Florida Senate - 2026 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1620
Ì534222qÎ534222
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
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The Committee on Rules (Leek) recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. Section 1001.366, Florida Statutes, is created
6 to read:
7 1001.366 District School Board Members’ Bill of Rights.—A
8 member of a district school board has the right to:
9 (1) Upon request, be given free and timely access to all
10 school district documents necessary to fulfill the duties and
11 responsibilities required under the State Constitution and the
12 Florida Early Learning-20 Education Code. Access to documents
13 that are confidential or exempt from public disclosure shall be
14 provided in compliance with applicable law. A request not
15 related to a matter on a publicly noticed meeting of the
16 district school board must be fulfilled within 10 business days
17 after receipt of such request. Any document provided to a
18 district school board member must be offered to all board
19 members.
20 (2) Consult with the school district’s chief financial
21 officer on general matters related to the budget, sources and
22 uses of school district funds, and have reasonable access, upon
23 request, to any detail or line item in any proposed or approved
24 budget or in any financial transaction by the school district.
25 (3) Request any document or information, except for
26 documents or information that the member would be prohibited by
27 law from accessing, from school district staff with the
28 permission of the superintendent or other members of the
29 administration where such permission shall not be unreasonably
30 withheld.
31 (4) Confidentially use any school district electronic or
32 communications device, such as a cellular telephone or laptop
33 computer, without the school district monitoring its use. This
34 paragraph may not be construed to violate district school board
35 policy regarding the use of electronic devices or media or any
36 public records law.
37 (5) Comment publicly during or outside of district school
38 board meetings on any matter of district school board business,
39 except for student and employee disciplinary hearings that are
40 specifically addressed in ss. 1006.07 and 1012.34, respectively,
41 or other matters prohibited by law.
42 Section 2. Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (1) of
43 section 1001.42, Florida Statutes, to read:
44 1001.42 Powers and duties of district school board.—The
45 district school board, acting as a board, shall exercise all
46 powers and perform all duties listed below:
47 (1) REQUIRE MINUTES AND RECORDS TO BE KEPT.—Require the
48 district school superintendent, as secretary, to keep such
49 minutes and records as are necessary to set forth clearly all
50 actions and proceedings of the school board.
51 (c) Other records.—Other documents, including attachments
52 for agenda items, such as vendor contracts or budget documents,
53 must be kept as a public record with the minutes of each
54 meeting.
55 Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
56 1011.035, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
57 1011.035 School district fiscal transparency.—
58 (2) Each district school board shall post on its website a
59 plain language version of each proposed, tentative, and official
60 budget which describes each budget item in terms that are easily
61 understandable to the public and includes:
62 (a) Graphical representations, for each public school
63 within the district and for the school district, of the
64 following:
65 1. Summary financial efficiency data.
66 2. Fiscal trend information for the previous 3 years on:
67 a. The ratio of full-time equivalent students to full-time
68 equivalent instructional personnel.
69 b. The ratio of full-time equivalent students to full-time
70 equivalent administrative personnel.
71 c. The total operating expenditures per full-time
72 equivalent student.
73 d. The total instructional expenditures per full-time
74 equivalent student.
75 e. The general administrative expenditures as a percentage
76 of total budget.
77 f. The rate of change in the general fund’s ending fund
78 balance not classified as restricted.
79 g. Full line-item budget items.
80
81 This information must be prominently posted on the school
82 district’s website in a manner that is readily accessible to the
83 public.
84 Section 4. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
85 1012.22, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (k) is
86 added to that subsection, to read:
87 1012.22 Public school personnel; powers and duties of the
88 district school board.—The district school board shall:
89 (1) Designate positions to be filled, prescribe
90 qualifications for those positions, and provide for the
91 appointment, compensation, promotion, suspension, and dismissal
92 of employees as follows, subject to the requirements of this
93 chapter:
94 (a) Positions, qualifications, and appointments.—
95 1. The district school board shall act upon written
96 recommendations submitted by the district school superintendent
97 for positions to be filled, for minimum qualifications for
98 personnel for the various positions, and for the persons
99 nominated to fill such positions.
100 2. The district school board may reject for good cause any
101 employee nominated.
102 3. If the third nomination by the district school
103 superintendent for any position is rejected for good cause, if
104 the district school superintendent fails to submit a nomination
105 for initial employment within a reasonable time as prescribed by
106 the district school board, or if the district school
107 superintendent fails to submit a nomination for reemployment
108 within the time prescribed by law, the district school board may
109 proceed on its own motion to fill such position.
110 4. The district school board’s decision to reject a
111 person’s nomination does not give that person a right of action
112 to sue over the rejection and may not be used as a cause of
113 action by the nominated employee.
114 5. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “good
115 cause” means the district school board has determined any of the
116 following:
117 a. That the nominated employee fabricated or materially
118 exaggerated his or her credentials or background.
119 b. That the nominated employee does not meet the minimum
120 requirements for the position.
121 c. That the nominated employee’s educator certificate has
122 been revoked by another state.
123 (k) Nondisclosure or confidentiality.—A school district
124 employee may not be required or otherwise incentivized to sign a
125 nondisclosure agreement or confidentiality agreement. A school
126 district may not impose conditions on employment to circumvent
127 this paragraph.
128 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.
129
130 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
131 And the title is amended as follows:
132 Delete everything before the enacting clause
133 and insert:
134 A bill to be entitled
135 An act relating to public education; creating s.
136 1001.366, F.S.; providing members of a district school
137 board with specified rights; amending s. 1001.42,
138 F.S.; requiring that certain documents from district
139 school board meetings be kept as public records;
140 amending s. 1011.035, F.S.; requiring that full line
141 item budget items be posted on a school district’s
142 website; amending s. 1012.22, F.S.; defining the term
143 “good cause”; providing that a school district
144 employee may not be required or incentivized to sign a
145 nondisclosure agreement or confidentiality agreement;
146 prohibiting a school district from imposing certain
147 conditions on employment; providing an effective date.