Florida Senate - 2025                              CS for SB 444
       
       
        
       By the Appropriations Committee on Pre-K - 12 Education; and
       Senators Avila, Collins, and Yarborough
       
       
       
       
       602-03440-25                                           2025444c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to human trafficking awareness;
    3         creating s. 1006.481, F.S.; requiring the Department
    4         of Education to identify a curriculum regarding human
    5         trafficking awareness; specifying required components
    6         of the curriculum; authorizing in-person or online
    7         training; requiring public schools to require that
    8         certain personnel have received certain training;
    9         requiring school employees to acknowledge completion
   10         of training; amending s. 1002.33, F.S.; requiring
   11         charter schools to comply with requirements for human
   12         trafficking awareness training; providing an effective
   13         date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Section 1006.481, Florida Statutes, is created
   18  to read:
   19         1006.481 Human trafficking awareness training.—
   20         (1) No later than December 1, 2025, the Department of
   21  Education shall identify a free training curriculum regarding
   22  human trafficking awareness, which must include all of the
   23  following:
   24         (a) The definition of human trafficking and the difference
   25  between sex trafficking and labor trafficking.
   26         (b) Guidance specific to the public education sector
   27  concerning how to identify students who may be victims of human
   28  trafficking.
   29         (c) Guidance concerning the role of employees of the public
   30  school system in reporting and responding to suspected human
   31  trafficking.
   32         (d) A protocol for reporting suspected human trafficking,
   33  which must require that suspicion of human trafficking of a
   34  child be reported to the Department of Children and Families or
   35  the Florida Human Trafficking Hotline at either entity’s
   36  designated telephone number.
   37         (2) The training curriculum may be conducted either in
   38  person or online.
   39         (3) Each public school shall require that all instructional
   40  personnel under s. 1012.01(2), administrative personnel under s.
   41  1012.01(3)(c), and educational support personnel under s.
   42  1012.01(6) who have contact with students must have received
   43  training on human trafficking awareness. Each employee must
   44  submit to the school an acknowledgment of having received the
   45  training, which must be retained by the school.
   46         Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (16) of section
   47  1002.33, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   48         1002.33 Charter schools.—
   49         (16) EXEMPTION FROM STATUTES.—
   50         (b) Additionally, a charter school shall be in compliance
   51  with the following statutes:
   52         1. Section 286.011, relating to public meetings and
   53  records, public inspection, and criminal and civil penalties.
   54         2. Chapter 119, relating to public records.
   55         3. Section 1003.03, relating to the maximum class size,
   56  except that the calculation for compliance pursuant to s.
   57  1003.03 shall be the average at the school level.
   58         4. Section 1012.22(1)(c), relating to compensation and
   59  salary schedules.
   60         5. Section 1012.33(5), relating to workforce reductions.
   61         6. Section 1012.335, relating to contracts with
   62  instructional personnel hired on or after July 1, 2011.
   63         7. Section 1012.34, relating to the substantive
   64  requirements for performance evaluations for instructional
   65  personnel and school administrators.
   66         8. Section 1006.12, relating to safe-school officers.
   67         9. Section 1006.07(7), relating to threat management teams.
   68         10. Section 1006.07(9), relating to School Environmental
   69  Safety Incident Reporting.
   70         11. Section 1006.07(10), relating to reporting of
   71  involuntary examinations.
   72         12. Section 1006.1493, relating to the Florida Safe Schools
   73  Assessment Tool.
   74         13. Section 1006.07(6)(d), relating to adopting an active
   75  assailant response plan.
   76         14. Section 943.082(4)(b), relating to the mobile
   77  suspicious activity reporting tool.
   78         15. Section 1012.584, relating to youth mental health
   79  awareness and assistance training.
   80         16. Section 1001.42(4)(f)2., relating to middle school and
   81  high school start times. A charter school-in-the-workplace is
   82  exempt from this requirement.
   83         17. Section 1006.481, relating to training on human
   84  trafficking awareness.
   85         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.