ENROLLED 2014 Legislature CS for SB 864, 1st Engrossed 2014864er 1 2 An act relating to instructional materials for K-12 3 public education; amending s. 1006.28, F.S.; providing 4 that the district school board has the constitutional 5 duty and responsibility to select and provide adequate 6 instructional materials for all students; providing 7 that the district school board is responsible for the 8 content of all instructional materials; requiring a 9 policy for parental objection of instructional 10 materials and a process by which a parent may contest 11 the district school board’s adoption of a specific 12 instructional material; amending s. 1006.283, F.S.; 13 providing requirements for a district instructional 14 materials program and district school board rules 15 relating thereto; including criteria for the review, 16 recommendation, and adoption of instructional 17 materials and the process by which a school district 18 will notify parents of their ability to access their 19 children’s instructional materials; providing for 20 inspection of purchased instructional materials; 21 amending s. 1006.29, F.S.; authorizing the Department 22 of Education to assess and collect fees from 23 publishers; providing for the payment of a stipend to 24 instructional materials reviewers; amending s. 25 1006.31, F.S.; providing duties for instructional 26 materials reviewers; amending s. 1006.40, F.S.; 27 deleting provisions regarding the adoption of certain 28 instructional materials for mathematics; authorizing 29 each district school board to use all of the 30 instructional materials annual allocation for the 31 purchase of digital or electronic instructional 32 materials that meet certain requirements; providing 33 that each district school board is responsible for the 34 content of all instructional materials used in a 35 classroom; requiring district school boards to provide 36 a process for public review of, and comment on, 37 instructional materials; providing that the act does 38 not limit or remove the responsibility of each school 39 district to include certain instruction in its 40 curriculum; providing an effective date. 41 42 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 43 44 Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 1006.28, Florida 45 Statutes, is amended to read: 46 1006.28 Duties of district school board, district school 47 superintendent; and school principal regarding K-12 48 instructional materials.— 49 (1) DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD.—The district school board has 50 the constitutional duty and responsibility to select and provide 51 adequate instructional materials for all students in accordance 52 with the requirements of this part. The term “adequate 53 instructional materials” means a sufficient number of student or 54 site licenses or sets of materials that are available in bound, 55 unbound, kit, or package form and may consist of hardbacked or 56 softbacked textbooks, electronic content, consumables, learning 57 laboratories, manipulatives, electronic media, and computer 58 courseware or software that serve as the basis for instruction 59 for each student in the core courses of mathematics, language 60 arts, social studies, science, reading, and literature. The 61 district school board has the following specific duties and 62 responsibilities : 63 (a) Courses of study; adoption.—Adopt courses of study , 64 including instructional materials, for use in the schools of the 65 district. 66 1. Each district school board is responsible for the 67 content of all instructional materials used in a classroom, 68 whether adopted and purchased from the state-adopted 69 instructional materials list, adopted and purchased through a 70 district instructional materials program under s. 1006.283, or 71 otherwise purchased or made available in the classroom. 72 2. Each district school board must adopt a policy regarding 73 a parent’s objection to his or her child’s use of a specific 74 instructional material, which clearly describes a process to 75 handle all objections and provides for resolution. 76 3. Each district school board must establish a process by 77 which the parent of a public school student may contest the 78 district school board’s adoption of a specific instructional 79 material. The parent must file a petition, on a form provided by 80 the school board, within 30 calendar days after the adoption of 81 the material by the school board. The school board must make the 82 form available to the public and publish the form on the school 83 district’s website. The form must be signed by the parent, 84 include the required contact information, and state the 85 objection to the instructional material. Within 30 days after 86 the 30-day period has expired, the school board must conduct at 87 least one open public hearing on all petitions timely received 88 and provide the petitioner written notification of the date and 89 time of the hearing at least 7 days before the hearing. All 90 instructional materials contested must be made accessible online 91 to the public at least 7 days before a public hearing. The 92 school board’s decision after convening a hearing is final and 93 not subject to further petition or review. 94 (b) Instructional materials.—Provide for proper 95 requisitioning, distribution, accounting, storage, care, and use 96 of all instructional materials and furnish such other 97 instructional materials as may be needed. The district school 98 board shall ensure that instructional materials used in the 99 district are consistent with the district goals and objectives 100 and the course descriptions established in rule of the State 101 Board of Education, as well as with the state and district 102 performance standards provided for in s. 1003.41 1001.03(1) . 103 (c) Other instructional materials.—Provide such other 104 teaching accessories and aids as are needed for the school 105 district’s educational program. 106 (d) School library media services; establishment and 107 maintenance.—Establish and maintain a program of school library 108 media services for all public schools in the district, including 109 school library media centers, or school library media centers 110 open to the public, and, in addition such traveling or 111 circulating libraries as may be needed for the proper operation 112 of the district school system. 113 Section 2. Section 1006.283, Florida Statutes, is amended 114 to read: 115 1006.283 District school board instructional materials 116 review process.— 117 (1) A district school board or consortium of school 118 districts may implement an instructional materials program that 119 includes the review, recommendation approval , adoption, and 120 purchase of instructional materials. Beginning in the 2013-2014 121 school year, The district school superintendent shall certify to 122 the department by March 31 of each year that all instructional 123 materials for core courses used by the district are aligned with 124 applicable state standards. Included in the certification shall 125 be A list of the core instructional materials that will be used 126 or purchased for use by the school district shall be included in 127 the certification . 128 (2) (a) If a district The school board chooses to implement 129 its own instructional materials program, the school board shall 130 adopt rules implementing the district’s instructional materials 131 program which must include its processes, criteria, and 132 requirements for the following , but need not be limited to : 133 1. Selection of reviewers, one or more of whom must be 134 parents with children in public schools. 135 2. Review of instructional materials. 136 3. Selection of instructional materials, including a 137 thorough review of curriculum content. 138 4. Reviewer recommendations. 139 5. District school board adoption. 140 6. Purchase of instructional materials. 141 (b) District school board rules must also: 142 (a) Its review and purchase process. 143 1. (b) Identify, by subject area, Identification of a review 144 cycle for instructional materials. 145 2. (c) Specify the duties and qualifications for an of the 146 instructional materials reviewer and the process for selecting 147 reviewers ; list a reviewer’s duties and responsibilities, 148 including compliance with the requirements of s. 1006.31; and 149 provide that all instructional materials recommended by a 150 reviewer be accompanied by the reviewer’s statement that the 151 materials align with the state standards pursuant to s. 1003.41 152 and the requirements of s. 1006.31 . 153 3. (d) State the requirements for an affidavit to be made by 154 each a district instructional materials reviewer which 155 substantially meet includes the requirements of s. 1006.30. 156 4. (e) Comply Compliance with s. 1006.32, relating to 157 prohibited acts. 158 5. (f) Establish a process that certifies the accuracy of 159 instructional materials. 160 6. (g) Incorporate The incorporation of applicable 161 requirements of s. 1006.31, which relates to the duties of 162 instructional materials reviewers. 163 7. (h) Incorporate The incorporation of applicable 164 requirements of s. 1006.38, relating to the duties, 165 responsibilities, and requirements of publishers of 166 instructional materials. 167 8. Establish the process by which instructional materials 168 are adopted by the district school board, which must include: 169 a. A process to allow student editions of recommended 170 instructional materials to be accessed and viewed online by the 171 public at least 20 calendar days before the school board hearing 172 and public meeting as specified in this subparagraph. This 173 process must include reasonable safeguards against the 174 unauthorized use, reproduction, and distribution of 175 instructional materials considered for adoption. 176 b. An open, noticed school board hearing to receive public 177 comment on the recommended instructional materials. 178 c. An open, noticed public meeting to approve an annual 179 instructional materials plan to identify any instructional 180 materials that will be purchased through the district school 181 board instructional materials review process pursuant to this 182 section. This public meeting must be held on a different date 183 than the school board hearing. 184 d. Notice requirements for the school board hearing and the 185 public meeting that must specifically state which instructional 186 materials are being reviewed and the manner in which the 187 instructional materials can be accessed for public review. 188 9. Establish the process by which the district school board 189 shall receive public comment on, and review, the recommended 190 instructional materials. 191 10. (i) Establish the process by which instructional 192 materials will be purchased, including advertising, bidding, and 193 purchasing requirements. 194 11. Establish the process by which the school district will 195 notify parents of their ability to access their children’s 196 instructional materials through the district’s local 197 instructional improvement system and by which the school 198 district will encourage parents to access the system. This 199 notification must be displayed prominently on the school 200 district’s website and provided annually in written format to 201 all parents of enrolled students. 202 (3)(a) The school board may assess and collect fees from 203 publishers participating in the instructional materials approval 204 process. The amount assessed and collected must be posted on the 205 school district’s website and reported to the department. The 206 fees may not exceed the actual cost of the review process, and 207 the fees may not exceed $3,500 per submission by a publisher. 208 Any fees collected for this process shall be allocated for the 209 support of the review process and maintained in a separate line 210 item for auditing purposes. 211 (b) The fees shall be used to cover the actual cost of 212 substitute teachers for each workday that a member of a school 213 district’s instructional staff is absent from his or her 214 assigned duties for the purpose of rendering service as an 215 instructional materials reviewer. In addition, each reviewer may 216 be paid a stipend and is entitled to reimbursement for travel 217 expenses and per diem in accordance with s. 112.061 for actual 218 service in meetings. 219 (4) Instructional materials that have been reviewed by the 220 district instructional materials reviewers and approved must 221 have been determined to align with all applicable state 222 standards pursuant to s. 1003.41 and the requirements in s. 223 1006.31. The district school superintendent shall annually 224 certify to the department that all instructional materials for 225 core courses used by the district are aligned with all 226 applicable state standards and have been reviewed, selected, and 227 adopted by the district school board in accordance with the 228 school board hearing and public meeting requirements of this 229 section . 230 (5) A publisher that offers instructional materials to a 231 district school board must provide such materials at a price 232 that, including all costs of electronic transmission, does not 233 exceed the lowest price at which the publisher offers such 234 instructional materials for approval or sale to any state or 235 school district in the United States. 236 (6) A publisher shall reduce automatically the price of the 237 instructional materials to the district school board to the 238 extent that reductions in price are made elsewhere in the United 239 States. 240 (7) The school district shall make available, upon request 241 for public inspection, sample copies of all instructional 242 materials that have been purchased by the district school board. 243 Section 3. Paragraph (d) is added to subsection (1) of 244 section 1006.29, Florida Statutes, to read: 245 1006.29 State instructional materials reviewers.— 246 (1) 247 (d) The department may assess and collect fees from 248 publishers participating in the instructional materials approval 249 process. The amount assessed and collected must be posted on the 250 department’s website. The fees may not exceed the actual cost of 251 the review process and may not exceed $1,000 per submission by a 252 publisher. Fees collected for this process shall be deposited 253 into the department’s Operating Trust Fund so that each 254 instructional materials reviewer under paragraph (b) may be paid 255 a stipend. 256 Section 4. Subsection (2) of section 1006.31, Florida 257 Statutes, is amended to read: 258 1006.31 Duties of the Department of Education and school 259 district instructional materials reviewer.—The duties of the 260 instructional materials reviewer are: 261 (2) EVALUATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS.— To use evaluate 262 carefully all instructional materials submitted, in order to 263 ascertain which instructional materials, if any, submitted for 264 consideration implement the selection criteria listed in s. 265 1006.34(2)(b) developed by the department and recommend for 266 adoption only those instructional materials aligned with the 267 state those curricular objectives included within applicable 268 performance standards provided for in s. 1003.41 1001.03(1) . 269 Instructional materials recommended by each reviewer shall be, 270 to the satisfaction of each reviewer, accurate, objective, 271 balanced, noninflammatory, current, and suited to student needs 272 and their ability to comprehend the material presented. 273 Reviewers shall consider for recommendation materials developed 274 for academically talented students, such as students enrolled in 275 advanced placement courses. When recommending instructional 276 materials, each reviewer shall: 277 (a) When recommending instructional materials for use in 278 the schools, each reviewer shall Include only instructional 279 materials that accurately portray the ethnic, socioeconomic, 280 cultural, religious, physical, and racial diversity of our 281 society, including men and women in professional, career, and 282 executive roles, and the role and contributions of the 283 entrepreneur and labor in the total development of this state 284 and the United States. 285 (b) When recommending instructional materials for use in 286 the schools, each reviewer shall Include only materials that 287 accurately portray, whenever appropriate, humankind’s place in 288 ecological systems, including the necessity for the protection 289 of our environment and conservation of our natural resources and 290 the effects on the human system of the use of tobacco, alcohol, 291 controlled substances, and other dangerous substances. 292 (c) Include When recommending instructional materials for 293 use in the schools, each reviewer shall require such materials 294 that as he or she deems necessary and proper to encourage 295 thrift, fire prevention, and humane treatment of people and 296 animals. 297 (d) When recommending instructional materials for use in 298 the schools, each reviewer shall Require, when appropriate to 299 the comprehension of students, that materials for social 300 science, history, or civics classes contain the Declaration of 301 Independence and the Constitution of the United States. A 302 reviewer may not recommend any instructional materials that for 303 use in the schools which contain any matter reflecting unfairly 304 upon persons because of their race, color, creed, national 305 origin, ancestry, gender, religion, disability, socioeconomic 306 status, or occupation. 307 (e) Any instructional material recommended by each reviewer 308 for use in the schools shall be, to the satisfaction of each 309 reviewer, accurate, objective, and current and suited to the 310 needs and comprehension of students at their respective grade 311 levels. Reviewers shall consider for adoption materials 312 developed for academically talented students such as those 313 enrolled in advanced placement courses. 314 Section 5. Subsection (2), paragraph (a) of subsection (3), 315 and subsection (5) of section 1006.40, Florida Statutes, are 316 amended to read: 317 1006.40 Use of instructional materials allocation; 318 instructional materials, library books, and reference books; 319 repair of books.— 320 (2) Each district school board must purchase current 321 instructional materials to provide each student in kindergarten 322 through grade 12 with a major tool of instruction in core 323 courses of the subject areas of mathematics, language arts, 324 science, social studies, reading, and literature for 325 kindergarten through grade 12 . Such purchase must be made within 326 the first 3 years after the effective date of the adoption 327 cycle. For the 2012-2013 mathematics adoption, a district using 328 a comprehensive mathematics instructional materials program 329 adopted in the 2009-2010 adoption shall be deemed in compliance 330 with this subsection if it provides each student with such 331 additional state-adopted materials as may be necessary to align 332 the previously adopted comprehensive program to common core 333 standards and the other criteria of the 2012-2013 mathematics 334 adoption. 335 (3)(a) Beginning in By the 2014-2015 2015-2016 fiscal year, 336 each district school board shall use at least 50 percent of the 337 annual allocation , and may use all of the allocation, for the 338 purchase of digital or electronic instructional materials that 339 are consistent with district goals and objectives and the course 340 descriptions adopted in rule by the State Board of Education, 341 align with the state standards provided for in s. 1003.41, and 342 meet the requirements in s. 1006.31 align with state standards 343 included on the state-adopted list, except as otherwise 344 authorized in paragraphs (b) and (c) . This section does not 345 apply to a district school board or a consortium of school 346 districts which implements an instructional materials program 347 pursuant to s. 1006.283, except that by the 2015-2016 fiscal 348 year, each district school board shall use at least 50 percent 349 of the annual allocation for the purchase of digital or 350 electronic instructional materials that align with state 351 standards. 352 (5) Each district school board is responsible for the 353 content of all instructional materials used in a classroom, 354 whether purchased through an adoption process or otherwise 355 purchased or made available in the classroom. Each district 356 school board shall adopt rules, and each district school 357 superintendent shall implement procedures, that : 358 (a) Maximize student will assure the maximum use by the 359 students of the district-approved authorized instructional 360 materials. 361 (b) Provide a process for public review of, public comment 362 on, and the adoption of instructional materials that satisfies 363 the requirements of s. 1006.283(2)(b)8., 9., and 11. 364 Section 6. This act does not limit or remove the 365 responsibility of each school district to include in its 366 curriculum the required instruction specified in s. 1003.42, 367 Florida Statutes, including, but not limited to, the following: 368 the history of the United States; the history of the Holocaust; 369 the history of African Americans; the study of Hispanic 370 contributions to the United States; the study of women’s 371 contributions to the United States; the nature and importance of 372 free enterprise to the United States economy; patriotism; the 373 events surrounding the terrorist attacks occurring on September 374 11, 2001, and the impact of those events on the nation; the 375 elementary principles of agriculture; and kindness to animals. 376 Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.