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The Florida Senate

2011 Florida Statutes

Title XLVIII K-20 EDUCATION CODE
Chapter 1002 STUDENT AND PARENTAL RIGHTS AND EDUCATIONAL CHOICES Entire Chapter
SECTION 69
Statewide kindergarten screening; kindergarten readiness rates; state-approved prekindergarten enrollment screening; good cause exemption.
F.S. 1002.69
1002.69 Statewide kindergarten screening; kindergarten readiness rates; state-approved prekindergarten enrollment screening; good cause exemption.—
(1) The department shall adopt a statewide kindergarten screening that assesses the readiness of each student for kindergarten based upon the performance standards adopted by the department under s. 1002.67(1) for the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program. The department shall require that each school district administer the statewide kindergarten screening to each kindergarten student in the school district within the first 30 school days of each school year. Nonpublic schools may administer the statewide kindergarten screening to each kindergarten student in a nonpublic school who was enrolled in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program.
(2) The statewide kindergarten screening shall provide objective data concerning each student’s readiness for kindergarten and progress in attaining the performance standards adopted by the department under s. 1002.67(1).
(3) The statewide kindergarten screening shall incorporate mechanisms for recognizing potential variations in kindergarten readiness rates for students with disabilities.
(4) Each parent who enrolls his or her child in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program must submit the child for the statewide kindergarten screening, regardless of whether the child is admitted to kindergarten in a public school or nonpublic school. Each school district shall designate sites to administer the statewide kindergarten screening for children admitted to kindergarten in a nonpublic school.
(5) The State Board of Education shall adopt procedures for the department to annually calculate each private prekindergarten provider’s and public school’s kindergarten readiness rate, which must be expressed as the percentage of the provider’s or school’s students who are assessed as ready for kindergarten. The kindergarten readiness rates must be based exclusively upon the results of the statewide kindergarten screening for students completing the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program, beginning with students completing the program during the 2005-2006 school year who are administered the statewide kindergarten screening during the 2006-2007 school year. The methodology for calculating each provider’s kindergarten readiness rate must include the percentage of students who meet all state readiness measures. The rates must not include students who are not administered the statewide kindergarten screening.
(6) The State Board of Education shall periodically adopt a minimum kindergarten readiness rate that, if achieved by a private prekindergarten provider or public school, would demonstrate the provider’s or school’s satisfactory delivery of the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program.
(7)(a) Notwithstanding s. 1002.67(3)(c)4., the State Board of Education, upon the request of a private prekindergarten provider or public school that remains on probation for 2 consecutive years or more and subsequently fails to meet the minimum rate adopted under subsection (6) and for good cause shown, may grant to the provider or school an exemption from being determined ineligible to deliver the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program and receive state funds for the program. Such exemption is valid for 1 year and, upon the request of the private prekindergarten provider or public school and for good cause shown, may be renewed.
(b) A private prekindergarten provider’s or public school’s request for a good cause exemption, or renewal of such an exemption, must be submitted to the state board in the manner and within the timeframes prescribed by the state board and must include the following:
1. Submission of data by the private prekindergarten provider or public school which documents the achievement and progress of the children served as measured by the state-approved prekindergarten enrollment screening and the standardized postassessment approved by the department pursuant to subparagraph (c)1.
2. Submission and review of data available from the respective early learning coalition or district school board, the Department of Children and Family Services, local licensing authority, or an accrediting association, as applicable, relating to the private prekindergarten provider’s or public school’s compliance with state and local health and safety standards.
3. Submission and review of data available to the department on the performance of the children served and the calculation of the private prekindergarten provider’s or public school’s kindergarten readiness rate.
(c) The State Board of Education shall adopt criteria for granting good cause exemptions. Such criteria shall include, but are not limited to:
1. Learning gains of children served in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program by the private prekindergarten provider or public school. A provider seeking a good cause exemption shall have the early learning coalition or a department-approved second party administer the state-approved prekindergarten enrollment screening to each child in the prekindergarten provider’s program within the first 30 days of each school year for which a good cause exemption is sought, and the provider shall administer the standardized postassessment approved by the department to measure the student’s learning gains for the year or summer, as appropriate. All data must be submitted to the department within 30 days after the administration of each assessment. Each parent who enrolls his or her child in a Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program offered by a provider seeking a good cause exemption must submit the child for the state-approved prekindergarten enrollment screening.
2. Verification that local and state health and safety requirements are met.
(d) A good cause exemption may not be granted to any private prekindergarten provider that has any class I violations or two or more class II violations within the 2 years preceding the provider’s or school’s request for the exemption. For purposes of this paragraph, class I and class II violations have the same meaning as provided in s. 402.281(4).
(e) A private prekindergarten provider or public school granted a good cause exemption shall continue to implement its improvement plan and continue the corrective actions required under s. 1002.67(3)(c)2., including the use of a curriculum approved by the department, until the provider or school meets the minimum rate adopted under subsection (6).
(f) The State Board of Education shall notify the Office of Early Learning of any good cause exemption granted to a private prekindergarten provider under this subsection. If a good cause exemption is granted to a private prekindergarten provider who remains on probation for 2 consecutive years, the Office of Early Learning shall notify the early learning coalition of the good cause exemption and direct that the coalition, notwithstanding s. 1002.67(3)(c)4., not remove the provider from eligibility to deliver the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program or to receive state funds for the program, if the provider meets all other applicable requirements of this part.
History.—s. 1, ch. 2004-484; s. 30, ch. 2010-210; s. 52, ch. 2011-4; s. 454, ch. 2011-142; s. 12, ch. 2011-175.