Bill Text: FL S1420 | 2020 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Charter Schools
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Failed) 2020-03-14 - Died in Appropriations [S1420 Detail]
Download: Florida-2020-S1420-Comm_Sub.html
Florida Senate - 2020 CS for SB 1420 By the Committee on Education; and Senator Flores 581-02439-20 20201420c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to charter schools; amending s. 3 1002.33, F.S.; prohibiting sponsors from refusing to 4 receive a charter school application submitted during 5 the calendar year; revising how charter schools 6 operated by not-for-profit or municipal entities may 7 use certain unrestricted current and capital assets; 8 amending s. 1002.331, F.S.; specifying how many 9 applications a high-performing charter school may 10 submit in any school district in the state to 11 establish and operate a new charter school; providing 12 applicability; amending s. 1002.45, F.S.; revising the 13 virtual instruction a virtual charter school may 14 provide; providing an effective date. 15 16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 17 18 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (6) and paragraph 19 (b) of subsection (17) of section 1002.33, Florida Statutes, are 20 amended to read: 21 1002.33 Charter schools.— 22 (6) APPLICATION PROCESS AND REVIEW.—Charter school 23 applications are subject to the following requirements: 24 (b) A sponsor shall receive and review all applications for 25 a charter school using the evaluation instrument developed by 26 the Department of Education. A sponsor shall receive and 27 consider charter school applications received duringon or28before August 1 ofeach calendar year for charter schools to be 29 opened at the beginning of the school district’s next school 30 year, or to be opened at a time determinedagreed toby the 31 applicantand the sponsor. A sponsor may not refuse to receive a 32 charter school application submitted by an applicant during the 33 calendar year.before August 1 and may receive an application34submitted later than August 1 if it chooses. Beginning in 201835and thereafter, a sponsor shall receive and consider charter36school applications received on or before February 1 of each37calendar year for charter schools to be opened 18 months later38at the beginning of the school district’s school year, or to be39opened at a time determined by the applicant. A sponsor may not40refuse to receive a charter school application submitted before41February 1 and may receive an application submitted later than42February 1 if it chooses.A sponsor may not charge an applicant 43 for a charter any fee for the processing or consideration of an 44 application, and a sponsor may not base its consideration or 45 approval of a final application upon the promise of future 46 payment of any kind. Before approving or denying any 47 application, the sponsor shall allow the applicant, upon receipt 48 of written notification, at least 7 calendar days to make 49 technical or nonsubstantive corrections and clarifications, 50 including, but not limited to, corrections of grammatical, 51 typographical, and like errors or missing signatures, if such 52 errors are identified by the sponsor as cause to deny the final 53 application. 54 1. In order to facilitate an accurate budget projection 55 process, a sponsor shall be held harmless for FTE students who 56 are not included in the FTE projection due to approval of 57 charter school applications after the FTE projection deadline. 58 In a further effort to facilitate an accurate budget projection, 59 within 15 calendar days after receipt of a charter school 60 application, a sponsor shall report to the Department of 61 Education the name of the applicant entity, the proposed charter 62 school location, and its projected FTE. 63 2. In order to ensure fiscal responsibility, an application 64 for a charter school shall include a full accounting of expected 65 assets, a projection of expected sources and amounts of income, 66 including income derived from projected student enrollments and 67 from community support, and an expense projection that includes 68 full accounting of the costs of operation, including start-up 69 costs. 70 3.a. A sponsor shall by a majority vote approve or deny an 71 application no later than 90 calendar days after the application 72 is received, unless the sponsor and the applicant mutually agree 73 in writing to temporarily postpone the vote to a specific date, 74 at which time the sponsor shall by a majority vote approve or 75 deny the application. If the sponsor fails to act on the 76 application, an applicant may appeal to the State Board of 77 Education as provided in paragraph (c). If an application is 78 denied, the sponsor shall, within 10 calendar days after such 79 denial, articulate in writing the specific reasons, based upon 80 good cause, supporting its denial of the application and shall 81 provide the letter of denial and supporting documentation to the 82 applicant and to the Department of Education. 83 b. An application submitted by a high-performing charter 84 school identified pursuant to s. 1002.331 or a high-performing 85 charter school system identified pursuant to s. 1002.332 may be 86 denied by the sponsor only if the sponsor demonstrates by clear 87 and convincing evidence that: 88 (I) The application of a high-performing charter school 89 does not materially comply with the requirements in paragraph 90 (a) or, for a high-performing charter school system, the 91 application does not materially comply with s. 1002.332(2)(b); 92 (II) The charter school proposed in the application does 93 not materially comply with the requirements in paragraphs 94 (9)(a)-(f); 95 (III) The proposed charter school’s educational program 96 does not substantially replicate that of the applicant or one of 97 the applicant’s high-performing charter schools; 98 (IV) The applicant has made a material misrepresentation or 99 false statement or concealed an essential or material fact 100 during the application process; or 101 (V) The proposed charter school’s educational program and 102 financial management practices do not materially comply with the 103 requirements of this section. 104 105 Material noncompliance is a failure to follow requirements or a 106 violation of prohibitions applicable to charter school 107 applications, which failure is quantitatively or qualitatively 108 significant either individually or when aggregated with other 109 noncompliance. An applicant is considered to be replicating a 110 high-performing charter school if the proposed school is 111 substantially similar to at least one of the applicant’s high 112 performing charter schools and the organization or individuals 113 involved in the establishment and operation of the proposed 114 school are significantly involved in the operation of replicated 115 schools. 116 c. If the sponsor denies an application submitted by a 117 high-performing charter school or a high-performing charter 118 school system, the sponsor must, within 10 calendar days after 119 such denial, state in writing the specific reasons, based upon 120 the criteria in sub-subparagraph b., supporting its denial of 121 the application and must provide the letter of denial and 122 supporting documentation to the applicant and to the Department 123 of Education. The applicant may appeal the sponsor’s denial of 124 the application in accordance with paragraph (c). 125 4. For budget projection purposes, the sponsor shall report 126 to the Department of Education the approval or denial of an 127 application within 10 calendar days after such approval or 128 denial. In the event of approval, the report to the Department 129 of Education shall include the final projected FTE for the 130 approved charter school. 131 5. Upon approval of an application, the initial startup 132 shall commence with the beginning of the public school calendar 133 for the district in which the charter is granted. A charter 134 school may defer the opening of the school’s operations for up 135 to 3 years to provide time for adequate facility planning. The 136 charter school must provide written notice of such intent to the 137 sponsor and the parents of enrolled students at least 30 138 calendar days before the first day of school. 139 (17) FUNDING.—Students enrolled in a charter school, 140 regardless of the sponsorship, shall be funded as if they are in 141 a basic program or a special program, the same as students 142 enrolled in other public schools in the school district. Funding 143 for a charter lab school shall be as provided in s. 1002.32. 144 (b) The basis for the agreement for funding students 145 enrolled in a charter school shall be the sum of the school 146 district’s operating funds from the Florida Education Finance 147 Program as provided in s. 1011.62 and the General Appropriations 148 Act, including gross state and local funds, discretionary 149 lottery funds, and funds from the school district’s current 150 operating discretionary millage levy; divided by total funded 151 weighted full-time equivalent students in the school district; 152 multiplied by the weighted full-time equivalent students for the 153 charter school. Charter schools whose students or programs meet 154 the eligibility criteria in law are entitled to their 155 proportionate share of categorical program funds included in the 156 total funds available in the Florida Education Finance Program 157 by the Legislature, including transportation, the research-based 158 reading allocation, and the Florida digital classrooms 159 allocation. Total funding for each charter school shall be 160 recalculated during the year to reflect the revised calculations 161 under the Florida Education Finance Program by the state and the 162 actual weighted full-time equivalent students reported by the 163 charter school during the full-time equivalent student survey 164 periods designated by the Commissioner of Education. For charter 165 schools operated by a not-for-profit or municipal entity, any 166 unrestricted current and capital assets identified in the 167 charter school’s annual financial audit may be used for other 168 charter schools operated by the not-for-profit or municipal 169 entity within the stateschool district. Unrestricted current 170 assets shall be used in accordance with s. 1011.62, and any 171 unrestricted capital assets shall be used in accordance with s. 172 1013.62(2). 173 Section 2. Subsection (3) of section 1002.331, Florida 174 Statutes, is amended to read: 175 1002.331 High-performing charter schools.— 176 (3)(a)1. A high-performing charter school may submit an 177 application pursuant to s. 1002.33(6) in any school district in 178 the state to establish and operate a new charter school that 179 will substantially replicate its educational program. An 180 application submitted by a high-performing charter school must 181 state that the application is being submitted pursuant to this 182 paragraph and must include the verification letter provided by 183 the Commissioner of Education pursuant to subsection (4). 184 2. If the sponsor fails to act on the application within 90 185 days after receipt, the application is deemed approved and the 186 procedure in s. 1002.33(7) applies. 187 (b) A high-performing charter school may submit two 188 applications for a charter schoolnot establish more than two189charter schoolswithin the state under paragraph (a) to be 190 opened at a time determined by the high-performing charter 191 school.in any year.A subsequent application to establish a 192 charter school under paragraph (a) may not be submitted unless 193 each charter school application commences operations or an 194 application is otherwise withdrawn.each charter school195established in this manner achieves high-performing charter196school status.However, a high-performing charter school may 197 establish more than one charter school within the state under 198 paragraph (a) in any year if it operates in the area of a 199 persistently low-performing school and serves students from that 200 school. 201 (c) This section applies to any high-performing charter 202 school with an existing approved application. 203 Section 3. Paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section 204 1002.45, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 205 1002.45 Virtual instruction programs.— 206 (1) PROGRAM.— 207 (d) A virtual charter school may provide full-time and 208 part-time virtual instruction for students in kindergarten 209 through grade 12 if the virtual charter school has a charter 210 approved pursuant to s. 1002.33authorizing full-time virtual211instruction. A virtual charter school may: 212 1. Contract with the Florida Virtual School. 213 2. Contract with or be an approved provider under 214 subsection (2). 215 3. Enter into an agreement with a school district to allow 216 the participation of the virtual charter school’s students in 217 the school district’s virtual instruction program. The agreement 218 must indicate a process for reporting of student enrollment and 219 the transfer of funds required by paragraph (7)(e). 220 4. Contract with any public or charter school to provide 221 any course that the virtual school cannot otherwise provide. 222 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.