During the 2022 Legislation, several new and updated education and charter school-related bills were passed. Below is a recap of bills that were signed by the Governor and go into effect on July 1, 2022.
Civic Education Curriculum (HB 5) – Requires that the Department of Education develop or approve an integrated civic education curriculum for grades K-12. The bill also specifies that the U.S. Government course that is required for high school graduation must include a comparative discussion of political ideologies that conflict with the principles of freedom and democracy in the nation’s founding principles.
Financial Literacy Instruction (SB 1054) – Requires that students starting in grade 9 must earn one-half credit in personal financial literacy and money management to receive their high school diplomas.
Individual Freedom (HB 7) – Prohibits subjecting any K-20 public education student or employee to “training or instruction, that espouses, promotes, advances inculcates, or compels such individual to believe the following concepts constitutes an unlawful employment practice or unlawful discrimination the indoctrination of students in systematic racism or to a particular point of view inconsistent with the principles of individual freedom.”
Moments of Silence (HB 529) – Requires a moment of silence to be set aside for students during each school day. The bill directs the principal of each public school to require teachers in first-period classrooms in all grades to set aside one to two minutes daily for a moment of silence, during which students may not interfere with other students participation.
SB 896 allows veterans to use their military service to count toward the requirement for a temporary educator certificate under the mentorship of a certified teacher.
Parental Rights in Education (HB 1557) – Requires a school to notify a parent of involvement in critical decisions affecting their student’s mental, emotional or physical well-being. The law also prohibits classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in grades K-3. Link to the Final Bill.
School Safety (HB 1421) – Updates the previously adopted school safety law. It requires schools to create a plan to reunify families in case of school evacuations, to have law enforcement officers present in shooting drills, and more. This law goes into effect on October 1, 2022. Click here to watch FCSA’s conversation with two campus security experts.
- Extends the sunset of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission;
- Authorizes the Commissioner of Education to enforce, rather than just oversee, school safety and security compliance;
- Authorizes safe school officers to make arrests on charter school property;
- Requires all safe school officers to complete crisis intervention and training to improve knowledge and skills for response and de-escalate incidents on school premises;
- Requires law enforcement officers to be present and involved in active assailant emergency drills;
- Requires school boards to adopt family reunification plans in the event of an evacuation; and
- Requires that school districts must annually certify that at least 80 percent of school personnel have received mandatory youth mental health awareness training.
- Charter schools must comply with specific school safety statutes. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act information is available here.
Modifying a Charter School Contract – HB 225 specifies that a charter may be modified at any time, during any term; requires a request for a consolidation of multiple charters to be approved or denied within 60 days; requires a charter school sponsor to provide to the charter school reasons for a denial of a request for a consolidation; requires sponsors to provide a 90-day notice to a charter school of the decision to renew, terminate, or non-renew before a vote; and allows automatic renewal of a charter if a sponsor does not vote on such a renewal at least 90 days before the end of the school year. Bill analysis here.
Florida Charter School Review Commission – SB 758 establishes the Florida Charter School Review Commission within the Department of Education, which is appointed by the Education Commissioner and would have the authority to solicit and approve charter school applications, although the district school board will serve as the charter school sponsor of any school approved by the commission.
The bill also amends and creates provisions relating to charter schools, including:
a prohibition on local ordinances that impose greater burdens on charter schools versus their traditional public school counterparts;
applying interlocal agreements between local governments and school districts to charter schools;
prohibiting the imposition of land use regulations and burdens on charter schools that traditional public schools wouldn’t be subject to;
clarifying that any member of a committee formed by a charter school board may attend board meetings in person or virtually;
expanding the types of facilities charter schools can use and that are exempt from ad valorem taxes;
requiring a proportionate share of the educational impact fees to be designated for the construction of charter school facilities;
prohibiting a sponsor to withhold any administrative fee against a charter school for funds specifically allocated by the Legislature for teacher compensation;
the language from HB 609 establishing the Florida Institute for Charter School Innovation at Miami-Dade College;
the language from SB 658 allowing any member of the Legislature to visit any charter school in their district; and
a requirement that district school boards must release a charter school’s share of the teacher salary increase allocation if the charter school submitted the required salary distribution plan even if its sponsor (the school district) hasn’t complied.
Restraint of Students with Disabilities – HB 235 prohibits the use of mechanical restraints under most circumstances, except by school security personnel in the furtherance of their responsibilities in grades 6-12. Bill analysis here.
Children with Developmental Delays – SB 236 extends the eligibility for services of exceptional student education (ESE) students identified as having a developmental delay and amends the definition of “exceptional student” to include a student with a developmental delay until age 9 or the completion of grade 2, whichever occurs first. Bill analysis here.
2023 Budget:
Highlights from the education portion of the 2023 budget are listed below.
- Increase per-student funding to $8,143
- Nearly $200 million for construction and upkeep of public charter schools
- 16% increase in mental health allocation – now $46.87 per student
- 16% increase in safe school funds – now $70.31 per student
- Increase of $16.74 per student in teacher salary allocation
- $200 million for the return of school recognition funding
Click here to see the complete budget.
If you have any questions about the information on this page, please contact an FCSA team member.