The Florida Senate
BILL ANALYSIS AND FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
(This document is based on the provisions contained in the legislation as of the latest date listed below.)
Prepared By: The Professional Staff of the Committee on Fiscal Policy
BILL: CS/CS/CS/SB 996
INTRODUCER: Fiscal Policy Committee; Appropriations Committee on Education; Education Pre-K -12
Committee; and Senator Burgess
SUBJECT: Education
DATE: February 16, 2024 REVISED:
ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR REFERENCE ACTION
1. Palazesi Bouck ED Fav/CS
2. Gray Elwell AED Fav/CS
3. Palazesi Yeatman FP Fav/CS
Please see Section IX. for Additional Information:
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE - Substantial Changes
I. Summary:
CS/CS/CS/SB 996 makes several changes to Florida’s K-12 public schools and postsecondary
institutions.
For Florida’s K-12 public schools, the bill:
 Clarifies the process for students enrolled in an approved virtual instruction program provider
or virtual charter school to participate in statewide, standardized assessments and
assessments in the coordinated screening and progress monitoring system.
 Clarifies that it not necessary to make an annual application for exemption on property used
to house a charter school.
 Defines a classical school and authorizes an enrollment preference at classical charter schools
for students who were previously enrolled in a public school that implemented a classical
school model.
 Provides additional student populations a charter school can target in its enrollment process.
 Creates the Purple Star School District program.
 Authorizes school districts to assign disruptive students to a disciplinary program or
alternative-to-expulsion program.
 Authorizes alternate methods of communicating to parents regarding placement into a
dropout prevention and academic intervention program.
 Prohibits school districts from identifying students as eligible to receive services through the
dropout prevention and academic intervention program based solely on a student having a
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disability, and requires an academic intervention plan for each student enrolled in a dropout
prevention and academic intervention program.
 Revises the deadlines for submission of turnaround plans and requirements under a
turnaround option available to low performing schools and specifies the responsibilities of a
school district and charter school in implementing a turnaround plan for a public school
reopening as a charter school.
 Provides that, beginning in the 2024-2025 school year, any changes made by the State Board
of Education (SBE) to components in the school grades model or to the school grading scale
go into effect, at the earliest, in the following school year.
 Authorizes the Commissioner of Education to appoint and remove the executive director for
the Education Practices Commission.
 Provides students in grades 11 and 12 an opportunity to take the Armed Services Vocational
Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) and consult with a military recruiter during the school day.
 Provides that a private school may use certain facilities, under the facility’s preexisting
zoning and land use designations and without having to implement any mitigation
requirements or conditions, subject to specified limitations.
 Requires the SBE to establish a specialized teaching certificate for educators who teach in a
classical school.
 Requires that publishers make instructional materials available to teacher preparation
programs and educator preparation institutes at a discount below publisher cost.
For postsecondary institutions, the bill:
 Allows documentation of the homestead exemption as a single piece of evidence proving
residency for tuition purposes.
 Repeals the Florida College System’s (FCS’s) employment equity and accountability
program.
 Requires that dual enrollment articulation agreements include consideration of online
courses.
 Transitions the effective period for the amount paid by the Florida Prepaid College Board to
state universities on behalf of qualified beneficiaries of advance payment contracts within the
Prepaid Florida Program from 2009-2010 to 2022-2023.
 Creates a new Associates of Arts specialized transfer degree for students who need additional
credit above the 60 hours in preparation for transfer to a baccalaureate degree program.
 Authorizes FCS institutions to charge an amount not to exceed $290 per credit hour for
nonresident tuition and fees for distance learning.
 Prohibits members of an FCS institution or state university board of trustees from doing
business or having any business affiliation with any institution under their purview while
they are a member of the board of trustees
This bill could have a fiscal impact to the Department of Education and the Florida College
System. The cost is indeterminate at this time. See Section V., Fiscal Impact Statement.
The bill takes effect July 1, 2024.
BILL: CS/CS/CS/SB 996 Page 3
II. Present Situation:
The present situation for the relevant portions of the bill is discussed under the Effect of
Proposed Changes of this bill analysis.
III. Effect of Proposed Changes:
Charter Schools
Present Situation
Charter schools are public schools that operate under a performance contract, or a “charter”
which frees them from many regulations created for traditional public schools while holding
them accountable for academic and financial results. The charter contract between the charter
school governing board and the sponsor details the school’s mission, program, goals, students
served, methods of assessment, and ways to measure success.1 As part of the charter application
to the sponsor, the charter school must disclose the name of each applicant, governing board
member, and all proposed education services providers.2
Classical Education
In Florida, some charter schools implement a classical education curriculum, which is centered
on “the pursuit of wisdom and virtue by means of a rich and ordered course of study grounded in
the liberal arts tradition.” 3 A classical education curriculum incorporates the concept of the three
ways of learning, or trivium. The trivium refers to the three learning stages: grammar, logic and
rhetoric. 4 Students are taught all three states of the trivium in kindergarten through grade 12 but
each stage is emphasized in certain grade bands:
 Kindergarten through Grade 6 focus on grammar.
 Grades 7 through Grade 3 focus on logic.
 Grades 10 through Grade 12 focus on rhetoric.5
There are currently 18 classical charter schools in Florida, operating in 9 districts.6
Charter School Enrollment
Charter schools are allowed to provide an enrollment preference to the following student
populations:
 Students who are siblings of a student enrolled in a charter school.
 Students who are children of a member of the governing board of the charter school.
1
Florida Department of Education, FAQ, What are charter schools?, http://www.fldoe.org/schools/school-choice/charter-
schools/charter-school-faqs.stml (last visited Feb. 2, 2024). See also 1002.33(7), F.S.
2
Section 1002.33(6), F.S.
3
Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Classical education is growing. Here’s how to keep it that way,
https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/classical-education-growing-heres-how-keep-it-way, (last visited Feb. 9,
2024).
4
Classical Academic Press, An Introduction to Classical Education: A Guide for Parents,
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0264/3014/4583/files/ICE_version2.6.pdf, (last visited Feb 9, 2024).
5
Id.
6
Email, Florida Department of Education, Legislative Affairs (Feb. 2, 2024).
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 Students who are children of an employee of the charter school.
 Students who are children of:
o An employee of the business partner of a charter school-in-the-workplace or a resident of
the municipality in which the charter school is located.
o A resident or employee of a municipality that operates a charter school-in-a-municipality
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.
 Students who have successfully completed, during the previous year, a voluntary
prekindergarten education program provided by the charter school, the charter school’s
governing board, or a voluntary prekindergarten provider that has a written agreement with
the governing board.
 Students who are the children of an active duty member of any branch of the United States
Armed Forces.
 Students who attended or are assigned to failing schools.
 Students who are the children of a safe-school officer at the school.7
Charter schools are also authorized to limit the enrollment process to target specific student
populations that include the following:
 Students within specific age groups or grade levels.
 Students considered at risk of dropping out of school or academic failure. Such students shall
include exceptional education students.
 Students enrolling in a charter school-in-the-workplace or charter school-in-a-municipality
established.
 Students residing within a reasonable distance of the charter school. Such students are subject
to a random lottery and to the racial/ethnic balance or any federal provisions that require a
school to achieve a racial/ethnic balance reflective of the community it serves or within the
racial/ethnic range of other nearby public schools.
 Students who meet reasonable academic, artistic, or other eligibility standards established by
the charter school and included in the charter school application and charter or, in the case of
existing charter schools, standards that are consistent with the school’s mission and purpose,
but which may not discriminate against otherwise qualified individuals. A school that limits
enrollment for such purposes must place a student on a progress monitoring plan for at least
one semester before dismissing the student from the school.
 Students articulating from one charter school to another pursuant to an articulation agreement
between the charter schools that has been approved by the sponsor.
 Students living in a development in which a developer, including any affiliated business
entity or charitable foundation, contributes to the formation, acquisition, construction, or
operation of one or more charter schools or charter school facilities and related property in an
amount equal to or having a total appraised value of at least $5 million to be used as charter
schools to mitigate the educational impact created by the development of new residential
dwelling units. Students living in the development are entitled to 50 percent of the student
stations in the charter schools. The students who are eligible for enrollment are subject to a
random lottery, the racial/ethnic balance provisions, or any federal provisions.8
7
Section 1002.33(10)(d), F.S.
8
Section 1002.33(10)(e), F.S.
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Charter School Facilities and Tax Exempt Status
In the 2022-2023 school year, there were 726 charter schools in 46 Florida districts.9 Similar to
traditional public schools, charter schools may use capital outlay funding on the purchase of real
property, construction of school facilities and purchase, lease-purchase, or lease of permanent or
relocatable school facilities.10 Charter schools are considered educational institutions11 within the
state and property used by them for educational purposes are exempt from taxation.12 Unless
waived by the county, persons or organizations eligible for a property tax exemption are required
to file an application with the property appraiser on or before March 1 of each year in which the
exemption is claimed.13 For charter schools, any facility, or portion thereof, used to house a
charter school whose charter has been approved by the sponsor14 and the charter school
governing board is exempt from ad valorem taxes. For leasehold properties, the landlord must
certify by affidavit to the charter school that the required payments under the lease, whether paid
to the landlord or on behalf of the landlord to a third party, will be reduced to the extent of the
exemption received.15
It is not necessary for an annual application for exemption to be filed for:
 Houses of public worship, the lots on which they are located, personal property located
therein or thereon, parsonages, burial grounds and tombs owned by houses of public worship,
individually owned burial rights not held for speculation, or other such property not rented or
hired out for other than religious or educational purposes at any time.
 Household goods and personal effects of permanent residents of this state.
 Property of the state or any county, any municipality, any school district, or community
college district thereof.16
Effect of Proposed Changes
The bill amends s. 1002.33, F.S., to remove outdated language referencing “charter school
owners.” Charter schools operate as not-for-profit organizations administered by a governing
board, not an owner. This bill provides that a classical charter school can give enrollment
preference to students who transfer from another classical school in the state. The bill defines a
classical school as a traditional public school or a charter school that implements a classical
education model that emphasizes the development of students in the principles of moral
character and civic virtue through a well-rounded education in the liberal arts and sciences which
is based on the classical trivium stages of grammar, logic and rhetoric.
The bill adds to the list of student populations a charter school is authorized to target in
enrollment limits, to include students whose parent or legal guardian maintains a physical or
9
Florida Department of Education, Florida’s Charter Schools Fact Sheet,
https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/7778/urlt/Charter-Sept-2022.pdf (last visited Feb. 2, 2024).
10
Section 1013.62(4), F.S.
11
Section 196.012(5), F.S.
12
Section 196.198, F.S.
13
Section 196.011(1)(a), F.S.
14
Section 1002.33, F.S. Charter school sponsors include a district school board, a state university system, a Florida College
System institution, a charter school-in-the-workplace, and a charter school in-a-municipality.
15
Section 196.1983, F.S.
16
Section 196.011(3), F.S.
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permanent employment presence within the same development that the charter school is located,
or who are employed within a reasonable distance from the school, subject to random lottery
within that student population.
The bill amends s. 196.011, F.S., to prohibit counties from requiring any facility, or portion
thereof, used to house a charter school from making an annual application for exemption on
property. The bill requires that the owner or lessee notify the property appraiser promptly
whenever the use of the property or the status or condition of the owner or lessee changes so as
to change the exempt status of the property. Failure to properly notify, and a determination by
the property appraiser that for any year within the prior 10 years the owner or lessee was not
entitled to receive such exemption, the owner or lessee of the property is subject to the taxes
exempted as a result of such failure plus 15 percent interest per annum and a penalty of 50
percent of the taxes exempted.
The bill requires the property appraiser who is making the determination to record in the public
records of the county a notice of tax lien against any property owned by that person or entity in
the county, and such property must be identified in the notic