HB 429

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to the Florida School for the Deaf and the
3Blind; amending s. 1002.36, F.S.; authorizing the
4provision of education services to district school boards
5upon request; revising powers and duties of the Board of
6Trustees for the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind
7relating to requirements for expenditure of certain funds
8and submission of capital outlay budget requests;
9authorizing campus police officers to enforce traffic
10laws; deleting provisions authorizing bonding of campus
11police officers; amending s. 1013.31, F.S.; including
12reference to the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind
13in provisions relating to educational plant surveys;
14providing an effective date.
15
16Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
17
18     Section 1.  Subsections (1) and (2), paragraphs (e) and (f)
19of subsection (4), and paragraphs (b) and (d) of subsection (8)
20of section 1002.36, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
21     1002.36  Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind.--
22     (1)  RESPONSIBILITIES.--The Florida School for the Deaf and
23the Blind, located in St. Johns County, is a state-supported
24residential public school for hearing-impaired and visually
25impaired students in preschool through 12th grade. The school is
26a component of the delivery of public education within Florida's
27K-20 education system and shall be funded through the Department
28of Education. The school shall provide educational programs and
29support services appropriate to meet the education and related
30evaluation and counseling needs of hearing-impaired and visually
31impaired students in the state who meet enrollment criteria.
32Unless otherwise provided by law, the school shall comply with
33all laws and rules applicable to state agencies. Education
34services may be provided on an outreach basis for sensory-
35impaired children ages 0 through 5 years and to district school
36boards upon request their parents. Graduates of the Florida
37School for the Deaf and the Blind shall be eligible for the
38William L. Boyd, IV, Florida Resident Access Grant Program as
39provided in s. 1009.89.
40     (2)  MISSION.--The mission of the Florida School for the
41Deaf and the Blind is to utilize all available talent, energy,
42and resources to provide free appropriate public education for
43eligible sensory-impaired students of Florida. As a school of
44academic excellence, the school shall strive to provide students
45an opportunity to access education services maximize their
46individual potential in a caring, safe, unique learning
47environment to prepare them to be literate, employable, and
48independent lifelong learners. The school shall provide outreach
49services that include collaboration with district school boards
50and shall encourage input from students, staff, parents, and the
51community. As a diverse organization, the school shall foster
52respect and understanding for each individual.
53     (4)  BOARD OF TRUSTEES.--
54     (e)  The board of trustees is invested with full power and
55authority to:
56     1.  Appoint a president, faculty, teachers, and other
57employees and remove the same as in its judgment may be best and
58fix their compensation.
59     2.  Procure professional services, such as medical, mental
60health, architectural, and engineering.
61     3.  Procure legal services without the prior written
62approval of the Attorney General.
63     4.  Determine eligibility of students and procedure for
64admission.
65     5.  Provide for the students of the school necessary
66bedding, clothing, food, and medical attendance and such other
67things as may be proper for the health and comfort of the
68students without cost to their parents, except that the board of
69trustees may set tuition and other fees for nonresidents.
70     6.  Provide for the proper keeping of accounts and records
71and for budgeting of funds.
72     7.  Enter into contracts.
73     8.  Sue and be sued.
74     9.  Secure public liability insurance.
75     10.  Do and perform every other matter or thing requisite
76to the proper management, maintenance, support, and control of
77the school at the highest efficiency economically possible, the
78board of trustees taking into consideration the purposes of the
79establishment.
80     11.  Receive gifts, donations, and bequests of money or
81property, real or personal, tangible or intangible, from any
82person, firm, corporation, or other legal entity. However, the
83board of trustees may not obligate the state to any expenditure
84or policy that is not specifically authorized by law. If the
85bill of sale, will, trust indenture, deed, or other legal
86conveyance specifies terms and conditions concerning the use of
87such money or property, the board of trustees shall observe such
88terms and conditions.
89     12.  Deposit outside the State Treasury such moneys as are
90received as gifts, donations, or bequests and may disburse and
91expend such moneys, upon its own warrant, for the use and
92benefit of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind and its
93students, as the board of trustees deems to be in the best
94interest of the school and its students. Such money or property
95shall not constitute or be considered a part of any legislative
96appropriation, and such money shall not be used to compensate
97any person for engaging in lobbying activities before the House
98of Representatives or Senate or any committee thereof.
99     13.  Sell or convey by bill of sale, deed, or other legal
100instrument any property, real or personal, received as a gift,
101donation, or bequest, upon such terms and conditions as the
102board of trustees deems to be in the best interest of the school
103and its students.
104     14.  Invest such moneys in securities enumerated under s.
105215.47(1), (2)(d), (3), (4), and (9), and in The Common Fund, an
106Investment Management Fund exclusively for nonprofit educational
107institutions.
108     (f)  The board of trustees shall:
109     1.  Prepare and submit legislative budget requests for
110operations and fixed capital outlay, in accordance with chapter
111216 and ss. 1011.56 and 1013.60, to the Department of Education
112for review and approval. The department must analyze the amount
113requested for fixed capital outlay to determine if the request
114is consistent with the school's campus master plan, educational
115plant survey, and facilities master plan. Projections of
116facility space needs may exceed the norm space and occupant
117design criteria established in the State Requirements for
118Educational Facilities.
119     2.  Approve and administer an annual operating budget in
120accordance with ss. 1011.56 and 1011.57.
121     3.  Require all funds received other than gifts, donations,
122bequests, funds raised by or belonging to student clubs or
123student organizations, and funds held for specific students or
124in accounts for individual students to be deposited in the State
125Treasury and expended as authorized in the General
126Appropriations Act.
127     4.  Require all purchases to be in accordance with the
128provisions of chapter 287 except for purchases made with funds
129received as gifts, donations, or bequests, funds raised by or
130belonging to student clubs or student organizations, or funds
131held for specific students or in accounts for individual
132students.
133     5.  Administer and maintain personnel programs for all
134employees of the board of trustees and the Florida School for
135the Deaf and the Blind who shall be state employees, including
136the personnel classification and pay plan established in
137accordance with ss. 110.205(2)(d) and 216.251(2)(a)2. for
138academic and academic administrative personnel, the provisions
139of chapter 110, and the provisions of law that grant authority
140to the Department of Management Services over such programs for
141state employees.
142     6.  Give preference in appointment and retention in
143positions of employment as provided within s. 295.07(1).
144     7.  Ensure that the Florida School for the Deaf and the
145Blind complies with s. 1013.351 concerning the coordination of
146planning between the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind
147and local governing bodies.
148     8.  Ensure that the Florida School for the Deaf and the
149Blind complies with s. 112.061 concerning per diem and travel
150expenses of public officers, employees, and authorized persons
151with respect to all funds other than funds received as gifts,
152donations, or bequests, funds raised by or belonging to student
153clubs or student organizations, or funds held for specific
154students or in accounts for individual students.
155     9.  Adopt a master plan which specifies the mission and
156objectives of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind. The
157plan shall include, but not be limited to, procedures for
158systematically measuring the school's progress toward meeting
159its objectives, analyzing changes in the student population, and
160modifying school programs and services to respond to such
161changes. The plan shall be for a period of 5 years and shall be
162reviewed for needed modifications every 2 years. The board of
163trustees shall submit the initial plan and subsequent
164modifications to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and
165the President of the Senate.
166     10.  Designate a portion of the school as "The Verle Allyn
167Pope Complex for the Deaf," in tribute to the late Senator Verle
168Allyn Pope.
169     (8)  CAMPUS POLICE.--
170     (b)  Each Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind campus
171police officer is a law enforcement officer of the state and a
172conservator of the peace who has the authority to arrest, in
173accordance with the laws of this state, any person for a
174violation of state law or applicable county or municipal
175ordinance if that violation occurs on or in any property or
176facilities of the school. A campus police officer may also
177arrest a person off campus for a violation committed on campus
178after a hot pursuit of that person which began on campus. A
179campus police officer shall have full authority to bear arms in
180the performance of the officer's duties and carry out a search
181pursuant to a search warrant on the campus. Florida School for
182the Deaf and the Blind campus police, upon request of the
183sheriff or local police authority, may serve subpoenas or other
184legal process and may make arrests of persons against whom
185arrest warrants have been issued or against whom charges have
186been made for violations of federal or state laws or county or
187municipal ordinances. Campus police officers shall have
188authority to enforce traffic laws within the boundaries of the
189campus in accordance with s. 316.640.
190     (d)  The campus police must meet the minimum standards
191established by the Criminal Justice Standards and Training
192Commission of the Department of Law Enforcement and chapter 943
193for law enforcement officers. Each campus police officer must,
194before entering into the performance of the officer's duties,
195take the oath of office established by the board of trustees.
196The board of trustees may obtain and approve a bond on each
197campus police officer, conditioned upon the officer's faithful
198performance of the officer's duties, which bond must be payable
199to the Governor. The board of trustees may determine the amount
200of the bond. In determining the amount of the bond, the board
201may consider the amount of money or property likely to be in the
202custody of the officer at any one time. The board of trustees
203must provide a uniform set of identifying credentials to each
204campus police officer it employs.
205     Section 2.  Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section
2061013.31, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
207     1013.31  Educational plant survey; localized need
208assessment; PECO project funding.--
209     (1)  At least every 5 years, each board shall arrange for
210an educational plant survey, to aid in formulating plans for
211housing the educational program and student population, faculty,
212administrators, staff, and auxiliary and ancillary services of
213the district or campus, including consideration of the local
214comprehensive plan. The Office of Workforce and Economic
215Development shall document the need for additional career and
216adult education programs and the continuation of existing
217programs before facility construction or renovation related to
218career or adult education may be included in the educational
219plant survey of a school district or community college that
220delivers career or adult education programs. Information used by
221the Office of Workforce and Economic Development to establish
222facility needs must include, but need not be limited to, labor
223market data, needs analysis, and information submitted by the
224school district or community college.
225     (b)  Required need assessment criteria for district,
226community college, college and state university, and Florida
227School for the Deaf and the Blind plant surveys.--Educational
228plant surveys must use uniform data sources and criteria
229specified in this paragraph. Each revised educational plant
230survey and each new educational plant survey supersedes previous
231surveys.
232     1.  The school district's survey must be submitted as a
233part of the district educational facilities plan defined in s.
2341013.35. To ensure that the data reported to the Department of
235Education as required by this section is correct, the department
236shall annually conduct an onsite review of 5 percent of the
237facilities reported for each school district completing a new
238survey that year. If the department's review finds the data
239reported by a district is less than 95 percent accurate, within
2401 year from the time of notification by the department the
241district must submit revised reports correcting its data. If a
242district fails to correct its reports, the commissioner may
243direct that future fixed capital outlay funds be withheld until
244such time as the district has corrected its reports so that they
245are not less than 95 percent accurate.
246     2.  Each survey of a special facility, joint-use facility,
247or cooperative career education facility must be based on
248capital outlay full-time equivalent student enrollment data
249prepared by the department for school districts, community
250colleges, colleges, and universities. A survey of space needs of
251a joint-use facility shall be based upon the respective space
252needs of the school districts, community colleges, colleges, and
253universities, as appropriate. Projections of a school district's
254facility space needs may not exceed the norm space and occupant
255design criteria established by the State Requirements for
256Educational Facilities.
257     3.  Each community college's survey must reflect the
258capacity of existing facilities as specified in the inventory
259maintained by the Department of Education. Projections of
260facility space needs must comply with standards for determining
261space needs as specified by rule of the State Board of
262Education. The 5-year projection of capital outlay student
263enrollment must be consistent with the annual report of capital
264outlay full-time student enrollment prepared by the Department
265of Education.
266     4.  Each college and state university's survey must reflect
267the capacity of existing facilities as specified in the
268inventory maintained and validated by the Division of Colleges
269and Universities. Projections of facility space needs must be
270consistent with standards for determining space needs approved
271by the Division of Colleges and Universities. The projected
272capital outlay full-time equivalent student enrollment must be
273consistent with the 5-year planned enrollment cycle for the
274State University System approved by the Division of Colleges and
275Universities.
276     5.  The district educational facilities plan of a school
277district and the educational plant survey of a community
278college, or college or state university, or the Florida School
279for the Deaf and the Blind may include space needs that deviate
280from approved standards for determining space needs if the
281deviation is justified by the district or institution and
282approved by the department, as necessary for the delivery of an
283approved educational program.
284     Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.


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