Florida Senate - 2021                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 1108
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì732008ÃÎ732008                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                   Comm: WD            .                                
                  04/19/2021           .                                
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       The Committee on Appropriations (Diaz) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Between lines 70 and 71
    4  insert:
    5         Section 2. Section 1002.334, Florida Statutes, is created
    6  to read:
    7         1002.334 Synchronous Innovative Blended Learning Pilot
    8  Program.—
    9         (1) There is created within the Department of Education the
   10  Synchronous Innovative Blended Learning Pilot Program. The
   11  purpose of the program is to develop and measure a synchronous
   12  and innovative blended learning model that improves the
   13  educational progress of this state’s students and helps close
   14  achievement gaps for this state’s traditionally underserved
   15  students.
   16         (2)As used in this section, the term “synchronous
   17  innovative blended learning” means:
   18         (a) A mode of learning where in-person and remote students
   19  are combined in one classroom environment where the education,
   20  instruction, and engagement occurs at the same time with the
   21  teacher and other students physically present in the classroom;
   22  and
   23         (b) For a given course, students learn in part through
   24  online delivery of content and instruction with some element of
   25  student control over time, place, path, or pace and in part at a
   26  traditional supervised classroom location away from home.
   27         (3)To be eligible to work with the program, an applicant
   28  must be:
   29         (a) A high-performing charter school under s. 1002.331;
   30         (b)A high-performing charter school system under s.
   31  1002.332; or
   32         (c)An academically high-performing school district
   33  pursuant to s. 1003.621.
   34         (4)A program applicant must submit an application to the
   35  department in a format prescribed by the department. The
   36  application must include all of the following:
   37         (a)A plan for the synchronous technological and resource
   38  design, curriculum, classroom operation, school or district
   39  management, privacy protection and teacher professional
   40  development, and at least weekly progress monitoring of student
   41  performance in synchronous innovative blended learning programs.
   42         (b)A plan to reduce achievement gaps through synchronous
   43  innovative blended learning.
   44         (c)A requirement that distance learning will always be at
   45  the choosing of the student or the student’s parent or guardian
   46  and that a family will never be coerced to choose distance
   47  learning.
   48         (d)A requirement that a participating classroom may not be
   49  fully virtual such that at least one-third of the students in a
   50  class must be present for in-person learning on any regularly
   51  scheduled school day.
   52         (e)A requirement that any struggling student who is
   53  participating in this program and who, according to progress
   54  monitoring data, is on pace to learn less than a year’s content
   55  in a year’s time must return to learning in person.
   56         (f)A requirement that any student can choose to switch
   57  learning modalities, in person or distance, on any given day,
   58  without notice and therefore a seat must always be available for
   59  every student registered to take any participating course.
   60         (g)A requirement that the applicant provide all requested
   61  student-level data from participating schools, including, as
   62  necessary, benchmark historical data for up to the prior 3
   63  school years, to the department upon request.
   64         (5)Applications may be considered only for synchronous
   65  innovative blended learning programs.
   66         (6) The Commissioner of Education shall pick applicants to
   67  participate in the program.
   68         (7)(a)Applicants approved by the commissioner shall
   69  receive funding based upon the number of full-time equivalent
   70  students being educated under the pilot program, as if each
   71  student were being educated full time in person at his or her
   72  respective school.
   73         (b) The commissioner may remove an approved applicant from
   74  program participation if the applicant fails to maintain the
   75  designations listed in subsection (3) or the applicant fails to
   76  meet any of the requirements listed in subsection (4).
   77         (8) This section expires July 1, 2024.
   78  
   79  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   80  And the title is amended as follows:
   81         Between lines 13 and 14
   82  insert:
   83         creating s. 1002.334, F.S.; establishing the
   84         Synchronous Innovative Blended Learning Pilot Program
   85         within the department; providing the purpose of the
   86         program; defining the term “synchronous innovative
   87         blended learning”; specifying program eligibility;
   88         requiring program applicants to submit applications to
   89         the department in a format prescribed by the
   90         department; requiring program applications to include
   91         specified information; requiring applications to be
   92         considered only for synchronous innovative blended
   93         learning programs; requiring the Commissioner of
   94         Education to pick applicants to participate in the
   95         program; providing for funding; authorizing the
   96         commissioner to remove an approved applicant from the
   97         program under certain circumstances; providing for
   98         future expiration;