Florida Senate - 2026                                     SB 494
       
       
        
       By Senator Arrington
       
       
       
       
       
       25-00193A-26                                           2026494__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to student elopement; creating s.
    3         1003.211, F.S.; defining terms; requiring public
    4         schools to create a School Staff Assistance for
    5         Emergencies (SAFE) Team and a school elopement plan;
    6         providing requirements for the plan; providing for
    7         membership and responsibilities of the SAFE Team;
    8         requiring the SAFE Team to create student-specific
    9         elopement quick reference guides for certain students;
   10         providing requirements for such guides; requiring
   11         public schools to annually submit their plans to the
   12         district school board; authorizing the State Board of
   13         Education to adopt rules; providing an effective date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Section 1003.211, Florida Statutes, is created
   18  to read:
   19         1003.211 School elopement plans.—
   20         (1) For purposes of this section, the term:
   21         (a) “Disability” means, for a student in kindergarten
   22  through grade 12, an autism spectrum disorder, as defined in the
   23  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth
   24  Edition, published by the American Psychiatric Association, or
   25  an intellectual disability as defined in s. 393.063.
   26         (b)1. “Elopement” means when a student with autism spectrum
   27  disorder or other disability leaves a safe or designated area,
   28  the supervision of school staff, or school grounds without
   29  authorization or awareness of potential risk, and such student
   30  has a documented history of doing so.
   31         2. Elopement may include wandering, walking away, running
   32  away, or otherwise departing an assigned location unsupervised
   33  or unnoticed, only when the behavior is connected to the
   34  student’s disability-related needs and poses a safety concern.
   35         3. Elopement does not include intentional class-skipping or
   36  other non-disability-related absences.
   37         (2) To ensure the safety of students with disabilities at
   38  risk of elopement, each public school shall create a School
   39  Staff Assistance for Emergencies (SAFE) Team and a school
   40  elopement plan. The plan must include procedures for immediately
   41  contacting the parent or guardian of a student with disabilities
   42  if the student elopes. The plan must include procedures for
   43  conducting an immediate, coordinated on-campus search and
   44  contacting emergency services only when the student is
   45  reasonably believed, based on verified information or direct
   46  observation, to have left school grounds and to be at risk of
   47  harm.
   48         (3) The school principal and an assistant principal shall
   49  serve on the SAFE Team, and the school principal shall appoint
   50  at least three other school members, including the school
   51  resource officer, to serve on the team. The SAFE Team shall do
   52  all of the following:
   53         (a) Create and annually update the school elopement plan
   54  and respond to all elopements.
   55         (b) Provide training to all school personnel to familiarize
   56  such personnel with the school elopement plan and all necessary
   57  procedures.
   58         (4)(a) If a student with disabilities is prone to
   59  elopement, the SAFE Team, in coordination with the student’s
   60  parent or guardian, must create a student-specific elopement
   61  quick reference guide. The elopement quick reference guide must
   62  include all of the following:
   63         1. The student’s identifying information.
   64         2. A current photograph of the student.
   65         3. The student’s level of communication.
   66         4. A list of the student’s interests, behaviors,
   67  preferences, and aversions.
   68         5. Any health considerations for the student.
   69         6. A list of any GPS technology that could be used to help
   70  locate the student.
   71         7. A list of possible locations where the student may go
   72  when eloping.
   73         (b) The SAFE Team must distribute a student’s elopement
   74  quick reference guide to the student’s parent and all relevant
   75  school personnel.
   76         (5) Each public school must annually provide its elopement
   77  plan to the district school board.
   78         (6) The state board may adopt rules to administer this
   79  section.
   80         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.