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HB 109 2026
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to corporal punishment; amending s. 2
1002.20, F.S.; prohibiting school district employees 3
from using corporal punishment on public school 4
students; amending ss. 1003.32, 1006.07, and 1012.28, 5
F.S.; conforming provisions to changes made by the 6
act; providing an effective date. 7
8
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 9
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Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (4) of section 11
1002.20, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 12
1002.20 K-12 student and parent rights.—Parents of public 13
school students must receive accurate and timely information 14
regarding their child's academic progress and must be informed 15
of ways they can help their child to succeed in school. K-12 16
students and their parents are afforded numerous statutory 17
rights including, but not limited to, the following: 18
(4) DISCIPLINE.— 19
(c) Corporal punishment.—A school district employee may 20
not use 1. In accordance with s. 1003.32, corporal punishment, 21
as defined in s. 1003.01, on of a public school student may only 22
be administered by a teacher or school principal within 23
guidelines of the school principal and according to district 24
school board policy. Another adult must be present and must be 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
informed in the student's presence of the reason for the 26
punishment. Upon request, the teacher or school principal must 27
provide the parent with a written explanation of the reason for 28
the punishment and the name of the other adult who was present. 29
2. A district school board having a policy authorizing the 30
use of corporal punishment as a form of discipline shall include 31
in such policy a requirement that a parent provide consent for 32
the school to administer corporal punishment. The district 33
school board policy may require such consent for the school 34
year, or before each administration. The district school board 35
shall review its policy on corporal punishment once every 3 36
years during a district school board meeting held pursuant to s. 37
1001.372. The district school board shall take public testimony 38
at the board meeting. If such board meeting is not held in 39
accordance with this subparagraph, the portion of the district 40
school board's policy authorizing corporal punishment expires. 41
Section 2. Paragraph (k) of subsection (1) of section 42
1003.32, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 43
1003.32 Authority of teacher; responsibility for control 44
of students; district school board and principal duties.—Subject 45
to law and to the rules of the district school board, each 46
teacher or other member of the staff of any school shall have 47
such authority for the control and discipline of students as may 48
be assigned to him or her by the principal or the principal's 49
designated representative and shall keep good order in the 50
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classroom and in other places in which he or she is assigned to 51
be in charge of students. 52
(1) In accordance with this section and within the 53
framework of the district school board's code of student 54
conduct, teachers and other instructional personnel shall have 55
the authority to undertake any of the following actions in 56
managing student behavior and ensuring the safety of all 57
students in their classes and school and their opportunity to 58
learn in an orderly and disciplined classroom: 59
(k) Use corporal punishment according to school board 60
policy and at least the following procedures, if a teacher feels 61
that corporal punishment is necessary: 62
1. The use of corporal punishment shall be approved in 63
principle by the principal before it is used, but approval is 64
not necessary for each specific instance in which it is used. 65
The principal shall prepare guidelines for administering such 66
punishment which identify the types of punishable offenses, the 67
conditions under which the punishment shall be administered, and 68
the specific personnel on the school staff authorized to 69
administer the punishment. 70
2. A teacher or principal may administer corporal 71
punishment only in the presence of another adult who is informed 72
beforehand, and in the student's presence, of the reason for the 73
punishment. 74
3. A teacher or principal who has administered punishment 75
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shall, upon request, provide the student's parent with a written 76
explanation of the reason for the punishment and the name of the 77
other adult who was present. 78
Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and paragraph 79
(b) of subsection (2) of section 1006.07, Florida Statutes, are 80
amended to read: 81
1006.07 District school board duties relating to student 82
discipline and school safety.—The district school board shall 83
provide for the proper accounting for all students, for the 84
attendance and control of students at school, and for proper 85
attention to health, safety, and other matters relating to the 86
welfare of students, including: 87
(1) CONTROL OF STUDENTS.— 88
(a) Adopt rules for the control, discipline, in-school 89
suspension, suspension, and expulsion of students and decide all 90
cases recommended for expulsion. Suspension hearings are 91
exempted from the provisions of chapter 120. Expulsion hearings 92
shall be governed by ss. 120.569 and 120.57(2) and are exempt 93
from s. 286.011. However, the student's parent must be given 94
notice of the provisions of s. 286.011 and may elect to have the 95
hearing held in compliance with that section. The district 96
school board may prohibit the use of corporal punishment, if the 97
district school board adopts or has adopted a written program of 98
alternative control or discipline. 99
(2) CODE OF STUDENT CONDUCT.—Adopt a code of student 100
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conduct for elementary schools and a code of student conduct for 101
middle and high schools and distribute the appropriate code to 102
all teachers, school personnel, students, and parents, at the 103
beginning of every school year. Each code shall be organized and 104
written in language that is understandable to students and 105
parents and shall be discussed at the beginning of every school 106
year in student classes, school advisory council meetings, and 107
parent and teacher association or organization meetings. Each 108
code shall be based on the rules governing student conduct and 109
discipline adopted by the district school board and shall be 110
made available in the student handbook or similar publication. 111
Each code shall include, but is not limited to: 112
(b) Procedures to be followed for acts requiring 113
discipline, including corporal punishment. 114
Section 4. Subsection (5) of section 1012.28, Florida 115
Statutes, is amended to read: 116
1012.28 Public school personnel; duties of school 117
principals.— 118
(5) Each school principal shall perform such duties as may 119
be assigned by the district school superintendent, pursuant to 120
the rules of the district school board. Such rules shall 121
include, but are not limited to, rules relating to 122
administrative responsibility, instructional leadership in 123
implementing the state academic standards and the overall 124
educational program of the school to which the school principal 125
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is assigned, submission of personnel recommendations to the 126
district school superintendent, administrative responsibility 127
for records and reports, administration of corporal punishment, 128
and student suspension. 129
Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 130