The Florida Senate

1013.33  Coordination of planning with local governing bodies.--

(1)  It is the policy of this state to require the coordination of planning between boards and local governing bodies to ensure that plans for the construction and opening of public educational facilities are facilitated and coordinated in time and place with plans for residential development, concurrently with other necessary services. Such planning shall include the integration of the educational facilities plan and applicable policies and procedures of a board with the local comprehensive plan and land development regulations of local governments. The planning must include the consideration of allowing students to attend the school located nearest their homes when a new housing development is constructed near a county boundary and it is more feasible to transport the students a short distance to an existing facility in an adjacent county than to construct a new facility or transport students longer distances in their county of residence. The planning must also consider the effects of the location of public education facilities, including the feasibility of keeping central city facilities viable, in order to encourage central city redevelopment and the efficient use of infrastructure and to discourage uncontrolled urban sprawl. In addition, all parties to the planning process must consult with state and local road departments to assist in implementing the Safe Paths to Schools program administered by the Department of Transportation.

(2)(a)  The school board, county, and nonexempt municipalities located within the geographic area of a school district shall enter into an interlocal agreement that jointly establishes the specific ways in which the plans and processes of the district school board and the local governments are to be coordinated. The interlocal agreements shall be submitted to the state land planning agency and the Office of Educational Facilities and the SMART Schools Clearinghouse in accordance with a schedule published by the state land planning agency.

(b)  The schedule must establish staggered due dates for submission of interlocal agreements that are executed by both the local government and district school board, commencing on March 1, 2003, and concluding by December 1, 2004, and must set the same date for all governmental entities within a school district. However, if the county where the school district is located contains more than 20 municipalities, the state land planning agency may establish staggered due dates for the submission of interlocal agreements by these municipalities. The schedule must begin with those areas where both the number of districtwide capital-outlay full-time-equivalent students equals 80 percent or more of the current year's school capacity and the projected 5-year student growth rate is 1,000 or greater, or where the projected 5-year student growth rate is 10 percent or greater.

(c)  If the student population has declined over the 5-year period preceding the due date for submittal of an interlocal agreement by the local government and the district school board, the local government and district school board may petition the state land planning agency for a waiver of one or more of the requirements of subsection (3). The waiver must be granted if the procedures called for in subsection (3) are unnecessary because of the school district's declining school age population, considering the district's 5-year work program prepared pursuant to s. 1013.35 The state land planning agency may modify or revoke the waiver upon a finding that the conditions upon which the waiver was granted no longer exist. The district school board and local governments must submit an interlocal agreement within 1 year after notification by the state land planning agency that the conditions for a waiver no longer exist.

(d)  Interlocal agreements between local governments and district school boards adopted pursuant to s. 163.3177 before the effective date of subsections (2)-(9) must be updated and executed pursuant to the requirements of subsections (2)-(9), if necessary. Amendments to interlocal agreements adopted pursuant to subsections (2)-(9) must be submitted to the state land planning agency within 30 days after execution by the parties for review consistent with subsections (3) and (4). Local governments and the district school board in each school district are encouraged to adopt a single interlocal agreement in which all join as parties. The state land planning agency shall assemble and make available model interlocal agreements meeting the requirements of subsections (2)-(9) and shall notify local governments and, jointly with the Department of Education, the district school boards of the requirements of subsections (2)-(9), the dates for compliance, and the sanctions for noncompliance. The state land planning agency shall be available to informally review proposed interlocal agreements. If the state land planning agency has not received a proposed interlocal agreement for informal review, the state land planning agency shall, at least 60 days before the deadline for submission of the executed agreement, renotify the local government and the district school board of the upcoming deadline and the potential for sanctions.

(3)  At a minimum, the interlocal agreement must address interlocal agreement requirements in s. 163.3180(13)(g), except for exempt local governments as provided in s. 163.3177(12), and must address the following issues:

(a)  A process by which each local government and the district school board agree and base their plans on consistent projections of the amount, type, and distribution of population growth and student enrollment. The geographic distribution of jurisdiction-wide growth forecasts is a major objective of the process.

(b)  A process to coordinate and share information relating to existing and planned public school facilities, including school renovations and closures, and local government plans for development and redevelopment.

(c)  Participation by affected local governments with the district school board in the process of evaluating potential school closures, significant renovations to existing schools, and new school site selection before land acquisition. Local governments shall advise the district school board as to the consistency of the proposed closure, renovation, or new site with the local comprehensive plan, including appropriate circumstances and criteria under which a district school board may request an amendment to the comprehensive plan for school siting.

(d)  A process for determining the need for and timing of onsite and offsite improvements to support new construction, proposed expansion, or redevelopment of existing schools. The process shall address identification of the party or parties responsible for the improvements.

(e)  A process for the school board to inform the local government regarding the effect of comprehensive plan amendments on school capacity. The capacity reporting must be consistent with laws and rules regarding measurement of school facility capacity and must also identify how the district school board will meet the public school demand based on the facilities work program adopted pursuant to s. 1013.35

(f)  Participation of the local governments in the preparation of the annual update to the school board's 5-year district facilities work program and educational plant survey prepared pursuant to s. 1013.35

(g)  A process for determining where and how joint use of either school board or local government facilities can be shared for mutual benefit and efficiency.

(h)  A procedure for the resolution of disputes between the district school board and local governments, which may include the dispute resolution processes contained in chapters 164 and 186.

(i)  An oversight process, including an opportunity for public participation, for the implementation of the interlocal agreement.

(4)(a)  The Office of Educational Facilities and SMART Schools Clearinghouse shall submit any comments or concerns regarding the executed interlocal agreement to the state land planning agency within 30 days after receipt of the executed interlocal agreement. The state land planning agency shall review the executed interlocal agreement to determine whether it is consistent with the requirements of subsection (3), the adopted local government comprehensive plan, and other requirements of law. Within 60 days after receipt of an executed interlocal agreement, the state land planning agency shall publish a notice of intent in the Florida Administrative Weekly and shall post a copy of the notice on the agency's Internet site. The notice of intent must state that the interlocal agreement is consistent or inconsistent with the requirements of subsection (3) and this subsection as appropriate.

(b)  The state land planning agency's notice is subject to challenge under chapter 120; however, an affected person, as defined in s. 163.3184(1)(a), has standing to initiate the administrative proceeding, and this proceeding is the sole means available to challenge the consistency of an interlocal agreement required by this section with the criteria contained in subsection (3) and this subsection. In order to have standing, each person must have submitted oral or written comments, recommendations, or objections to the local government or the school board before the adoption of the interlocal agreement by the district school board and local government. The district school board and local governments are parties to any such proceeding. In this proceeding, when the state land planning agency finds the interlocal agreement to be consistent with the criteria in subsection (3) and this subsection, the interlocal agreement must be determined to be consistent with subsection (3) and this subsection if the local government's and school board's determination of consistency is fairly debatable. When the state land planning agency finds the interlocal agreement to be inconsistent with the requirements of subsection (3) and this subsection, the local government's and school board's determination of consistency shall be sustained unless it is shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the interlocal agreement is inconsistent.

(c)  If the state land planning agency enters a final order that finds that the interlocal agreement is inconsistent with the requirements of subsection (3) or this subsection, the state land planning agency shall forward it to the Administration Commission, which may impose sanctions against the local government pursuant to s. 163.3184(11) and may impose sanctions against the district school board by directing the Department of Education to withhold an equivalent amount of funds for school construction available pursuant to ss. 1013.65, 1013.68, 1013.70, and 1013.72

(5)  If an executed interlocal agreement is not timely submitted to the state land planning agency for review, the state land planning agency shall, within 15 working days after the deadline for submittal, issue to the local government and the district school board a notice to show cause why sanctions should not be imposed for failure to submit an executed interlocal agreement by the deadline established by the agency. The agency shall forward the notice and the responses to the Administration Commission, which may enter a final order citing the failure to comply and imposing sanctions against the local government and district school board by directing the appropriate agencies to withhold at least 5 percent of state funds pursuant to s. 163.3184(11) and by directing the Department of Education to withhold from the district school board at least 5 percent of funds for school construction available pursuant to ss. 1013.65, 1013.68, 1013.70, and 1013.72

(6)  Any local government transmitting a public school element to implement school concurrency pursuant to the requirements of s. 163.3180 before the effective date of this section is not required to amend the element or any interlocal agreement to conform with the provisions of subsections (2)-(8) if the element is adopted prior to or within 1 year after the effective date of subsections (2)-(8) and remains in effect.

(7)  Except as provided in subsection (8), municipalities meeting the exemption criteria in s. 163.3177(12) are exempt from the requirements of subsections (2), (3), and (4).

(8)  At the time of the evaluation and appraisal report, each exempt municipality shall assess the extent to which it continues to meet the criteria for exemption under s. 163.3177(12). If the municipality continues to meet these criteria, the municipality shall continue to be exempt from the interlocal agreement requirement. Each municipality exempt under s. 163.3177(12) must comply with the provisions of subsections (2)-(8) within 1 year after the district school board proposes, in its 5-year district facilities work program, a new school within the municipality's jurisdiction.

(9)  A board and the local governing body must share and coordinate information related to existing and planned school facilities; proposals for development, redevelopment, or additional development; and infrastructure required to support the school facilities, concurrent with proposed development. A school board shall use information produced by the demographic, revenue, and education estimating conferences pursuant to s. 216.136 when preparing the district educational facilities plan pursuant to s. 1013.35, as modified and agreed to by the local governments, when provided by interlocal agreement, and the Office of Educational Facilities and SMART Schools Clearinghouse, in consideration of local governments' population projections, to ensure that the district educational facilities plan not only reflects enrollment projections but also considers applicable municipal and county growth and development projections. The projections must be apportioned geographically with assistance from the local governments using local government trend data and the school district student enrollment data. A school board is precluded from siting a new school in a jurisdiction where the school board has failed to provide the annual educational facilities plan for the prior year required pursuant to s. 1013.35 unless the failure is corrected.

(10)  The location of educational facilities shall be consistent with the comprehensive plan of the appropriate local governing body developed under part II of chapter 163 and consistent with the plan's implementing land development regulations.

(11)  To improve coordination relative to potential educational facility sites, a board shall provide written notice to the local government that has regulatory authority over the use of the land consistent with an interlocal agreement entered pursuant to subsections (2)-(8) at least 60 days prior to acquiring or leasing property that may be used for a new public educational facility. The local government, upon receipt of this notice, shall notify the board within 45 days if the site proposed for acquisition or lease is consistent with the land use categories and policies of the local government's comprehensive plan. This preliminary notice does not constitute the local government's determination of consistency pursuant to subsection (12).

(12)  As early in the design phase as feasible and consistent with an interlocal agreement entered pursuant to subsections (2)-(8), but no later than 90 days before commencing construction, the district school board shall in writing request a determination of consistency with the local government's comprehensive plan. The local governing body that regulates the use of land shall determine, in writing within 45 days after receiving the necessary information and a school board's request for a determination, whether a proposed educational facility is consistent with the local comprehensive plan and consistent with local land development regulations. If the determination is affirmative, school construction may commence and further local government approvals are not required, except as provided in this section. Failure of the local governing body to make a determination in writing within 90 days after a district school board's request for a determination of consistency shall be considered an approval of the district school board's application. Campus master plans and development agreements must comply with the provisions of ss. 1013.30 and 1013.63

(13)  A local governing body may not deny the site applicant based on adequacy of the site plan as it relates solely to the needs of the school. If the site is consistent with the comprehensive plan's land use policies and categories in which public schools are identified as allowable uses, the local government may not deny the application but it may impose reasonable development standards and conditions in accordance with s. 1013.51(1) and consider the site plan and its adequacy as it relates to environmental concerns, health, safety and welfare, and effects on adjacent property. Standards and conditions may not be imposed which conflict with those established in this chapter or the Florida Building Code, unless mutually agreed and consistent with the interlocal agreement required by subsections (2)-(8).

(14)  This section does not prohibit a local governing body and district school board from agreeing and establishing an alternative process for reviewing a proposed educational facility and site plan, and offsite impacts, pursuant to an interlocal agreement adopted in accordance with subsections (2)-(8).

(15)  Existing schools shall be considered consistent with the applicable local government comprehensive plan adopted under part II of chapter 163. If a board submits an application to expand an existing school site, the local governing body may impose reasonable development standards and conditions on the expansion only, and in a manner consistent with s. 1013.51(1). Standards and conditions may not be imposed which conflict with those established in this chapter or the Florida Building Code, unless mutually agreed. Local government review or approval is not required for:

(a)  The placement of temporary or portable classroom facilities; or

(b)  Proposed renovation or construction on existing school sites, with the exception of construction that changes the primary use of a facility, includes stadiums, or results in a greater than 5 percent increase in student capacity, or as mutually agreed upon, pursuant to an interlocal agreement adopted in accordance with subsections (2)-(8).

History.--s. 23, ch. 2002-296; s. 828, ch. 2002-387; s. 129, ch. 2003-1; s. 18, ch. 2005-290.