HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: CS/CS/HB 443 Education
SPONSOR(S): Education & Employment Committee, Choice & Innovation Subcommittee, Valdés
TIED BILLS: None. IDEN./SIM. BILLS: SB 986
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Choice & Innovation Subcommittee 14 Y, 0 N, As CS Dixon Sleap
2) Education & Employment Committee 21 Y, 0 N, As CS Dixon Hassell
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
The bill requires a charter school sponsor to annually provide a report to its charter schools on what
administrative and educational services are being rendered from the sponsor’s portion of the administrative
fee. The report must include the listed services and be submitted to the Department of Education by
September 15 of each year. Additionally, a sponsor is required, as a part of providing administrative and
education services to a school, to provide training on systems the sponsor will require the charter school to
use.
The bill requires a charter school sponsor to timely review and reimburse federal grant funds to a charter
school within 60 calendar days from the date of submission, if the submission provides all the necessary
information to qualify for reimbursement. A sponsor who does not reimburse within the 60 calendar days is
required to pay interest to the charter school.
The bill requires the State Board of Education to adopt rules to implement a standard monitoring tool for
conducting annual site reviews of charter schools.
The bill authorizes a charter school to give enrollment preference to students who are the children of a safe-
school officer at the charter school.
The bill extends the validity period of an adjunct teaching certificate from 3 to 5 years.
The bill expands the definition of “classroom teacher” eligible for the Florida Teachers Supply Assistance
Program to also include an administrator or a substitute teacher who holds a valid teaching certificate and who
is filling a vacancy in an identified teaching position on or before September 1 of each year.
The bill authorizes private tutoring to be provided to up to 25 students in specified facilities under existing
zoning and land use designations without obtaining a special exception, rezoning, or a land use change.
To protect the health and safety of Florida’s students, the bill also requires each district school board to hang a
poster that contains step-by-step instructions on how to provide emergency first aid for choking on conscious
individuals in each public school cafeteria within the school district. The poster must be easily visible and
prominently placed.
The bill does not appear to have a fiscal impact.
The bill has an effective date of July 1, 2023.
This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives .
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FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Florida Charter Schools
Present Situation
All charter schools in Florida are tuition-free public schools within the state’s public education system. 1
Charter schools are nonsectarian and operate under a performance contract with a sponsor. 2 This
performance contract is known as a “charter.” 3 The charter exempts the school from many regulations
applicable to traditional public schools to encourage the use of innovative learning methods.4 One of
the guiding principles of charter schools is to “meet high standards of student achievement while
providing parents flexibility to choose among diverse educational opportunities within the state’s public
school system.”5
In Florida, several types of entities may authorize or “sponsor” charter schools:
School districts, Florida College System (FCS) institutions, and state universities may sponsor
charter schools.6
State universities may sponsor charter lab schools. 7
School districts, FCS institutions, or a consortium of school districts or FCS institutions may
sponsor a charter technical career center.8
During the 2021-22 school year, over 361,939 students were in enrolled in 703 charter schools in 47 of
Florida’s 67 school districts.9
Charter School Sponsor’s Responsibilities
A charter school sponsor’s responsibilities include:10
approving or denying charter school applications;
overseeing each sponsored charter school’s progress toward the goals established in the
charter;
monitoring the revenues and expenditures of the charter school;
ensuring that the charter school participates in the state's education accountability system; and
intervening when a sponsored charter school demonstrates deficient student performance or
financial instability.
A sponsor must provide various administrative and educational services to charter schools, such as
contract management, student enrollment and achievement data reporting, exceptional student
education program administration, eligibility determination and reporting for National School Lunch
1 Section 1002.33(1), F.S. Florida’s first charter school law was enacted in 1996. Chapter 96-186, L.O.F., initially codified at s.
228.056, F.S., re-designated in 2002 as s. 1002.33, F.S.
2 Section 1002.33(1), (7), and (9)(a), F.S.
3 Section 1002.33(7) and (9)(c), F.S.
4 Section 1002.33(2)(b)3. and (16), F.S.
5 Section 1002.33(2)(a)1., F.S.
6 Section 1002.33(5)(a)1.-3., F.S.; In 2021, the Legislature authorized Florida’s state universities and FCS institutions to solicit
applications and sponsor charter schools upon approval by the DOE. A state university or FCS institution may, at its discretion, deny
an application for a charter school. S. 1002.33(5)(a)3.c., F.S.
7 Sections 1002.32(2) and 1002.33(5)(a)2., F.S.
8 Section 1002.34(3)(a)-(b), F.S.
9 Florida Department of Education, Fact Sheet, Office of Independent Education & Parental Choice, Florida’s Charter Schools (Sept.
2022), available at Charter-Sept-2022 (fldoe.org).
10 Section 1002.33(5)(b), F.S.
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Program, assessment test administration, processing of teacher certification data and student
information services.11
A sponsor may withhold an administrative fee for the various administrative services provided to the
charter school. The amount withheld is a percentage based on weighted full-time equivalent students.12
The administrative fee is calculated, up to five percent for:13
Enrollment of up to and including 250 students in a charter school or virtual charter school.
Enrollment of up to and including 500 students within a charter school system and meets all of
the following:
o Includes conversion charter schools and nonconversion charter schools.
o Has all of its schools located in the same county.
o Has a total enrollment exceeding the total enrollment of at least one school district in
Florida.
o Has the same governing board for all of its schools.
o Does not contract with a for-profit service provider for management of school operations.
A sponsor may withhold up to two percent for enrollment of up to and including 250 students in a high-
performing charter school or up 250 students in an exceptional student education center that meets
specified requirements.14
The sponsor is required to provide to the Department of Education (DOE), by September 15 of each
year, the total amount of funding withheld from the charter schools for the prior fiscal year. 15
Charter School Funding
Like traditional public schools, charter school operations are funded through the Florida Education
Finance Program (FEFP) based on student enrollment. Each charter school reports student enrollment
to its sponsor for inclusion in the district’s report of student enrollment. 16 The following chart
summarizes how a charter school’s share of FEFP funds is determined:
Calculating a Charter School’s Share of FEFP Funds17
Sum of the district’s
operating funds from
the FEFP and the The total funded The weighted full- Charter school
General Appropriations ÷ weighted full-time × time equivalent = allotment of FEFP
Act (GAA), including equivalent students students for the dollars
the district’s gross state in the district charter school
and local funds,
discretionary lottery
funds, and funds from
the district’s current
operating discretionary
tax levies
11 Section 1002.33(20)(a)1., F.S.
12 Section 1002.33(20)(a)2., F.S., If a charter school serves 75 percent or more exceptional education students, the percentage is
required to be calculated based on unweighted full-time equivalent students.
13 Section 1002.33(20)(a)2.a., F.S.
14 Section 1002.33(20)(a)b.-c., F.S. A charter school that is an exceptional student education center and that receives two consecutive
ratings of “maintaining” or higher may replicate its educational program. The Commissioner of Education, upon request by a ch arter
school, shall verify that the charter school meets the requirements and provide a letter to the charter school and the sponsor sta ting that
the charter school may replicate its educational program in the same manner as a high -performing charter school, see s. 1008.3415,
F.S.
15 Section 1002.33(20)(a)4., F.S.
16 Section 1002.33(17)(a)-(b), F.S.
17 Section 1002.33(17)(b) and (c), F.S.
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A charter school is also entitled to a proportionate share of categorical funds included in the FEFP for
students who qualify for the categorical.18 Categorical funds must be spent for specified purposes,
which include student transportation, safe schools, supplemental academic instruction, evidence-based
reading instruction, mental health assistance, instructional materials, teacher classroom supplies, class-
size reduction operating funds, and teacher salary increases. 19
Total funding for each charter school is recalculated during the year to reflect the revised calculations
under the FEFP by the state and the actual weighted FTE reported by the charter school during the
survey periods.20
Sponsors are required to make timely and efficient payment and reimbursements to charter schools,
including processing paperwork required to access special state and federal funding for which they may
be eligible to receive.21
Once a sponsor receives state or federal funds, the payments must be issued to the charter school no
later than 10 working days after receipt of such funds. If a warrant for payment is not issued within 10
working days after receipt, the sponsor is required to pay to the charter school, in addition to the
amount of the scheduled disbursement, interest at a rate of one percent per month calculated on a
daily basis on the unpaid balance from the expiration of the 10 working days until such time as the
warrant is issued.22
Currently, the law does not address timely review and reimbursement of federal grant funds to charter
schools.
Student Eligibility for Enrollment
Charter schools are open to all students residing within a school district and students who are covered
by an inter-district enrollment agreement.23 The charter school governing board determines the school’s
capacity based upon its contract.24 Prospective students must apply for enrollment in a charter school
and, if the number of applications exceeds the school’s capacity, a random lottery must be used to
determine which students are enrolled.25 Enrollment preference may be given to:26
siblings of current charter school students;
children of a member of the charter school governing board;
children of charter school employees;
children who complete a Voluntary Prekindergarten Education (VPK) program, during the
previous year, provided by the charter school, the charter school’s governing board, or a VPK
provider which has a written agreement with the governing board;
children of active-duty U.S. Armed Forces personnel; and
18 Section 1002.33(17)(b), F.S.
19 See, e.g., s. 1011.62(6), F.S. (general categoricals); s. 1011.68, F.S. (student transportation); s. 1011.62(12), F.S. (safe schools
allocation); s. 1011.62(1)(f), F.S. (supplemental academic instruction); s. 1011.62(18), F.S. (evidence -based reading instruction
allocation); s. 1011.62(13), F.S. (mental health assistance); s. 1011.67, F.S. (instructional materials); s. 1012.71, F.S. (Florida
Teachers Classroom Supply Assistance Program); s. 1011.685, F.S. (class size reduction); and s. 1011.62(14), F.S. (teacher sa lary
increase allocation).
20 Section 1002.33(17)(b)1., F.S. To reflect any changes in enrollment, the charter school’s funding is recalculated during the school
year, based upon the October and February FTE enrollment surveys.
21 Section 1002.33(17)(e), F.S.
22 Id.
23 Section 1002.33(10)(a), F.S. A charter school receiving federal Charter School Program grant funds must use a lottery if more
students apply for admission to the charter school than can be admitted, unless students are enrolling in the immediate prior grade
level of an “affiliated charter school.” However, a charter school may use a weighted lottery under certain prescribed circumstances.
see 20 U.S.C. s. 7221b(c)(3) and s. 7221i(2)(H). see also U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary & Secondary
Education, Dear Colleague Letter- ESSA flexibilities for CSP Grantees (Nov. 15, 2017), available at
https://oese.ed.gov/files/2019/11/CSP-DCL-1.pdf.
24 Section 1002.31(2)(b), F.S.
25 Section 1002.33(10)(b), F.S.
26 Section 1002.33(10)(d)1.-3. and 5.-7., F.S.
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children who attend or are assigned to a failing school.
Additionally, a charter school-in-the-workplace may give enrollment preference to students whose
parents are employees of the school’s business partner and students whose parents are residents of
the municipality in which the school is located. A charter school-in-a-municipality may also give
enrollment preference to students whose parents are residents or employees of a municipality that
operates a charter school-in-the-workplace or allows a charter school to use a school facility or portion
of land provided by the municipality for the operation of a charter school.27
Standard Charter Forms
The Department of Education (DOE) must provide information to the public, directly and through
sponsors, on how to form and operate a charter school and how to enroll in a charter school once it is
created.28 The information must include the standard application form, standard charter and virtual
charter contracts, standard evaluation instrument, and standard charter and virtual charter renewal
contracts.29 To fulfill these requirements, the DOE, after consulting with sponsors and charter school
directors, must recommend that the State Board of Education (SBE) adopt rules to implement the
forms. 30
Safe-School Officers
District school boards and school district superintendents are required to partner with law enforcement
or security agencies to establish or assign one or more safe-school officers at each school facility within
the district, including charter schools. A district school board must collaborate with charter school
governing boards to facilitate charter school access to all safe-school officer options in order for charter
schools to satisfy the requirement that at least one safe-school officer be present on each school
facility.31
A safe-school officer may be a school resource officer,32 school safety officer,33 school guardian,34 or a
school security guard.35
Effect of Proposed Changes
The bill requires a charter school sponsor to annually provide a report to its charter schools on what
administrative and educational services are being rendered from the sponsor’s portion of the
administrative fee. The report must include the listed services and be submitted to the DOE by
September 15 of each year.
The bill implements a requirement for the timely review and reimbursement of federal grant funds to
charter schools. Under the bill, a sponsor must reimburse a charter school for federal grant funds within
60 calendar days from the date of submission, if the submission provides all the necessary information
to qualify for reimbursement. If a warrant for payment is not made within the 60 calendar days after an
approved submittal for reimbursement of federal grant funds, the sponsor is required to pay the charter
school, in addition to the amount of the scheduled disbursement, an interest rate of one percent per
month calculated on a daily basis on the