Florida Senate - 2025 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 166
Ì332758IÎ332758
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
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Floor: 1/AD/2R .
04/03/2025 09:59 AM .
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Senator Simon moved the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete lines 705 - 843
4 and insert:
5 of the adoption cycle, subject to state board requirement for an
6 earlier purchase date for a specific subject area, unless a
7 district school board or a consortium of school districts has
8 implemented an instructional materials program pursuant to s.
9 1006.283.
10 Section 19. Subsections (2) and (3) of section 1008.212,
11 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
12 1008.212 Students with disabilities; extraordinary
13 exemption.—
14 (2) A student with a disability for whom the individual
15 education plan (IEP) team determines is prevented by a
16 circumstance or condition from physically demonstrating the
17 mastery of skills that have been acquired and are measured by
18 the statewide standardized assessment, a statewide standardized
19 end-of-course assessment, or an alternate assessment pursuant to
20 s. 1008.22(3)(d) shall be granted an extraordinary exemption
21 from the administration of the assessment. A learning,
22 emotional, behavioral, or significant cognitive disability, or
23 the receipt of services through the homebound or hospitalized
24 program in accordance with rule 6A-6.03020, Florida
25 Administrative Code, is not, in and of itself, an adequate
26 criterion for the granting of an extraordinary exemption. The
27 first two administrations of the coordinated screening and
28 progress monitoring system under s. 1008.25(9) or any alternate
29 assessments used in lieu of such administrations are not subject
30 to the requirements of this section.
31 (3) The IEP team, which must include the parent, may submit
32 to the district school superintendent a written request for an
33 extraordinary exemption from the end-of-year or end-of-course
34 statewide, standardized assessment at any time during the school
35 year, but not later than 60 days before the current year’s
36 assessment administration for which the request is made. A
37 request must include all of the following:
38 (a) A written description of the student’s disabilities,
39 including a specific description of the student’s impaired
40 sensory, manual, or speaking skills.
41 (b) Written documentation of the most recent evaluation
42 data.
43 (c) Written documentation, if available, of the most recent
44 administration of the statewide standardized assessment, an end
45 of-course assessment, or an alternate assessment.
46 (d) A written description of the condition’s effect on the
47 student’s participation in the statewide standardized
48 assessment, an end-of-course assessment, or an alternate
49 assessment.
50 (e) Written evidence that the student has had the
51 opportunity to learn the skills being tested.
52 (f) Written evidence that the student has been provided
53 appropriate instructional accommodations.
54 (g) Written evidence as to whether the student has had the
55 opportunity to be assessed using the instructional
56 accommodations on the student’s IEP which are allowable in the
57 administration of the statewide standardized assessment, an end
58 of-course assessment, or an alternate assessment in prior
59 assessments.
60 (h) Written evidence of the circumstance or condition as
61 defined in subsection (1).
62 Section 20. Paragraphs (a), (b), and (d) of subsection (7)
63 of section 1008.22, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
64 1008.22 Student assessment program for public schools.—
65 (7) ASSESSMENT SCHEDULES AND REPORTING OF RESULTS.—
66 (a) The Commissioner of Education shall establish schedules
67 for the administration of statewide, standardized assessments
68 and the reporting of student assessment results. The
69 commissioner shall consider the observance of religious and
70 school holidays when developing the schedules. By January 1 of
71 each year, the commissioner shall notify each school district in
72 writing and publish on the department’s website the assessment
73 schedule for, at a minimum, the next 2 school years. The
74 assessment and reporting schedules must provide the earliest
75 possible reporting of student assessment results to the school
76 districts. Assessment results for the statewide, standardized
77 ELA and Mathematics assessments and all statewide, standardized
78 EOC assessments must be made available no later than June 30,
79 except for results for the grade 3 statewide, standardized ELA
80 assessment, which must be made available no later than May 31.
81 Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, assessment results for
82 the statewide, standardized ELA and Mathematics assessments must
83 be available no later than May 31. School districts shall
84 administer statewide, standardized assessments in accordance
85 with the schedule established by the commissioner.
86 (b) By January of each year, the commissioner shall publish
87 on the department’s website a uniform calendar that includes the
88 assessment and reporting schedules for, at a minimum, the next 2
89 school years. The uniform calendar must be provided to school
90 districts in an electronic format that allows each school
91 district and public school to populate the calendar with, at
92 minimum, the following information for reporting the district
93 assessment schedules under paragraph (d):
94 1. Whether the assessment is a district-required assessment
95 or a state-required assessment.
96 2. The specific date or dates that each assessment will be
97 administered, including administrations of the coordinated
98 screening and progress monitoring system under s. 1008.25(9)(b).
99 3. The time allotted to administer each assessment.
100 4. Whether the assessment is a computer-based assessment or
101 a paper-based assessment.
102 5. The grade level or subject area associated with the
103 assessment.
104 6. The date that the assessment results are expected to be
105 available to teachers and parents.
106 7. The type of assessment, the purpose of the assessment,
107 and the use of the assessment results.
108 8. A glossary of assessment terminology.
109 9. Estimates of average time for administering state
110 required and district-required assessments, by grade level.
111 (c)(d) Each school district shall, by November 1 of each
112 year, establish schedules for the administration of any
113 statewide, standardized assessments and district-required
114 assessments and approve the schedules as an agenda item at a
115 district school board meeting. Each school district shall
116 publish the testing schedules on its website which specify
117 whether an assessment is a state-required or district-required
118 assessment and the grade bands or subject areas associated with
119 the assessments using the uniform calendar, including all
120 information required under paragraph (b), and submit the
121 schedules to the Department of Education by October 1 of each
122 year. Each public school shall publish schedules for statewide,
123 standardized assessments and district-required assessments on
124 its website using the uniform calendar, including all
125 information required under paragraph (b). The school board
126 approved assessment uniform calendar must be included in the
127 parent guide required by s. 1002.23(5).
128 Section 21. Paragraph (b) of subsection (7) and paragraphs
129 (b), (c), and (d) of subsection (9) of section 1008.25, Florida
130 Statutes, are amended to read:
131 1008.25 Public school student progression; student support;
132 coordinated screening and progress monitoring; reporting
133 requirements.—
134 (7) ELIMINATION OF SOCIAL PROMOTION.—
135 (b) The district school board may only exempt students from
136 mandatory retention, as provided in paragraph (5)(c), for good
137 cause. A student promoted to grade 4 with a good cause exemption
138 shall be provided intensive reading instruction and intervention
139 that include specialized diagnostic information and specific
140 reading strategies to meet the needs of each student so
141 promoted. The school district shall assist schools and teachers
142 with the implementation of explicit, systematic, and
143 multisensory reading instruction and intervention strategies for
144 students promoted with a good cause exemption which research has
145 shown to be successful in improving reading among students who
146 have reading difficulties. Upon the request of the parent, the
147 teacher or school administrator shall meet to discuss the
148 student’s progress. The parent may request more frequent
149 notification of the student’s progress, more frequent
150 interventions or supports, and earlier implementation of the
151 additional interventions or supports described in the initial
152 notification. Good cause exemptions are limited to the
153 following:
154 1. Limited English proficient students who have had less
155 than 2 years of instruction in an English for Speakers of Other
156 Languages program based on the initial date of entry into a
157 school in the United States.
158 2. Students with disabilities whose individual education
159 plan indicates that participation in the statewide assessment
160 program is not appropriate, consistent with the requirements of
161 s. 1008.212.
162 3. Students who demonstrate an acceptable level of
163 performance on an alternative standardized reading or English
164 Language Arts assessment approved by the State Board of
165 Education.
166 4. Students who demonstrate through a student portfolio
167 that they are performing at least at Level 2 on the statewide,
168 standardized English Language Arts assessment.
169 5. Students with disabilities who take the statewide,
170 standardized English Language Arts assessment and who have an
171 individual education plan or a Section 504 plan that reflects
172 that the student has received intensive instruction in reading
173 or English Language Arts for more than 2 years but still
174 demonstrates a deficiency and was previously retained in
175 prekindergarten, kindergarten, grade 1, grade 2, or grade 3.
176 6. Students who have received intensive reading
177 intervention for 2 or more years but still demonstrate a
178 deficiency in reading and who were previously retained in
179 kindergarten, grade 1, grade 2, or grade 3 for a total of 2
180 years. A student may not be retained more than once in grade 3.
181 7. Students who have scored a level 2 or higher on both the
182 initial and midyear administrations of the coordinated screening
183 and progress monitoring system.
184
185 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
186 And the title is amended as follows:
187 Delete lines 70 - 87
188 and insert:
189 purchased; authorizing the State Board of Education to
190 modify the timeframe; amending s. 1008.212, F.S.;
191 providing that certain assessments are not subject to
192 specified requirements; specifying the assessments
193 from which IEP teams must submit requests for
194 extraordinary exemptions; amending s. 1008.22, F.S.;
195 requiring the Commissioner of Education to notify
196 school districts of the assessment schedule for a
197 specified time interval; deleting requirements
198 relating to a uniform calendar that must be published
199 by the commissioner each year; revising an annual
200 timeframe for each school district to establish
201 schedules for the administration of statewide,
202 standardized assessments; requiring each school
203 district to publish certain information regarding such
204 schedules on its website; conforming provisions to
205 changes made by the act; amending s. 1008.25, F.S.;
206 providing an additional good cause exemption for a
207 student to be