Bill Text: FL S0800 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Public Records/School District's After-drill Report

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2013-05-03 - Died in Education [S0800 Detail]

Download: Florida-2013-S0800-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2013                                     SB 800
       
       
       
       By Senator Brandes
       
       
       
       
       22-00772C-13                                           2013800__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public records; amending s.
    3         1006.07, F.S.; exempting from public records
    4         requirements a school district’s after-drill report
    5         that summarizes the emergency drills of each school in
    6         the district and the recommendations from
    7         participating law enforcement officers or fire
    8         officials; providing for future repeal and legislative
    9         review of the exemption under the Open Government
   10         Sunset Review Act; providing a statement of public
   11         necessity; providing a contingent effective date.
   12  
   13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   14  
   15         Section 1. Subsection (7) is added to section 1006.07,
   16  Florida Statutes, to read:
   17         1006.07 District school board duties relating to student
   18  discipline and school safety.—The district school board shall
   19  provide for the proper accounting for all students, for the
   20  attendance and control of students at school, and for proper
   21  attention to health, safety, and other matters relating to the
   22  welfare of students, including:
   23         (7) AFTER-DRILL REPORTS.—A school district’s after-drill
   24  report and the recommendations from participating law
   25  enforcement officers or fire officials are exempt from s.
   26  119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. This
   27  subsection is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act
   28  in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed on October
   29  2, 2018, unless reviewed and saved from repeal through
   30  reenactment by the Legislature.
   31         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   32  necessity that information contained in a school district’s
   33  after-drill report and the recommendations from participating
   34  law enforcement officers or fire officials be made exempt from
   35  public records requirements. While educating students is a
   36  school district’s primary focus, each school district must also
   37  protect its students along with its employees and faculty
   38  members at each school. In light of the tragic events at Sandy
   39  Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20
   40  students and six adults were killed on December 14, 2012, and at
   41  Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, where 12 students
   42  and one teacher were murdered and an additional 21 students were
   43  injured on April 20, 1999, school districts in this state are
   44  keenly aware that the safety and security of students,
   45  employees, and faculty members is of paramount concern. The
   46  information contained in an after-drill report and the
   47  recommendations from participating law enforcement officers or
   48  fire officials regarding a school’s conducted emergency drills
   49  and the school’s strengths and weaknesses in conducting those
   50  drills is information that could be used by a person who intends
   51  harm, possibly deadly harm, against the school’s students,
   52  employees, and faculty members. Failing to exempt this
   53  information from public records requirements could expose a
   54  school’s safety measures to a person who means ill will or is
   55  mentally unstable and could hamper the school’s efforts to keep
   56  its students, employees, and faculty members safe and secure.
   57  Accordingly, the Legislature finds that the harm to a school’s
   58  students, employees, and faculty members which would result from
   59  the release of the school district’s after-drill report and the
   60  recommendations from participating law enforcement officers or
   61  fire officials substantially outweighs any public benefit
   62  derived from disclosure to the public.
   63         Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that
   64  SB ______ or similar legislation takes effect, if such
   65  legislation is adopted in the same legislative session or an
   66  extension thereof and becomes a law.