Bill Text: FL S1858 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: District Cost Differential
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2020-03-14 - Died in Education [S1858 Detail]
Download: Florida-2020-S1858-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2020 SB 1858 By Senator Rodriguez 37-00414-20 20201858__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to the district cost differential; 3 amending s. 1011.62, F.S.; revising the method of 4 calculating the district cost differential used in 5 determining the annual allocation to school districts 6 from the Florida Education Finance Program beginning 7 in a specified school year; requiring the Department 8 of Education to consult with specified individuals and 9 entities during the development of the wage level 10 index; requiring the department to complete the 11 development and calculation of the wage level index by 12 a specified date for application beginning in the 13 2021-2022 fiscal year; amending s. 213.053, F.S.; 14 conforming provisions to changes made by the act; 15 reenacting ss. 402.22(6), 1002.37(3)(e), 16 1002.71(3)(b), and 1003.52(13)(a), F.S., relating to 17 the education program for students who reside in 18 residential care facilities operated by the Department 19 of Children and Families or the Agency for Persons 20 with Disabilities; the Florida Virtual School; funding 21 and financial and attendance reporting relating to the 22 Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program; and 23 educational services in Department of Juvenile Justice 24 programs, respectively, to incorporate the amendment 25 made to s. 1011.62, F.S., in references thereto; 26 providing an effective date. 27 28 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 29 30 Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 1011.62, Florida 31 Statutes, is amended to read: 32 1011.62 Funds for operation of schools.—If the annual 33 allocation from the Florida Education Finance Program to each 34 district for operation of schools is not determined in the 35 annual appropriations act or the substantive bill implementing 36 the annual appropriations act, it shall be determined as 37 follows: 38 (2) DETERMINATION OF DISTRICT COST DIFFERENTIALS.— 39 (a) Through the 2020-2021 fiscal year, the Commissioner of 40 Education shall annually compute for each district the current 41 year’s district cost differential. The district cost 42 differential shall be calculated by adding each district’s price 43 level index as published in the Florida Price Level Index for 44 the most recent 3 years and dividing the resulting sum by 3. The 45 result for each district shall be multiplied by 0.008 and to the 46 resulting product shall be added 0.200; the sum thus obtained 47 shall be the cost differential for that district for that year. 48 (b) Beginning in the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the district 49 cost differential shall be calculated by multiplying the most 50 recent 3-year average wage level index for each school district 51 by 0.008 and then adding 0.200 to the product. The data for the 52 most recent 3 years must include, but is not limited to, county 53 level wage index data and occupational-level wage index data. 54 During the development of the wage level index, the Department 55 of Education shall consult with informed stakeholders, including 56 school districts, industry representatives, the Department of 57 Economic Opportunity, and academic and private sector experts in 58 econometric modeling and data. The Department of Education shall 59 develop and calculate the wage level index by January 1, 2021. 60 Section 2. Paragraphs (a) and (d) of subsection (7) of 61 section 213.053, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 62 213.053 Confidentiality and information sharing.— 63 (7)(a) Any information received by the Department of 64 Revenue in connection with the administration of taxes, 65 including, but not limited to, information contained in returns, 66 reports, accounts, or declarations filed by persons subject to 67 tax, shall be made available to the following in performance of 68 their official duties: 69 1. The Auditor General or his or her authorized agent; 70 2. The director of the Office of Program Policy Analysis 71 and Government Accountability or his or her authorized agent; 72 3. The Chief Financial Officer or his or her authorized 73 agent; 74 4. The Director of the Office of Insurance Regulation of 75 the Financial Services Commission or his or her authorized 76 agent; 77 5. A property appraiser or tax collector or their 78 authorized agents pursuant to s. 195.084(1); 796. Designated employees of the Department of Education80solely for determination of each school district’s price level81index pursuant to s. 1011.62(2);82 6.7.The executive director of the Department of Economic 83 Opportunity or his or her authorized agent; 84 7.8.The taxpayers’ rights advocate or his or her 85 authorized agent pursuant to s. 20.21(3); and 86 8.9.The coordinator of the Office of Economic and 87 Demographic Research or his or her authorized agent. 88(d) For the purpose of this subsection, “designated89employees of the Department of Education” means only those90employees directly responsible for calculation of price level91indices pursuant to s. 1011.62(2). It does not include the92supervisors of such employees or any other employees or elected93officials within the Department of Education.94 Section 3. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 95 made by this act to section 1011.62, Florida Statutes, in a 96 reference thereto, subsection (6) of section 402.22, Florida 97 Statutes, is reenacted to read: 98 402.22 Education program for students who reside in 99 residential care facilities operated by the Department of 100 Children and Families or the Agency for Persons with 101 Disabilities.— 102 (6) Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 1001.42(4)(n), the 103 educational program at the Marianna Sunland Center in Jackson 104 County shall be operated by the Department of Education, either 105 directly or through grants or contractual agreements with other 106 public educational agencies. The annual state allocation to any 107 such agency shall be computed pursuant to s. 1011.62(1), (2), 108 and (6) and allocated in the amount that would have been 109 provided the local school district in which the residential 110 facility is located. 111 Section 4. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 112 made by this act to section 1011.62, Florida Statutes, in a 113 reference thereto, paragraph (e) of subsection (3) of section 114 1002.37, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read: 115 1002.37 The Florida Virtual School.— 116 (3) Funding for the Florida Virtual School shall be 117 provided as follows: 118 (e) The district cost differential as provided in s. 119 1011.62(2) shall be established as 1.000. 120 Section 5. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 121 made by this act to section 1011.62, Florida Statutes, in a 122 reference thereto, paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of section 123 1002.71, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read: 124 1002.71 Funding; financial and attendance reporting.— 125 (3) 126 (b) Each county’s allocation per full-time equivalent 127 student in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program shall 128 be calculated annually by multiplying the base student 129 allocation provided in the General Appropriations Act by the 130 county’s district cost differential provided in s. 1011.62(2). 131 Each private prekindergarten provider and public school shall be 132 paid in accordance with the county’s allocation per full-time 133 equivalent student. 134 Section 6. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 135 made by this act to section 1011.62, Florida Statutes, in a 136 reference thereto, paragraph (a) of subsection (13) of section 137 1003.52, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read: 138 1003.52 Educational services in Department of Juvenile 139 Justice programs.— 140 (13)(a) Funding for eligible students enrolled in juvenile 141 justice education programs shall be provided through the Florida 142 Education Finance Program as provided in s. 1011.62 and the 143 General Appropriations Act. Funding shall include, at a minimum: 144 1. Weighted program funding or the basic amount for current 145 operation multiplied by the district cost differential as 146 provided in s. 1011.62(2); 147 2. The supplemental allocation for juvenile justice 148 education as provided in s. 1011.62(10); 149 3. A proportionate share of the district’s exceptional 150 student education guaranteed allocation, the supplemental 151 academic instruction allocation, and the instructional materials 152 allocation; 153 4. An amount equivalent to the proportionate share of the 154 state average potential discretionary local effort for 155 operations, which shall be determined as follows: 156 a. If the district levies the maximum discretionary local 157 effort and the district’s discretionary local effort per FTE is 158 less than the state average potential discretionary local effort 159 per FTE, the proportionate share shall include both the 160 discretionary local effort and the compression supplement per 161 FTE. If the district’s discretionary local effort per FTE is 162 greater than the state average per FTE, the proportionate share 163 shall be equal to the state average; or 164 b. If the district does not levy the maximum discretionary 165 local effort and the district’s actual discretionary local 166 effort per FTE is less than the state average potential 167 discretionary local effort per FTE, the proportionate share 168 shall be equal to the district’s actual discretionary local 169 effort per FTE. If the district’s actual discretionary local 170 effort per FTE is greater than the state average per FTE, the 171 proportionate share shall be equal to the state average 172 potential local effort per FTE; and 173 5. A proportionate share of the district’s proration to 174 funds available, if necessary. 175 Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.