The Florida Senate

1013.52  Cooperative development and joint use of facilities by two or more boards.--

(1)  Two or more boards, including district school boards, community college boards of trustees, the Board of Trustees for the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, and university boards of trustees, desiring to cooperatively establish a common educational facility to accommodate students shall:

(a)  Jointly request a formal assessment by the Commissioner of Education of the academic program need and the need to build new joint-use facilities to house approved programs. Completion of the assessment and approval of the project by the State Board of Education or the Commissioner of Education, as appropriate, should be done prior to conducting an educational facilities survey.

(b)  Demonstrate the need for construction of new joint-use facilities involving postsecondary institutions by those institutions presenting evidence of the presence of sufficient actual full-time equivalent enrollments in the locale in leased, rented, or borrowed spaces to justify the requested facility for the programs identified in the formal assessment rather than using projected or anticipated future full-time equivalent enrollments as justification. If the decision is made to construct new facilities to meet this demonstrated need, then building plans should consider full-time equivalent enrollment growth facilitated by this new construction and subsequent new program offerings made possible by the existence of the new facilities.

(c)  Adopt and submit to the commissioner a joint resolution of the participating boards indicating their commitment to the utilization of the requested facility and designating the locale of the proposed facility. The joint resolution shall contain a statement of determination by the participating boards that alternate options, including the use of leased, rented, or borrowed space, were considered and found less appropriate than construction of the proposed facility. The joint resolution shall contain assurance that the development of the proposed facility has been examined in conjunction with the programs offered by neighboring public educational facilities offering instruction at the same level. The joint resolution also shall contain assurance that each participating board shall provide for continuity of educational progression. All joint resolutions shall be submitted to the commissioner by August 1 for consideration of funding by the subsequent Legislature.

(d)  Submit requests for funding of joint-use facilities projects involving state universities and community colleges for approval by the Commissioner of Education. The Commissioner of Education shall determine the priority for funding these projects in relation to the priority of all other capital outlay projects under their consideration. To be eligible for funding from the Public Education Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund under the provisions of this section, projects involving both state universities and community colleges shall appear on the 3-year capital outlay priority lists of community colleges and of universities required by s. 1013.64 Projects involving a state university, community college, and a public school, and in which the larger share of the proposed facility is for the use of the state university or the community college, shall appear on the 3-year capital outlay priority lists of the community colleges or of the universities, as applicable.

(e)  Include in their joint resolution for the joint-use facilities, comprehensive plans for the operation and management of the facility upon completion. Institutional responsibilities for specific functions shall be identified, including designation of one participating board as sole owner of the facility. Operational funding arrangements shall be clearly defined.

(2)  An educational plant survey must be conducted within 90 days after submission of the joint resolution and substantiating data describing the benefits to be obtained, the programs to be offered, and the estimated cost of the proposed project. Upon completion of the educational plant survey, the participating boards may include the recommended projects in their plan as provided in s. 1013.31 Upon approval of the project by the commissioner, 25 percent of the total cost of the project, or the pro rata share based on space utilization of 25 percent of the cost, must be included in the department's legislative capital outlay budget request as provided in s. 1013.60 for educational plants. The participating boards must include in their joint resolution a commitment to finance the remaining funds necessary to complete the planning, construction, and equipping of the facility. Funds from the Public Education Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund may not be expended on any project unless specifically authorized by the Legislature.

(3)  Included in all proposals for joint-use facilities must be documentation that the proposed new campus or new joint-use facility has been reviewed by the State Board of Education and has been formally requested for authorization by the Legislature.

(4)  No district school board, community college, or state university shall receive funding for more than one approved joint-use facility per campus in any 3-year period.

History.--s. 853, ch. 2002-387.