| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to regional consortium service |
| 3 | organizations; amending s. 1001.451, F.S.; requiring the |
| 4 | determination of services and use of funds to be |
| 5 | established by the board of directors of a regional |
| 6 | consortium service organization; authorizing establishment |
| 7 | of purchasing and bidding programs in lieu of individual |
| 8 | school district bid arrangements; authorizing |
| 9 | establishment of an educational foundation governed by an |
| 10 | educational foundation board of directors; providing for |
| 11 | use of property, facilities, and personnel services by an |
| 12 | educational foundation; requiring audits; providing an |
| 13 | effective date. |
| 14 |
|
| 15 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 16 |
|
| 17 | Section 1. Section 1001.451, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 18 | to read: |
| 19 | 1001.451 Regional consortium service organizations.--In |
| 20 | order to provide a full range of programs to larger numbers of |
| 21 | students, minimize duplication of services, and encourage the |
| 22 | development of new programs and services: |
| 23 | (1) School districts with 20,000 or fewer unweighted full- |
| 24 | time equivalent students, developmental research (laboratory) |
| 25 | schools established pursuant to s. 1002.32, and the Florida |
| 26 | School for the Deaf and the Blind may enter into cooperative |
| 27 | agreements to form a regional consortium service organization. |
| 28 | Each regional consortium service organization shall provide, at |
| 29 | a minimum, three of the following services: exceptional student |
| 30 | education; teacher education centers; environmental education; |
| 31 | federal grant procurement and coordination; data processing; |
| 32 | health insurance; risk management insurance; staff development; |
| 33 | purchasing; or planning and accountability. |
| 34 | (2)(a) Each regional consortium service organization that |
| 35 | consists of four or more school districts is eligible to |
| 36 | receive, through the Department of Education, an incentive grant |
| 37 | of $50,000 per school district and eligible member to be used |
| 38 | for the delivery of services within the participating school |
| 39 | districts. The determination of services and use of such funds |
| 40 | shall be established by the board of directors of the regional |
| 41 | consortium service organization. |
| 42 | (b) Application for incentive grants shall be made to the |
| 43 | Commissioner of Education by July 30 of each year for |
| 44 | distribution to qualifying regional consortium service |
| 45 | organizations by January 1 of the fiscal year. |
| 46 | (3) In order to economically provide programs and services |
| 47 | to participating school districts and members, a regional |
| 48 | consortium service organization may establish purchasing and |
| 49 | bidding programs, including construction and construction |
| 50 | management arrangements, in lieu of individual school district |
| 51 | bid arrangements. Participation in regional consortium service |
| 52 | organization bids shall be accomplished by action of an |
| 53 | individual district school board through a letter of intent to |
| 54 | participate and shall be reflected in official district school |
| 55 | board minutes. |
| 56 | (4) A regional consortium service organization board of |
| 57 | directors may elect to establish an educational foundation |
| 58 | independent of the regional consortium service organization's |
| 59 | school district of record to be governed by an educational |
| 60 | foundation board of directors. The educational foundation must |
| 61 | be a Florida not-for-profit corporation incorporated under the |
| 62 | provisions of chapter 617 and approved by the Department of |
| 63 | State. A regional consortium service organization board of |
| 64 | directors may permit the use of property, facilities, and |
| 65 | personnel services of the regional consortium service |
| 66 | organization by an approved educational foundation. An approved |
| 67 | educational foundation with more than $100,000 in expenditures |
| 68 | or expenses must provide for an annual financial audit of its |
| 69 | accounts and records to be conducted by an independent certified |
| 70 | public accountant. The annual audit report shall be submitted |
| 71 | within 9 months after the end of the fiscal year to the |
| 72 | educational foundation board of directors and the regional |
| 73 | consortium service organization board of directors. |
| 74 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006. |