Florida Senate - 2012                          SENATOR AMENDMENT
       Bill No. HB 5201
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 605364                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
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               Floor: 1b/RE/2R         .                                
             02/23/2012 06:23 PM       .                                
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       Senator Gardiner moved the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment to Amendment (965714) (with title
    2  amendment)
    3  
    4         Between lines 342 and 343
    5  insert:
    6         Section 15. Section 1004.935, Florida Statutes, is created
    7  to read:
    8         1004.935 Adults with Disabilities Workforce Education Pilot
    9  Program.—
   10         (1)The Adults with Disabilities Workforce Education Pilot
   11  Program is established for 2 years in Charlotte County, DeSoto
   12  County, Manatee County, and Sarasota County to provide the
   13  option of receiving a scholarship for instruction at private
   14  schools for up to 30 students who:
   15         (a) Have a disability;
   16         (b) Are 22 years of age;
   17         (c)Are receiving instruction from an instructor in a
   18  private school to meet the high school graduation requirements
   19  in s. 1003.428;
   20         (d)Do not have a standard high school diploma or a special
   21  high school diploma; and
   22         (e)Receive supported employment services, which is
   23  employment that is located or provided in an integrated work
   24  setting, with earnings paid on a commensurate wage basis, and
   25  for which continued support is needed for job maintenance.
   26  
   27  As used in this subsection, the term “student with a disability”
   28  includes a student who is documented as having an intellectual
   29  disability; a speech impairment; a language impairment; a
   30  hearing impairment, including deafness; a visual impairment,
   31  including blindness; a dual sensory impairment; an orthopedic
   32  impairment; another health impairment; an emotional or
   33  behavioral disability; a specific learning disability,
   34  including, but not limited to, dyslexia, dyscalculia, or
   35  developmental aphasia; a traumatic brain injury; a developmental
   36  delay; or autism spectrum disorder.
   37         (2)A student participating in the pilot program may
   38  continue to participate in the program until the student
   39  graduates from high school, or reaches the age of 30 years,
   40  whichever occurs first.
   41         (3)The supported employment services may be provided at
   42  more than one site.
   43         (4)The provider of supported employment services must be a
   44  nonprofit corporation under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
   45  Code which serves Charlotte County, DeSoto County, Manatee
   46  County, or Sarasota County and must contract with a private
   47  school in this state which meets the requirements in subsection
   48  (5).
   49         (5)A private school that participates in the program may
   50  be sectarian or nonsectarian and must:
   51         (a)Be academically accountable for meeting the educational
   52  needs of the student by annually providing to the provider of
   53  supported employment services a written explanation of the
   54  student’s progress.
   55         (b)Comply with the antidiscrimination provisions of 42
   56  U.S.C. s. 2000d.
   57         (c)Meet state and local health and safety laws and codes.
   58         (d)Provide to the provider of supported employment
   59  services all documentation required for a student’s
   60  participation, including the private school’s and student’s fee
   61  schedules, at least 30 days before any quarterly scholarship
   62  payment is made for the student. A student is not eligible to
   63  receive a quarterly scholarship payment if the private school
   64  fails to meet this deadline.
   65  
   66  The inability of a private school to meet the requirements of
   67  this subsection constitutes a basis for the ineligibility of the
   68  private school to participate in the scholarship program.
   69         (6)(a)If the student chooses to participate in the program
   70  and is accepted by the provider of supported employment
   71  services, the student must notify the Department of Education of
   72  his or her acceptance into the program 60 days before the first
   73  scholarship payment and before participating in the program in
   74  order to be eligible for the scholarship.
   75         (b)Upon receipt of a scholarship warrant, the student or
   76  parent to whom the warrant is made must restrictively endorse
   77  the warrant to the provider of supported employment services for
   78  deposit into the account of the provider. The student or parent
   79  may not designate any entity or individual associated with the
   80  participating provider of supported employment services as the
   81  student’s or parent’s attorney in fact to endorse a scholarship
   82  warrant. A participant who fails to comply with this paragraph
   83  forfeits the scholarship.
   84         (7) Funds for the scholarship shall be provided from the
   85  appropriation from the school district’s Workforce Development
   86  Fund in the General Appropriations Act for students who reside
   87  in the Charlotte County School District, the DeSoto County
   88  School District, the Manatee County School District, or the
   89  Sarasota County School District. During the 2-year pilot
   90  program, the scholarship amount granted for an eligible student
   91  with a disability shall be equal to the cost per unit of a full
   92  time equivalent adult general education student, multiplied by
   93  the adult general education funding factor, and multiplied by
   94  the district cost differential pursuant to the formula required
   95  by s. 1011.80(6)(a) for the district in which the student
   96  resides.
   97         (8)Upon notification by the Department of Education that
   98  it has received the required documentation, the Chief Financial
   99  Officer shall make scholarship payments in four equal amounts no
  100  later than September 1, November 1, February 1, and April 1 of
  101  each academic year in which the scholarship is in force. The
  102  initial payment shall be made after the Department of Education
  103  verifies that the student was accepted into the program, and
  104  subsequent payments shall be made upon verification of continued
  105  participation in the program. Payment must be by individual
  106  warrant made payable to the student or parent and mailed by the
  107  Department of Education to the provider of supported employment
  108  services, and the student or parent shall restrictively endorse
  109  the warrant to the provider of supported employment services for
  110  deposit into the account of that provider.
  111         (9)Subsequent to each scholarship payment, the Department
  112  of Education shall request from the Department of Financial
  113  Services a sample of endorsed warrants to review and confirm
  114  compliance with endorsement requirements.
  115  
  116  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  117         And the title is amended as follows:
  118         Delete line 949
  119  and insert:
  120         specified date; creating s. 1004.935, F.S.;
  121         establishing the Adults with Disabilities Workforce
  122         Education Pilot Program for a specified period in
  123         certain counties; providing a purpose; providing
  124         eligibility requirements for participation in the
  125         program; providing a definition for the term “student
  126         with a disability” for purposes of the pilot program;
  127         providing requirements for providers of supported
  128         employment services and private schools to participate
  129         in the pilot program; providing notice requirements
  130         for students who are accepted into the pilot program;
  131         providing funding; requiring that the Chief Financial
  132         Officer make scholarship payments; requiring that the
  133         Department of Education request from the Department of
  134         Financial Services a sample of endorsed warrants after
  135         each scholarship payment; creating s. 1006.73, F.S.;