 A bill to be entitled
205 An act relating to charter schools; amending s.
206 1002.33, F.S.; revising which persons or entities may
207 apply for a conversion charter school; requiring a
208 college or state university to provide a written
209 notice of denial for denying an application for a
210 conversion charter school; revising eligible students
211 who may receive an enrollment preference; authorizing
212 a municipality to apply for a charter that it may
213 designate as a job engine charter under certain
214 conditions; providing the purpose of a job engine
215 charter school; providing requirements for a job
216 engine charter; prohibiting a district school board
217 from charging a rental or leasing fee for a conversion
218 school; requiring a municipality to negotiate certain
219 rental or leasing fees; prohibiting certain property
220 from being removed; amending s. 1011.801, F.S;
221 revising entities that are included in the Workforce
222 Development Capitalization Incentive Grant Program to
223 include charter schools; requiring the State Board of
224 Education to consider applications from a job engine
225 charter school for rulemaking purposes; amending s.
226 1013.15, F.S.; requiring a district school board to
227 approve a 5-year plan before occupying purchased or
228 acquired real property; requiring a school board to
229 dispose of real property in certain areas of the
230 district if enrollment in those areas has declined in
231 the preceding 5-year period; requiring that surplus
232 real property be given priority for conversion for
233 specified purposes; providing an effective date.