Florida Senate - 2026 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1620
Ì290396FÎ290396
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
03/04/2026 .
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The Committee on Rules (Leek) recommended the following:
1 Senate Substitute for Amendment (534222) (with title
2 amendment)
3
4 Delete everything after the enacting clause
5 and insert:
6 Section 1. Section 1001.366, Florida Statutes, is created
7 to read:
8 1001.366 District School Board Members’ Bill of Rights.—A
9 member of a district school board has the right to:
10 (1) Upon request, be given free and timely access to all
11 school district documents necessary to fulfill the duties and
12 responsibilities required under the State Constitution and the
13 Florida Early Learning-20 Education Code. Access to documents
14 that are confidential or exempt from public disclosure shall be
15 provided in compliance with applicable law. A request not
16 related to a matter on a publicly noticed meeting of the
17 district school board must be fulfilled within 10 business days
18 after receipt of such request. Any document provided to a
19 district school board member must be offered to all board
20 members.
21 (2) Consult with the school district’s chief financial
22 officer on general matters related to the budget, sources and
23 uses of school district funds, and have reasonable access, upon
24 request, to any detail or line item in any proposed or approved
25 budget or in any financial transaction by the school district.
26 (3) Request any document or information, except for
27 documents or information that the member would be prohibited by
28 law from accessing, from school district staff with the
29 permission of the superintendent or other members of the
30 administration where such permission shall not be unreasonably
31 withheld.
32 (4) Comment publicly during or outside of district school
33 board meetings on any matter of district school board business,
34 except for student and employee disciplinary hearings that are
35 specifically addressed in ss. 1006.07 and 1012.34, respectively,
36 or other matters prohibited by law.
37 Section 2. Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (1) of
38 section 1001.42, Florida Statutes, to read:
39 1001.42 Powers and duties of district school board.—The
40 district school board, acting as a board, shall exercise all
41 powers and perform all duties listed below:
42 (1) REQUIRE MINUTES AND RECORDS TO BE KEPT.—Require the
43 district school superintendent, as secretary, to keep such
44 minutes and records as are necessary to set forth clearly all
45 actions and proceedings of the school board.
46 (c) Other records.—Other documents, including attachments
47 for agenda items, such as vendor contracts or budget documents,
48 must be kept as a public record with the minutes of each
49 meeting.
50 Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
51 1012.22, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (k) is
52 added to that subsection, to read:
53 1012.22 Public school personnel; powers and duties of the
54 district school board.—The district school board shall:
55 (1) Designate positions to be filled, prescribe
56 qualifications for those positions, and provide for the
57 appointment, compensation, promotion, suspension, and dismissal
58 of employees as follows, subject to the requirements of this
59 chapter:
60 (a) Positions, qualifications, and appointments.—
61 1. The district school board shall act upon written
62 recommendations submitted by the district school superintendent
63 for positions to be filled, for minimum qualifications for
64 personnel for the various positions, and for the persons
65 nominated to fill such positions.
66 2. The district school board may reject for good cause any
67 employee nominated.
68 3. If the third nomination by the district school
69 superintendent for any position is rejected for good cause, if
70 the district school superintendent fails to submit a nomination
71 for initial employment within a reasonable time as prescribed by
72 the district school board, or if the district school
73 superintendent fails to submit a nomination for reemployment
74 within the time prescribed by law, the district school board may
75 proceed on its own motion to fill such position.
76 4. The district school board’s decision to reject a
77 person’s nomination does not give that person a right of action
78 to sue over the rejection and may not be used as a cause of
79 action by the nominated employee.
80 5. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “good
81 cause” means the district school board has determined any of the
82 following:
83 a. That the nominated employee fabricated or materially
84 exaggerated his or her credentials or background.
85 b. That the nominated employee does not meet the minimum
86 requirements for the position.
87 c. That the nominated employee’s educator certificate has
88 been revoked by another state.
89 (k) Nondisclosure or confidentiality.—A school district
90 employee may not be required or otherwise incentivized to sign a
91 nondisclosure agreement or confidentiality agreement. A school
92 district may not impose conditions on employment to circumvent
93 this paragraph.
94 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.
95
96 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
97 And the title is amended as follows:
98 Delete everything before the enacting clause
99 and insert:
100 A bill to be entitled
101 An act relating to public education; creating s.
102 1001.366, F.S.; providing members of a district school
103 board with specified rights; amending s. 1001.42,
104 F.S.; requiring that certain documents from district
105 school board meetings be kept as public records;
106 amending s. 1012.22, F.S.; defining the term “good
107 cause”; providing that a school district employee may
108 not be required or incentivized to sign a
109 nondisclosure agreement or confidentiality agreement;
110 prohibiting a school district from imposing certain
111 conditions on employment; providing an effective date.