Florida Senate - 2018                              CS for SB 564
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Appropriations; and Senator Young
       
       
       
       
       
       576-02216-18                                           2018564c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the John M. McKay Scholarships for
    3         Students with Disabilities Program; amending s.
    4         1002.39, F.S.; providing that parents of certain
    5         students who are seeking an individual education plan
    6         reevaluation may request a specified meeting and
    7         evaluation from the school district; requiring the
    8         school district to conduct the meeting and
    9         reevaluation within a specified timeframe; defining
   10         the term “hospitalized or homebound”; specifying that
   11         a school district may change a student’s matrix of
   12         services as a result of an individual education plan
   13         reevaluation; providing an effective date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (5) of
   18  section 1002.39, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   19         1002.39 The John M. McKay Scholarships for Students with
   20  Disabilities Program.—There is established a program that is
   21  separate and distinct from the Opportunity Scholarship Program
   22  and is named the John M. McKay Scholarships for Students with
   23  Disabilities Program.
   24         (5) SCHOOL DISTRICT OBLIGATIONS; PARENTAL OPTIONS.—
   25         (a)1. By April 1 of each year and within 10 days after an
   26  individual education plan meeting or a 504 accommodation plan is
   27  issued under s. 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a school
   28  district shall notify the parent of the student of all options
   29  available pursuant to this section, inform the parent of the
   30  availability of the department’s telephone hotline and Internet
   31  website for additional information on John M. McKay
   32  Scholarships, and offer that student’s parent an opportunity to
   33  enroll the student in another public school in the district.
   34         2. If a student is hospitalized or homebound and his or her
   35  parent seeks a reevaluation of an existing individual education
   36  plan, the parent may request an individual education plan
   37  meeting and evaluation from the school district to obtain or
   38  revise a matrix of services. The school district shall conduct
   39  the meeting and develop an individual education plan and a
   40  revised matrix of services within 30 days after receipt of the
   41  parent’s request for a reevaluation, in accordance with State
   42  Board of Education rules. For purposes of this subparagraph, the
   43  term “hospitalized or homebound” has the same meaning as
   44  “hospital or homebound” in s. 1002.385(2)(d).
   45         3.2. The parent is not required to accept the offer of
   46  enrolling in another public school in lieu of requesting a John
   47  M. McKay Scholarship to a private school. However, if the parent
   48  chooses the public school option, the student may continue
   49  attending a public school chosen by the parent until the student
   50  graduates from high school.
   51         4.3. If the parent chooses a public school consistent with
   52  the district school board’s choice plan under s. 1002.31, the
   53  school district shall provide transportation to the public
   54  school selected by the parent. The parent is responsible to
   55  provide transportation to a public school chosen that is not
   56  consistent with the district school board’s choice plan under s.
   57  1002.31.
   58         (b)1. For a student with disabilities who does not have a
   59  matrix of services under s. 1011.62(1)(e), the school district
   60  must complete a matrix that assigns the student to one of the
   61  levels of service as they existed prior to the 2000-2001 school
   62  year.
   63         2.a. Within 10 school days after it receives notification
   64  of a parent’s request for a John M. McKay Scholarship, a school
   65  district must notify the student’s parent if the matrix of
   66  services has not been completed and inform the parent that the
   67  district is required to complete the matrix within 30 days after
   68  receiving notice of the parent’s request for a John M. McKay
   69  Scholarship. This notice should include the required completion
   70  date for the matrix.
   71         b. The school district must complete the matrix of services
   72  for any student who is participating in the John M. McKay
   73  Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program and must
   74  notify the department of the student’s matrix level within 30
   75  days after receiving notification of a request to participate in
   76  the scholarship program. The school district must provide the
   77  student’s parent with the student’s matrix level within 10
   78  school days after its completion.
   79         c. The department shall notify the private school of the
   80  amount of the scholarship within 10 days after receiving the
   81  school district’s notification of the student’s matrix level.
   82         d. A school district may change a matrix of services only
   83  if the change is the result of an individual education plan
   84  reevaluation or is necessary to correct a technical,
   85  typographical, or calculation error.
   86         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.
   87