Florida Senate - 2025                                     SB 540
       
       
        
       By Senator Collins
       
       
       
       
       
       14-00597B-25                                           2025540__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to disability history and awareness
    3         instruction; providing a short title; amending s.
    4         1003.4205, F.S.; requiring, rather than authorizing,
    5         disability history and awareness instruction;
    6         requiring that disability history and awareness
    7         instruction include specified material; authorizing a
    8         district school board to consult with the Evin B.
    9         Hartsell Foundation to further develop material;
   10         providing an effective date.
   11          
   12  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   13  
   14         Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Evin B. Hartsell
   15  Act.”
   16         Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
   17  1003.4205, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   18         1003.4205 Disability history and awareness instruction.—
   19         (2)(a) During this 2-week period, students must may be
   20  provided intensive instruction to expand their knowledge,
   21  understanding, and awareness of individuals with disabilities,
   22  the history of disability, and the disability rights movement.
   23  Disability history may include the events and timelines of the
   24  development and evolution of services to, and the civil rights
   25  of, individuals with disabilities. Disability history may also
   26  include the contributions of specific individuals with
   27  disabilities, including the contributions of acknowledged
   28  national leaders.
   29         1. Instruction must include the following material:
   30         a. For grades K-3:
   31         (I) Conversations on bullying. Such conversations may
   32  address what students should do if they are being bullied, what
   33  they should do if they see someone being bullied, why bullying
   34  is not the victim’s fault, what different types of bullying look
   35  like, the possibility that a friend could be a bully, or the
   36  school’s antibullying policy.
   37         (II) Activities to teach about physical disabilities. Such
   38  activities may include having students take turns using a
   39  wheelchair, having students try to complete tasks using only one
   40  hand, or having students try to complete tasks with a blindfold
   41  while other students act as guides.
   42         b. For grades 4-6:
   43         (I) Information about autism spectrum disorder.
   44         (II) Activities that demonstrate what life with an autism
   45  spectrum disorder is like. Such activities may include requiring
   46  students to attempt to communicate with one another without
   47  speaking.
   48         c. For grades 7-9:
   49         (I) Information about hearing impairments.
   50         (II) Activities that demonstrate what life with hearing
   51  impairment is like. Such activities may include requiring
   52  students to wear ear plugs and attempt to listen as the teacher
   53  reads aloud while noise plays in the background or requiring
   54  students to attempt to read one another’s lips.
   55         d. For grades 10-12:
   56         (I) Information on different types of learning and
   57  intellectual disabilities.
   58         (II) Activities that demonstrate what life with a learning
   59  or intellectual disability is like. Such activities may include
   60  requiring students to read sentences written backwards.
   61         2. A district school board may consult with the Evin B.
   62  Hartsell Foundation to further develop the curricula in
   63  subparagraph 1.
   64         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.