Florida Senate - 2015                              CS for SB 688
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Education Pre-K - 12; and Senator Montford
       
       
       
       
       
       581-01942-15                                           2015688c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the opening and closing of public
    3         schools; amending s. 1001.42, F.S.; revising a
    4         requirement for the uniform opening date of public
    5         schools; amending s. 1003.621, F.S.; providing that
    6         academically high-performing school districts must
    7         comply with provisions relating to the uniform opening
    8         date of public schools; providing an exception for
    9         certain school districts for a certain timeframe;
   10         providing an effective date.
   11          
   12  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   13  
   14         Section 1. Paragraph (f) of subsection (4) of section
   15  1001.42, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   16         1001.42 Powers and duties of district school board.—The
   17  district school board, acting as a board, shall exercise all
   18  powers and perform all duties listed below:
   19         (4) ESTABLISHMENT, ORGANIZATION, AND OPERATION OF SCHOOLS.
   20  Adopt and provide for the execution of plans for the
   21  establishment, organization, and operation of the schools of the
   22  district, including, but not limited to, the following:
   23         (f) Opening and closing of schools; fixing uniform date.
   24  Adopt policies for the opening and closing of schools and fix
   25  uniform dates; however, beginning with the 2015-2016 2007-2008
   26  school year, the opening date for schools in the district may
   27  not be earlier than 21 14 days before Labor Day each year.
   28         Section 2. Present paragraph (k) of subsection (2) of
   29  section 1003.621, Florida Statutes, is redesignated as paragraph
   30  (l), and a new paragraph (k) is added to that subsection, to
   31  read:
   32         1003.621 Academically high-performing school districts.—It
   33  is the intent of the Legislature to recognize and reward school
   34  districts that demonstrate the ability to consistently maintain
   35  or improve their high-performing status. The purpose of this
   36  section is to provide high-performing school districts with
   37  flexibility in meeting the specific requirements in statute and
   38  rules of the State Board of Education.
   39         (2) COMPLIANCE WITH STATUTES AND RULES.—Each academically
   40  high-performing school district shall comply with all of the
   41  provisions in chapters 1000-1013, and rules of the State Board
   42  of Education which implement these provisions, pertaining to the
   43  following:
   44         (k) Section 1001.42(4)(f), relating to the uniform opening
   45  date for public schools. However, an academically high
   46  performing school district whose calendar for the 2015-2016
   47  school year was approved by the district school board before May
   48  1, 2015, may waive compliance with s. 1001.42(4)(f) for the
   49  2015-2016 school year.
   50         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.