| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to public K-12 education; amending s. |
| 3 | 1001.42, F.S., relating to powers and duties of district |
| 4 | school boards; providing a requirement relating to the |
| 5 | opening date of the school year; amending s. 1011.60, |
| 6 | F.S.; including the opening date requirement for |
| 7 | participation in the Florida Education Finance Program; |
| 8 | providing an effective date. |
| 9 |
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| 10 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 11 |
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| 12 | Section 1. Paragraph (f) of subsection (4) of section |
| 13 | 1001.42, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 14 | 1001.42 Powers and duties of district school board.--The |
| 15 | district school board, acting as a board, shall exercise all |
| 16 | powers and perform all duties listed below: |
| 17 | (4) ESTABLISHMENT, ORGANIZATION, AND OPERATION OF |
| 18 | SCHOOLS.--Adopt and provide for the execution of plans for the |
| 19 | establishment, organization, and operation of the schools of the |
| 20 | district, including, but not limited to, the following: |
| 21 | (f) Opening and closing of schools; fixing uniform |
| 22 | date.--Adopt policies for the opening and closing of schools and |
| 23 | fix uniform dates provided that the opening date of the school |
| 24 | year for schools in the district shall be no earlier than 7 days |
| 25 | before Labor Day each year. |
| 26 | Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 1011.60, Florida |
| 27 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 28 | 1011.60 Minimum requirements of the Florida Education |
| 29 | Finance Program.--Each district which participates in the state |
| 30 | appropriations for the Florida Education Finance Program shall |
| 31 | provide evidence of its effort to maintain an adequate school |
| 32 | program throughout the district and shall meet at least the |
| 33 | following requirements: |
| 34 | (2) MINIMUM TERM AND OPENING DATE.--Operate all schools |
| 35 | for a term of at least 180 actual teaching days or the |
| 36 | equivalent on an hourly basis as specified by rules of the State |
| 37 | Board of Education each school year provided that the opening |
| 38 | date of the term shall be no earlier than 7 days before Labor |
| 39 | Day each year. The State Board of Education may prescribe |
| 40 | procedures for altering, and, upon written application, may |
| 41 | alter, this requirement during a national, state, or local |
| 42 | emergency as it may apply to an individual school or schools in |
| 43 | any district or districts if, in the opinion of the board, it is |
| 44 | not feasible to make up lost days, and the apportionment may, at |
| 45 | the discretion of the Commissioner of Education and if the board |
| 46 | determines that the reduction of school days is caused by the |
| 47 | existence of a bona fide emergency, be reduced for such district |
| 48 | or districts in proportion to the decrease in the length of term |
| 49 | in any such school or schools. A strike, as defined in s. |
| 50 | 447.203(6), by employees of the school district may not be |
| 51 | considered an emergency. |
| 52 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006. |