HB 1619

CS

CHAMBER ACTION

1	The Education Appropriations Committee recommends the following:
2
3	Council/Committee Substitute
4	Remove the entire bill and insert:
5	A bill to be entitled
6	An act relating to district school boards; amending s.
7	1001.43, F.S., relating to district school board powers
8	and duties; allowing students to wear sun-protective items
9	while outdoors during school hours; authorizing use of
10	federal funds to purchase food when federal program
11	guidelines permit such use; amending s. 1003.02, F.S.;
12	authorizing district school boards to select vendors to
13	market student class rings; providing criteria for
14	selection of such vendors; requiring district school
15	boards to notify students and parents that the purchase of
16	a class ring may be through any vendor marketing class
17	rings and that a student may participate in related
18	ceremonies or activities regardless of the vendor through
19	which the purchase was made; authorizing district school
20	boards to contract with photographers for the purpose of
21	taking student yearbook photographs and providing
22	requirements; permitting the inclusion of certain
23	photographs in student yearbooks; amending s. 1006.22,
24	F.S.; revising provisions for district school board
25	transportation of students in vehicles other than school
26	buses; authorizing use of such vehicles for mid-day trips
27	and other trips to and from certain sites and activities;
28	revising criteria for such vehicles and their use;
29	requiring district school boards and charter schools to
30	adopt a policy that addresses procedures and liability for
31	trips using vehicles other than school buses; providing an
32	effective date.
33
34	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
35
36	Section 1.  Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section
37	1001.43, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (g) is
38	added to subsection (2) of that section, to read:
39	1001.43  Supplemental powers and duties of district school
40	board.--The district school board may exercise the following
41	supplemental powers and duties as authorized by this code or
42	State Board of Education rule.
43	(1)  STUDENT MANAGEMENT.--The district school board may
44	adopt programs and policies to ensure the safety and welfare of
45	individuals, the student body, and school personnel, which
46	programs and policies may:
47	(b)  Require uniforms to be worn by the student body, or
48	impose other dress-related requirements, if the district school
49	board finds that those requirements are necessary for the safety
50	or welfare of the student body or school personnel. However,
51	students may wear sunglasses, hats, or other sun-protective wear
52	while outdoors during school hours, such as when students are at
53	recess.
54	(2)  FISCAL MANAGEMENT.--The district school board may
55	adopt policies providing for fiscal management of the school
56	district with respect to school purchasing, facilities, nonstate
57	revenue sources, budgeting, fundraising, and other activities
58	relating to the fiscal management of district resources,
59	including, but not limited to, the policies governing:
60	(g)  Use of federal funds to purchase food when federal
61	program guidelines permit such use.
62	Section 2.  Subsections (5) and (6) are added to section
63	1003.02, Florida Statutes, to read:
64	1003.02  District school board operation and control of
65	public K-12 education within the school district.--As provided
66	in part II of chapter 1001, district school boards are
67	constitutionally and statutorily charged with the operation and
68	control of public K-12 education within their school district.
69	The district school boards must establish, organize, and operate
70	their public K-12 schools and educational programs, employees,
71	and facilities. Their responsibilities include staff
72	development, public K-12 school student education including
73	education for exceptional students and students in juvenile
74	justice programs, special programs, adult education programs,
75	and career education programs. Additionally, district school
76	boards must:
77	(5)(a)  If selecting a vendor to market class rings to
78	students, select at least two vendors. Vendors selected by the
79	district school board must not intimidate students with respect
80	to the purchase of class rings or discriminate against a student
81	who purchases a class ring from another vendor by excluding the
82	student from participating in any ceremony or activity relating
83	to the receipt of a class ring.
84	(b)  Notify in writing each student and his or her parent
85	that the student may purchase his or her class ring through any
86	vendor regardless of the fact that the district school board may
87	contract with vendors for marketing class rings. The
88	notification must include an explanation of the right of each
89	student purchasing a class ring to participate in any ceremony
90	or activity relating to the receipt of a class ring.
91	(6)  If entering into a contract with a photographer for
92	the purpose of taking student yearbook photographs, select at
93	least two photographers. A student's senior photograph must be
94	allowed to appear in the yearbook when taken by a photographer
95	not under contract with the district school board if the
96	photograph meets the reasonable specifications of the principal
97	and yearbook staff for senior photographs.
98	Section 3.  Subsection (1) of section 1006.22, Florida
99	Statutes, is amended to read:
100	1006.22  Safety and health of students being
101	transported.--Maximum regard for safety and adequate protection
102	of health are primary requirements that must be observed by
103	district school boards in routing buses, appointing drivers, and
104	providing and operating equipment, in accordance with all
105	requirements of law and rules of the State Board of Education in
106	providing transportation pursuant to s. 1006.21:
107	(1)(a)  District school boards shall use school buses, as
108	defined in s. 1006.25, for all regular transportation. Regular
109	transportation or regular use means transportation of students
110	to and from school or school-related activities that are part of
111	a scheduled series or sequence of events to the same location.
112	"Students" means, for the purposes of this section, students
113	enrolled in the public schools in prekindergarten disability
114	programs and in kindergarten through grade 12. District school
115	boards may regularly use motor vehicles other than school buses
116	only under the following conditions:
117	1.(a)  When the transportation is for physically
118	handicapped or isolated students and the district school board
119	has elected to provide for the transportation of the student
120	through written or oral contracts or agreements.
121	2.(b)  When the transportation is a part of a comprehensive
122	contract for a specialized educational program between a
123	district school board and a service provider who provides
124	instruction, transportation, and other services.
125	3.(c)  When the transportation is provided through a public
126	transit system.
127	4.(d)  When the transportation is for mid-day trips to and
128	from school sites or agricultural education sites or for trips
129	to and from agricultural education-related events or
130	competitions. When the transportation of students is necessary
131	or practical in a motor vehicle owned or operated by a district
132	school board other than a school bus, such transportation must
133	be provided in designated seating positions in a passenger car
134	not to exceed 8 students or in a multipurpose passenger vehicle
135	designed to transport 10 or fewer persons which meets all
136	applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards. Multipurpose
137	passenger vehicles classified as utility vehicles with a
138	wheelbase of 110 inches or less which are required by federal
139	motor vehicle standards to display a rollover warning label may
140	not be used.
141
142	When students are transported in motor vehicles, the occupant
143	crash protection system provided by the vehicle manufacturer
144	must be used unless the student's physical condition prohibits
145	such use.
146	(b)  When the transportation of students is provided, as
147	authorized in this subsection, in a vehicle other than a school
148	bus that is owned, operated, rented, contracted, or leased by a
149	school district or charter school, the following provisions
150	shall apply:
151	1.  The vehicle must be a passenger car or multipurpose
152	passenger vehicle or truck, as defined in Title 49 C.F.R. part
153	571, designed to transport fewer than 10 students. Students must
154	be transported in designated seating positions and must use the
155	occupant crash protection system provided by the manufacturer
156	unless the student's physical condition prohibits such use.
157	2.  An authorized vehicle may not be driven by a student on
158	a public right-of-way. An authorized vehicle may be driven by a
159	student on school or private property as part of the student's
160	educational curriculum if no other student is in the vehicle.
161	3.  The driver of an authorized vehicle transporting
162	students must maintain a valid driver's license and must comply
163	with the requirements of the school district's locally adopted
164	safe driver plan, which includes review of driving records for
165	disqualifying violations.
166	4.  The district school board or charter school must adopt
167	a policy that addresses procedures and liability for trips under
168	this paragraph, including a provision that school buses are to
169	be used whenever practical and specifying consequences for
170	violation of the policy.
171	Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.