Bill Text: FL S1492 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Public School Instruction
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-07 - Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration [S1492 Detail]
Download: Florida-2011-S1492-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2011 SB 1492
By Senator Flores
38-01206D-11 20111492__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to public school instruction; amending
3 s. 1002.23, F.S.; requiring Department of Education
4 guidelines for the school district parent guide to
5 include information regarding required parental
6 permission for certain instruction; authorizing a
7 school district to include a parental consent form in
8 the parent guide; amending s. 1003.42, F.S.; revising
9 required instruction relating to comprehensive health
10 education; specifying that a student needs parental
11 permission to be taught reproductive health or
12 sexually transmitted disease education; amending ss.
13 1002.20 and 1006.148, F.S.; conforming provisions and
14 a cross-reference to changes made by the act;
15 providing an effective date.
16
17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19 Section 1. Subsections (2) and (7) of section 1002.23,
20 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
21 1002.23 Family and School Partnership for Student
22 Achievement Act.—
23 (2) To facilitate meaningful parent and family involvement,
24 the Department of Education shall develop guidelines for a
25 parent guide to successful student achievement which describes
26 what parents need to know about their child’s educational
27 progress and how they can help their child to succeed in school.
28 The guidelines shall include, but need not be limited to:
29 (a) Parental information regarding:
30 1. Requirements for their child to be promoted to the next
31 grade, as provided for in s. 1008.25;
32 2. Progress of their child toward achieving state and
33 district expectations for academic proficiency;
34 3. Assessment results, including report cards and progress
35 reports;
36 4. Qualifications of their child’s teachers; and
37 5. School entry requirements, including required
38 immunizations and the recommended immunization schedule;
39 (b) Services available for parents and their children, such
40 as family literacy services; mentoring, tutorial, and other
41 academic reinforcement programs; college planning, academic
42 advisement, and student counseling services; and after-school
43 programs;
44 (c) Opportunities for parental participation, such as
45 parenting classes, adult education, school advisory councils,
46 and school volunteer programs;
47 (d) Opportunities for parents to learn about rigorous
48 academic programs that may be available for their child, such as
49 honors programs, dual enrollment, advanced placement,
50 International Baccalaureate, International General Certificate
51 of Secondary Education (pre-AICE), Advanced International
52 Certificate of Education, Florida Virtual High School courses,
53 and accelerated access to postsecondary education;
54 (e) Educational choices, as provided for in s. 1002.20(6),
55 and Florida tax credit scholarships, as provided for in s.
56 1002.395;
57 (f) Classroom and test accommodations available for
58 students with disabilities;
59 (g) School board rules, policies, and procedures for
60 student promotion and retention, academic standards, student
61 assessment, courses of study, instructional materials, and
62 contact information for school and district offices; and
63 (h) Resources for information on student health and other
64 available resources for parents; and
65 (i) Notification that parental permission is required for
66 student participation in reproductive health or sexually
67 transmitted disease education, including HIV/AIDS instruction.
68 (7) Each school district shall develop and disseminate a
69 parent guide to successful student achievement, consistent with
70 the guidelines of the Department of Education, which addresses
71 what parents need to know about their child’s educational
72 progress and how parents can help their child to succeed in
73 school. The guide may include a consent form by which a parent
74 gives permission for his or her child to participate in
75 reproductive health or sexually transmitted disease education,
76 including HIV/AIDS instruction, as required in s. 1003.42(3).
77 The guide must:
78 (a) Be understandable to students and parents;
79 (b) Be distributed to all parents, students, and school
80 personnel at the beginning of each school year;
81 (c) Be discussed at the beginning of each school year in
82 meetings of students, parents, and teachers;
83 (d) Include information concerning services, opportunities,
84 choices, academic standards, and student assessment; and
85 (e) Provide information on the importance of student health
86 and available immunizations and vaccinations, including, but not
87 limited to:
88 1. A recommended immunization schedule in accordance with
89 United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
90 recommendations.
91 2. Detailed information regarding the causes, symptoms, and
92 transmission of meningococcal disease and the availability,
93 effectiveness, known contraindications, and appropriate age for
94 the administration of any required or recommended vaccine
95 against meningococcal disease, in accordance with the
96 recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization
97 Practices of the United States Centers for Disease Control and
98 Prevention.
99
100 The parent guide may be included as a part of the code of
101 student conduct that is required in s. 1006.07(2).
102 Section 2. Paragraphs (j) through (t) of subsection (2) and
103 subsection (3) of section 1003.42, Florida Statutes, are amended
104 to read:
105 1003.42 Required instruction.—
106 (2) Members of the instructional staff of the public
107 schools, subject to the rules of the State Board of Education
108 and the district school board, shall teach efficiently and
109 faithfully, using the books and materials required that meet the
110 highest standards for professionalism and historic accuracy,
111 following the prescribed courses of study, and employing
112 approved methods of instruction, the following:
113 (j) The true effects of all alcoholic and intoxicating
114 liquors and beverages and narcotics upon the human body and
115 mind.
116 (j)(k) Kindness to animals.
117 (k)(l) The history of the state.
118 (l)(m) The conservation of natural resources.
119 (m)(n) Comprehensive health education that addresses the
120 importance of nutrition, physical fitness, and the destructive
121 effects of substance abuse and alcohol; emphasizes the
122 interconnection between physical well-being and mental and
123 emotional health; and addresses concepts of community health;
124 consumer health; environmental health; family life, including an
125 awareness of the benefits of sexual abstinence as the expected
126 standard and the consequences of teenage pregnancy; mental and
127 emotional health; injury prevention and safety; nutrition;
128 personal health; prevention and control of disease; and
129 substance use and abuse. The health education curriculum for
130 students in grades 7 through 12 shall include a teen dating
131 violence and abuse component that includes, but is not limited
132 to, the definition of dating violence and abuse, the warning
133 signs of dating violence and abusive behavior, the
134 characteristics of healthy relationships, measures to prevent
135 and stop dating violence and abuse, and community resources
136 available to victims of dating violence and abuse.
137 (n)(o) Such additional materials, subjects, courses, or
138 fields in such grades as are prescribed by law or by rules of
139 the State Board of Education and the district school board in
140 fulfilling the requirements of law.
141 (o)(p) The study of Hispanic contributions to the United
142 States.
143 (p)(q) The study of women’s contributions to the United
144 States.
145 (q)(r) The nature and importance of free enterprise to the
146 United States economy.
147 (r)(s) A character-development program in the elementary
148 schools, similar to Character First or Character Counts, which
149 is secular in nature. Beginning in school year 2004-2005, the
150 character-development program shall be required in kindergarten
151 through grade 12. Each district school board shall develop or
152 adopt a curriculum for the character-development program that
153 shall be submitted to the department for approval. The
154 character-development curriculum shall stress the qualities of
155 patriotism; responsibility; citizenship; kindness; respect for
156 authority, life, liberty, and personal property; honesty;
157 charity; self-control; racial, ethnic, and religious tolerance;
158 and cooperation.
159 (s)(t) In order to encourage patriotism, the sacrifices
160 that veterans have made in serving our country and protecting
161 democratic values worldwide. Such instruction must occur on or
162 before Veterans’ Day and Memorial Day. Members of the
163 instructional staff are encouraged to use the assistance of
164 local veterans when practicable.
165
166 The State Board of Education is encouraged to adopt standards
167 and pursue assessment of the requirements of this subsection.
168 (3) Each Any student must be given parental permission to
169 be taught whose parent makes written request to the school
170 principal shall be exempted from the teaching of reproductive
171 health or sexually transmitted any disease education, including
172 HIV/AIDS instruction, its symptoms, development, and treatment.
173 A student who does not receive parental permission so exempted
174 may not be penalized by reason of lack of permission that
175 exemption. In order to ensure adequate notification to a parent,
176 a school district may include a parental consent form in the
177 district parent guide required pursuant to s. 1002.23(7). Course
178 descriptions for comprehensive health education shall not
179 interfere with the local determination of appropriate curriculum
180 which reflects local values and concerns.
181 Section 3. Paragraph (d) of subsection (3) of section
182 1002.20, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
183 1002.20 K-12 student and parent rights.—Parents of public
184 school students must receive accurate and timely information
185 regarding their child’s academic progress and must be informed
186 of ways they can help their child to succeed in school. K-12
187 students and their parents are afforded numerous statutory
188 rights including, but not limited to, the following:
189 (3) HEALTH ISSUES.—
190 (d) Reproductive health and disease education.—A public
191 school student must be given parental permission to be taught
192 whose parent makes written request to the school principal shall
193 be exempted from the teaching of reproductive health or sexually
194 transmitted any disease education, including HIV/AIDS
195 instruction, in accordance with the provisions of s. 1003.42(3).
196 Section 4. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section
197 1006.148, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
198 1006.148 Dating violence and abuse prohibited.—
199 (1) Each district school board shall adopt and implement a
200 dating violence and abuse policy. The policy shall:
201 (c) Define dating violence and abuse and provide for a teen
202 dating violence and abuse component in the health education
203 curriculum, according to s. 1003.42(2)(m)(n), with emphasis on
204 prevention education.
205 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.
