| 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 a direct-support organization; providing |
| 10 | an effective date. |
| 11 |
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| 12 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Section 1. Section 1001.451, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 15 | to read: |
| 16 | 1001.451 Regional consortium service organizations.--In |
| 17 | order to provide a full range of programs to larger numbers of |
| 18 | students, minimize duplication of services, and encourage the |
| 19 | development of new programs and services: |
| 20 | (1) School districts with 20,000 or fewer unweighted full- |
| 21 | time equivalent students, developmental research (laboratory) |
| 22 | schools established pursuant to s. 1002.32, and the Florida |
| 23 | School for the Deaf and the Blind may enter into cooperative |
| 24 | agreements to form a regional consortium service organization. |
| 25 | Each regional consortium service organization shall provide, at |
| 26 | a minimum, three of the following services: exceptional student |
| 27 | education; teacher education centers; environmental education; |
| 28 | federal grant procurement and coordination; data processing; |
| 29 | health insurance; risk management insurance; staff development; |
| 30 | purchasing; or planning and accountability. |
| 31 | (2)(a) Each regional consortium service organization that |
| 32 | consists of four or more school districts is eligible to |
| 33 | receive, through the Department of Education, an incentive grant |
| 34 | of $50,000 per school district and eligible member to be used |
| 35 | for the delivery of services within the participating school |
| 36 | districts. The determination of services and use of such funds |
| 37 | shall be established by the board of directors of the regional |
| 38 | consortium service organization. |
| 39 | (b) Application for incentive grants shall be made to the |
| 40 | Commissioner of Education by July 30 of each year for |
| 41 | distribution to qualifying regional consortium service |
| 42 | organizations by January 1 of the fiscal year. |
| 43 | (3) In order to economically provide programs and services |
| 44 | to participating school districts and members, a regional |
| 45 | consortium service organization may establish purchasing and |
| 46 | bidding programs, including construction and construction |
| 47 | management arrangements, in lieu of individual school district |
| 48 | bid arrangements pursuant to policies exercised by its member |
| 49 | districts. Participation in regional consortium service |
| 50 | organization bids shall be accomplished by action of an |
| 51 | individual district school board through a letter of intent to |
| 52 | participate and shall be reflected in official district school |
| 53 | board minutes. |
| 54 | (4) A regional consortium service organization board of |
| 55 | directors may elect to establish a direct-support organization |
| 56 | pursuant to s. 1001.453 which is independent of its fiscal agent |
| 57 | district. |
| 58 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006. |