Florida Senate - 2026                                     SB 512
       
       
        
       By Senator Osgood
       
       
       
       
       
       32-00292B-26                                           2026512__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to funding for the Voluntary
    3         Prekindergarten Education Program; amending s.
    4         1002.71, F.S.; revising the calculation of the base
    5         student allocation for the Voluntary Prekindergarten
    6         Education Program; requiring the Division of Early
    7         Learning to annually publish and provide to early
    8         learning coalitions specified information; authorizing
    9         the Legislature to provide additional funding for the
   10         program; providing an effective date.
   11          
   12  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   13  
   14         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section
   15  1002.71, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   16         1002.71 Funding; financial and attendance reporting.—
   17         (3)(a) Each private prekindergarten provider and public
   18  school delivering the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education
   19  Program shall be paid a separate base student allocation per
   20  full-time equivalent student as in the Voluntary Prekindergarten
   21  Education Program shall be provided in the General
   22  Appropriations Act.
   23         1. Beginning with the 2026-2027 program year, the base
   24  student allocation for a school-year prekindergarten program and
   25  for a summer prekindergarten program may not be less than the
   26  amount appropriated for the previous program year, adjusted
   27  annually on July 1 by the percentage change in the Consumer
   28  Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the most recent calendar
   29  year, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United
   30  States Department of Labor, not to exceed 5 percent each year.
   31  The base student allocation for a school-year program shall be
   32  equal for each student, regardless of whether the student is
   33  enrolled in a school-year prekindergarten program delivered by a
   34  public school or a private prekindergarten provider. The base
   35  student allocation for a summer prekindergarten program shall be
   36  equal for each student, regardless of whether the student is
   37  enrolled in a summer prekindergarten program delivered by a
   38  public school or private prekindergarten provider.
   39         2. The Division of Early Learning shall annually publish on
   40  its website the adjusted base student allocation and provide the
   41  amount of the allocation to each early learning coalition no
   42  later than May 1 for use in the following program year.
   43         3. The Legislature may provide a greater base student
   44  allocation than calculated under subparagraph 1. or additional
   45  supplements for the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program
   46  in the General Appropriations Act.
   47         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.