Florida Senate - 2026                             CS for SB 1738
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Education Pre-K - 12; and Senator Yarborough
       
       
       
       
       
       581-02511-26                                          20261738c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to educational facilities; requiring
    3         the Office of Educational Facilities and the Office of
    4         Safe Schools to collaborate with specified entities to
    5         review the State Requirements for Educational
    6         Facilities; providing requirements for the review;
    7         requiring that recommendations be provided to
    8         specified entities; providing an effective date.
    9          
   10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   11  
   12         Section 1. (1) The Office of Educational Facilities and
   13  the Office of Safe Schools within the Department of Education
   14  shall collaborate with at least one state university that has
   15  research experience in the design and construction of
   16  educational facilities; district facilities directors;
   17  representatives of the Florida Building Commission; and sheriffs
   18  or police chiefs to review the State Requirements for
   19  Educational Facilities required under s. 1013.37, Florida
   20  Statutes, and make recommendations, as appropriate, to improve
   21  teacher and student safety and accountability through a school’s
   22  physical plant. The review must include all of the following:
   23         (a) Recommended changes in new construction and renovations
   24  which may reduce the occurrence of misconduct between teachers
   25  and students and between students. Such misconduct may include,
   26  but is not limited to, physical and sexual abuse, inappropriate
   27  relationships with students, bullying, and harassment.
   28         (b) Configurations of a physical plant, such as using
   29  lighting, windows, doors, mirrors, and cameras, to ensure that
   30  student interactions with adults are observable and that there
   31  are opportunities for the interactions to be interrupted, to
   32  reduce times that a student may be isolated, and to maintain
   33  access control over spaces.
   34         (2) The review required in this section must be conducted
   35  in a manner that does not conflict with, diminish, or compromise
   36  physical plant hardening requirements for school safety, which
   37  must prioritize the creation of a secure, layered environment
   38  designed to prevent, detect, delay, and respond to threats.
   39         (3) Recommendations must be submitted to the department,
   40  which shall transmit the recommendations and any comments as a
   41  part of its next biennial review to the Florida Building
   42  Commission consistent with s. 1013.37(4), Florida Statutes, with
   43  copies to the Governor, the State Fire Marshal, the President of
   44  the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
   45         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.