Orange County Public Schools

Overview

The third of six scheduled legislative committee weeks concluded on Friday, Oct. 22. Governor DeSantis will call the Legislature into Special Session to pass measures providing “protections for employees facing unfair, discriminatory COVID-19 vaccine mandates” and “greater protections to parents of public-school students.” The special session will likely occur in November, though a specific date has not been announced. The 2022 Florida Legislative Session formally begins Jan. 11, 2022, and ends March 11, 2022. To date, more than 650 bills have been filed for the upcoming Session, including dozens of education-related bills (see Bill Activity below).

Committee Activity

The following legislative committees held meetings this week on education-related matters:

House: Secondary Education & Career Development Subcommittee 

• Presentation on Florida's dropout prevention and academic intervention programs.
• View a video recording of the Subcommittee meeting.

House: Early Learning & Elementary Education Subcommittee

• Presentation by the Department of Education on the governance of early learning programs, followed by a panel discussion on policy barriers to access to high-quality early learning.
• View a video recording of the Subcommittee meeting.

House: PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee

• Two presentations by the Subcommittee Chair: (1) Overview on K-12 Virtual Instruction and (2) Overview of Juvenile Justice Education Funding in the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP)
• View a video recording of the Subcommittee meeting.

House: Post-Secondary Education & Lifelong Learning Subcommittee

• Presentation on updates to student codes of conduct to incorporate additional student due process protections.
• View a video recording of the Subcommittee meeting.

Senate: Appropriations Subcommittee on Education

• Presentation and panel discussion on reading improvement
• View a video recording of the Subcommittee meeting.

Bill Activity

Below are education-related bills filed since the previous Legislative Update that may advance through the legislative process in the coming weeks.

HB 255/SB 538: Private Instructional Personnel Providing Applied Behavior Analysis Services (Plasencia/Hooper)

• Revises definition of “private instructional personnel” to include certain registered behavior technicians.

HB 361/SB 480: Required Instruction in Social Media Literacy (Yarborough/Burgess)

• Requires members of instructional staff of public schools to provide instruction on social media literacy; defines “social media”; requires district school boards to make social media literacy instructional material available online.

HB 365: Computer Science Instruction in K-12 Public Schools (Hawkins)

• Provides requirements for computer science instruction in K-12 public schools; provides for professional development & training in computer science for instructional personnel & for bonuses for certain instructional personnel.

SB 532: Private Schools (Stewart)

• Revising requirements that private schools participating in certain educational scholarship programs must meet; revising parent and student responsibilities for participating in the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program; revising school district obligations under the Hope Scholarship Program; requiring certain private schools to be graded according to specified rules.

SB 592: Face Covering Mandates (Perry)

• Prohibiting district school boards from adopting, implementing, or enforcing a policy, a rule, a code of conduct, or an order requiring the wearing of a face covering; prohibiting a district school superintendent from implementing or enforcing a policy, a rule, a code of conduct, or an order requiring the wearing of a face covering; prohibiting a school principal from implementing or enforcing a policy, a rule, a code of conduct, or an order requiring the wearing of a face covering, etc.

SB 594: Discrimination on the Basis of COVID-19 Vaccination or Postinfection Recovery Status (Perry)

• Discrimination on the Basis of COVID-19 Vaccination or Postinfection Recovery Status; Prohibiting governmental entities from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination or postinfection recovery status as a condition of licensure or certification in this state; prohibiting employers from requiring COVID-19 vaccination or proof of COVID-19 vaccination or postinfection recovery as a condition of employment, promotion, or continued employment or from discriminating against employees on the basis of such status unless certain conditions are met; providing a right of action for aggrieved persons, etc. 

SB 600: Upgrades to Education Facilities as Emergency Shelters (Berman)

• Upgrades to Education Facilities as Emergency Shelters; Exempting costs of less than $2 million associated with certain upgrades to education facilities from being included in certain cost per student station calculations; prohibiting renewable energy source devices located on the property of an education facility from generating more than a specified amount of energy; requiring costs associated with certain upgrades to be consistent with prevailing market costs in the area where the education facility is located, etc.