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Florida Senate
-
2026
SB 424
By
Senator Rouson
16-00641A-26 2026424__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to educational facilities; amending s.
3 1002.333, F.S.; revising definitions; deleting a
4 provision authorizing a school of hope to colocate
5 with another school in a public school facility;
6 deleting a provision requiring a school district to
7 permit a school of hope to use an underused, vacant,
8 or surplus school district facility; deleting a
9 requirement for students enrolled in a school of hope
10 to be included in the school district’s total capital
11 outlay full-time equivalent membership; deleting a
12 provision authorizing a hope operator establishing a
13 school of hope to use such a facility at no cost;
14 providing an effective date.
15
16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
17
18 Section 1. Paragraphs (c) and (d) of subsection (1) and
19 paragraphs (a) and (d) of subsection (7) of section 1002.333,
20 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
21 1002.333 Persistently low-performing schools.—
22 (1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
23 (c) “Persistently low-performing school” means a school
24 that meets at least one of the following criteria:
25 1. A school that has earned three grades lower than a “C,”
26 pursuant to s. 1008.34, in at least 3 of the previous 5 years
27 that the school received a grade and has not earned a grade of
28 “B” or higher in the most recent 2 school years;
or
29 2. A school that was closed pursuant to s. 1008.33(4)
30 within 2 years after the submission of a notice of intent
; or
31
3. A school in the bottom 10 percent in at least 2 of the
32
previous 3 years for student performance on the end-of-year
33
administration of the coordinated screening and progress
34
monitoring system for grade 3 English Language Arts or grade 4
35
mathematics as prescribed in s. 1008.22(3)(a)2
.
36 (d) “School of hope” means:
37 1. A charter school operated by a hope operator which:
38 a. Serves students from one or more persistently low
39 performing schools or students who reside in a Florida
40 Opportunity Zone;
and
41 b.
Is located in a Florida Opportunity Zone or in the
42
attendance zone of a persistently low-performing school or
43
within a 5-mile radius of such school, whichever is greater. A
44
school of hope may be located outside of a Florida Opportunity
45
Zone or persistently low-performing school attendance zone if
46
the school district does not have underused, vacant, or surplus
47
property available for the hope operator to use within a Florida
48
Opportunity Zone or persistently low-performing school
49
attendance zone; and
50
c.
Is a Title I eligible school; or
51 2. A school operated by a hope operator pursuant to s.
52 1008.33(4)(b)3.
53 (7) FACILITIES.—
54 (a) A school of hope shall use facilities that comply with
55 the Florida Building Code, except for the State Requirements for
56 Educational Facilities. A school of hope that uses school
57 district facilities must comply with the State Requirements for
58 Educational Facilities only if the school district and the hope
59 operator have entered into a mutual management plan for the
60 reasonable maintenance of such facilities. The mutual management
61 plan
must
shall
contain a provision by which the district school
62 board agrees to maintain the school facilities in the same
63 manner as its other public schools within the district.
A school
64
of hope may colocate with another school in a public school
65
facility. The school district must permit any school of hope to
66
use all or part of underused, vacant, or surplus school district
67
facilities, and receive facility-related services, pursuant to
68
State Board of Education rule
. Students enrolled in the school
69
of hope shall be included in the district’s total capital outlay
70
full-time equivalent membership for the purpose of s. 1013.62
71
and for calculating the Public Education Capital Outlay
72
maintenance funds or any other maintenance funds for the
73
facility.
The local governing authority
may
shall
not adopt or
74 impose any local building requirements or site-development
75 restrictions, such as parking and site-size criteria, student
76 enrollment, and occupant load, that are addressed by and more
77 stringent than those found in the State Requirements for
78 Educational Facilities of the Florida Building Code. A local
79 governing authority
shall
must
treat schools of hope equitably
80 in comparison to similar requirements, restrictions, and site
81 planning processes imposed upon public schools. The agency
82 having jurisdiction for inspection of a facility and issuance of
83 a certificate of occupancy or use
is
shall be
the local
84 municipality or, if in an unincorporated area, the county
85 governing authority. If an official or employee of the local
86 governing authority refuses to comply with this paragraph, the
87 aggrieved school or entity has an immediate right to bring an
88 action in circuit court to enforce its rights by injunction. An
89 aggrieved party that receives injunctive relief may be awarded
90 reasonable attorney fees and court costs.
91 (d) No later than January 1, the department shall annually
92 provide to school districts a list of all underused, vacant, or
93 surplus facilities owned or operated by the school district as
94 reported in the Florida Inventory of School Houses. A school
95 district may provide evidence to the department that a facility
96 includes prekindergarten students who are not reported for
97 funding in the Florida Education Finance Program or that the
98 list contains errors or omissions within 30 days after receipt
99 of the list. By each April 1, the department shall update and
100 publish a final list of all underused, vacant, or surplus
101 facilities owned or operated by each school district, based upon
102 updated information provided by each school district.
A hope
103
operator establishing a school of hope may use an educational
104
facility identified in this paragraph at no cost.
A hope
105 operator using a facility pursuant to this paragraph may not
106 sell or dispose of such facility without the written permission
107 of the school district. For purposes of this paragraph, the term
108 “underused, vacant, or surplus facility” means an entire
109 facility or portion thereof which is not fully used or is used
110 irregularly or intermittently by the school district for
111 instructional or program use.
112 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.