The Florida Senate

¹235.15  Educational plant survey; localized need assessment; PECO project funding.--

(1)  At least every 5 years, each board, including the Board of Regents, shall arrange for an educational plant survey, to aid in formulating plans for housing the educational program and student population, faculty, administrators, staff, and auxiliary and ancillary services of the district or campus, including consideration of the local comprehensive plan. The Division of Workforce Development shall document the need for additional career and adult education programs and the continuation of existing programs before facility construction or renovation related to career or adult education may be included in the educational plant survey of a school district or community college that delivers career or adult education programs. Information used by the Division of Workforce Development to establish facility needs must include, but need not be limited to, labor market data, needs analysis, and information submitted by the school district or community college.

(a)  Survey preparation and required data.--Each survey shall be conducted by the board or an agency employed by the board. Surveys shall be reviewed and approved by the board, and a file copy shall be submitted to the commissioner. The survey report shall include at least an inventory of existing educational and ancillary plants; recommendations for existing educational and ancillary plants; recommendations for new educational or ancillary plants, including the general location of each in coordination with the land use plan; campus master plan update and detail for community colleges; the utilization of school plants based on an extended school day or year-round operation; and such other information as may be required by the rules of the State Board of Education. This report may be amended, if conditions warrant, at the request of the board or commissioner.

(b)  Required need assessment criteria for district, community college, and state university plant surveys.--Each educational plant survey completed after December 31, 1997, must use uniform data sources and criteria specified in this paragraph. Each educational plant survey completed after June 30, 1995, and before January 1, 1998, must be revised, if necessary, to comply with this paragraph. Each revised educational plant survey and each new educational plant survey supersedes previous surveys.

1.  Each school district's educational plant survey must reflect the capacity of existing satisfactory facilities as reported in the Florida Inventory of School Houses. Projections of facility space needs may not exceed the norm space and occupant design criteria established by the State Requirements for Educational Facilities. Existing and projected capital outlay full-time equivalent student enrollment must be consistent with data prepared by the department and must include all enrollment used in the calculation of the distribution formula in s. 235.435(3). All satisfactory relocatable classrooms, including those owned, lease-purchased, or leased by the school district, shall be included in the school district inventory of gross capacity of facilities and must be counted at actual student capacity for purposes of the inventory. For future needs determination, student capacity shall not be assigned to any relocatable classroom that is scheduled for elimination or replacement with a permanent educational facility in the adopted 5-year educational plant survey and in the district facilities work program adopted under s. 235.185. Those relocatables clearly identified and scheduled for replacement in a school board adopted financially feasible 5-year district facilities work program shall be counted at zero capacity at the time the work program is adopted and approved by the school board. However, if the district facilities work program is changed or altered and the relocatables are not replaced as scheduled in the work program, they must then be reentered into the system for counting at actual capacity. Relocatables may not be perpetually added to the work program and continually extended for purposes of circumventing the intent of this section. All remaining relocatable classrooms, including those owned, lease-purchased, or leased by the school district, shall be counted at actual student capacity. The educational plant survey shall identify the number of relocatable student stations scheduled for replacement during the 5-year survey period and the total dollar amount needed for that replacement. All district educational plant surveys revised after July 1, 1998, shall include information on leased space used for conducting the district's instructional program, in accordance with the recommendations of the department's report authorized in s. 235.056. A definition of satisfactory relocatable classrooms shall be established by rule of the department.

2.  Each survey of a special facility, joint-use facility, or cooperative vocational education facility must be based on capital outlay full-time equivalent student enrollment data prepared by the department for school districts, by the Division of Community Colleges for community colleges, and by the Board of Regents for state universities. A survey of space needs of a joint-use facility shall be based upon the respective space needs of the school districts, community colleges, and universities, as appropriate. Projections of a school district's facility space needs may not exceed the norm space and occupant design criteria established by the State Requirements for Educational Facilities.

3.  Each community college's survey must reflect the capacity of existing facilities as specified in the inventory maintained by the Division of Community Colleges. Projections of facility space needs must comply with standards for determining space needs as specified by rule of the State Board of Education. The 5-year projection of capital outlay student enrollment must be consistent with the annual report of capital outlay full-time student enrollment prepared by the Division of Community Colleges.

4.  Each state university's survey must reflect the capacity of existing facilities as specified in the inventory maintained and validated by the Board of Regents. Projections of facility space needs must be consistent with standards for determining space needs approved by the Board of Regents. The projected capital outlay full-time equivalent student enrollment must be consistent with the 5-year planned enrollment cycle for the State University System approved by the Board of Regents.

5.  The educational plant survey of a school district, community college, or state university may include space needs that deviate from approved standards for determining space needs if the deviation is justified by the district or institution and approved by the department or the Board of Regents, as appropriate, as necessary for the delivery of an approved educational program.

(c)  Review and validation.--The department shall review and validate the surveys of school districts and community colleges and any amendments thereto for compliance with the requirements of this chapter and, when required by the State Constitution, shall recommend those in compliance for approval by the State Board of Education.

(2)  Only the superintendent or the college president shall certify to the department a project's compliance with the requirements for expenditure of PECO funds prior to release of funds.

(a)  Upon request for release of PECO funds for planning purposes, certification must be made to the department that the need and location of the facility are in compliance with the board-approved survey recommendations and that the project meets the definition of a PECO project and the limiting criteria for expenditures of PECO funding.

(b)  Upon request for release of construction funds, certification must be made to the department that the need and location of the facility are in compliance with the board-approved survey recommendations, that the project meets the definition of a PECO project and the limiting criteria for expenditures of PECO funding, and that the construction documents meet the requirements of the State Uniform Building Code for Educational Facilities Construction or other applicable codes as authorized in this chapter.

History.--s. 915, ch. 19355, 1939; CGL 1940 Supp. 892(297); s. 111, ch. 65-239; ss. 15, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 1, ch. 69-300; s. 2, ch. 71-272; s. 8, ch. 77-458; s. 9, ch. 80-414; ss. 16, 50, 52, ch. 81-223; s. 1, ch. 84-349; ss. 9, 26, 27, ch. 85-116; ss. 1, 4, ch. 86-1; s. 8, ch. 90-241; s. 47, ch. 92-136; ss. 10, 35, ch. 95-269; s. 17, ch. 97-95; s. 5, ch. 97-265; s. 13, ch. 97-307; s. 28, ch. 97-384; s. 3, ch. 99-329; s. 3(7), ch. 2000-321.

¹Note.--Repealed January 7, 2003, by s. 3(7), ch. 2000-321, and shall be reviewed by the Legislature prior to that date.