Relating to schools identified for comprehensive support and improvement by authorizing parents or guardians to petition for the closure of an attendance center, for implementation of an education voucher program, or for establishment of a charter school, establishing an education voucher fund, making appropriations, and providing penalties

This bill relates to schools identified for comprehensive support and improvement under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, by authorizing parents or guardians to petition for the closure of an attendance center, for implementation of an education voucher program, or for establishment of a charter school. Under the bill, if an attendance center is identified for comprehensive support and improvement under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, the parents or guardians of students enrolled at the attendance center may submit a petition to the school board to either close the attendance center or authorize education vouchers for students of the attendance center. A valid petition must state whether the petition is requesting the closure of an attendance center or the authorization of education vouchers, and must contain the signatures at least percent of the parents or guardians whose children are enrolled at the attendance center. A valid petition must be received by the school board not later than December of the school year preceding the school year during which the requested action will be implemented. A petition received after that deadline will be considered a petition for the following school year if the attendance center continues to meet the criteria for a persistently lowest-achieving school. If a valid petition for closure of an attendance center is received, the school board shall formulate and implement a plan for the closure of the attendance center and a plan for the reallocation of students currently enrolled at the attendance center and those students who would, but for the closure, be enrolled at the attendance center during the next school year. The bill requires the plan for the reallocation of students to other attendance centers in the school district to include objective criteria and standards and criteria for prioritizing requests that do not have an adverse impact on the plan. If other attendance centers in the school district have insufficient classroom space to accommodate the students from the attendance center proposed to be closed, the school board shall not close the attendance center but shall instead implement the education voucher program established in the bill. Under the bill, the following students shall be eligible to receive an education voucher: (1) students eligible to enroll in kindergarten through grade who are enrolled at an attendance center at the time a petition authorizing education vouchers is filed with the school board and (2) students eligible to enroll in kindergarten through grade who are enrolled at an attendance center that is proposed to be closed under the bill and for whom there is insufficient classroom space at other attendance centers in the school district. By January preceding the school year for which the education voucher is requested, the parent or guardian of the student requesting to receive an education voucher shall submit an application to the department of education, on application forms developed by the department, indicating that the parent or guardian intends to enroll the student in a nonpublic school. In addition to such information deemed appropriate by the department of education, the application shall require certification from the nonpublic school of the student’s enrollment for the following school year. By March preceding the school year for which the education voucher is requested, the department of education shall notify the department of management of the number of students designated for the following school year to receive an education voucher. The department of education shall also notify the parent or guardian of such students who are approved to receive an education voucher. The bill authorizes education vouchers to be approved for one school year per application, and additional applications must be submitted for education vouchers in subsequent school years. The education voucher is in an amount equal to percent of the district of residence’s regular program district cost per pupil in the same school year. For the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2022, and each succeeding fiscal year, the bill appropriates from the general fund of the state to the department of management to be credited to the education voucher fund an amount necessary to pay all education vouchers approved for that fiscal year. For each student approved for an education voucher, the department is required to establish an account for that student in the education voucher fund. The amount of the student’s education voucher shall be deposited into the student’s account on July and such amount shall be immediately available for the payment of qualified educational expenses, as defined in the bill, incurred by the parent or guardian for the student during that fiscal year. The bill specifies that a nonpublic school or other entity that accepts payment from a parent or guardian using funds from a student’s account in the education voucher fund shall not refund, rebate, or share any portion of such payment with the parent, guardian, or student. Moneys remaining in a student’s account upon conclusion of the fiscal year shall remain in the student’s account in the education voucher fund for the payment of qualified educational expenses in future fiscal years during which the pupil participates in the program. However, for each student with a positive balance in the student’s account in the education voucher fund upon graduation from high school or upon termination of the student’s enrollment in the nonpublic school, those moneys in the student’s account shall be transferred for deposit in the general fund of the state. The bill provides that a person who makes a false claim for the purpose of obtaining an education voucher or who knowingly receives the voucher or makes a payment from an account within the education voucher fund without being legally entitled to do so is guilty of a fraudulent practice and is subject to a criminal penalty. The bill allows the department of management to initiate legal proceedings to recover vouchers and amounts improperly awarded or paid from accounts under the bill. The bill provides that a nonpublic school that accepts payment from a parent or guardian using funds from a student’s account in the education voucher fund is not an agent of this state or other political subdivision of this state. The bill provides that moneys from an education voucher under the bill are not taxable income under Code chapter 422. Code chapter 256F establishes a process by which the principal, teachers, or parents and guardians of students at an existing public school may apply to the school board to convert an existing attendance center to a charter school. Current law requires the application to demonstrate the support of at least percent of the teachers employed at the school on the date of the submission of the application and percent of the parents or guardians voting whose children are enrolled at the school, provided that a majority of the parents or guardians eligible to vote participate in the ballot process, according to procedures established by rules of the state board. The bill modifies the application requirements for converting an existing attendance center to a charter school if the attendance center is identified for comprehensive support and improvement under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. Under those circumstances, the application does not need to demonstrate teacher support and shall only be required to demonstrate the support of at least percent of the parents or guardians voting whose children are enrolled at the school, provided that a majority of the parents or guardians eligible to vote participate in the ballot process, according to procedures established by rules of the state board.