Read the full stored bill text
Florida Senate
-
2026
CS for SB 1738
By
the Committee on Education Pre-K - 12; and Senator Yarborough
581-02511-26 20261738c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to educational facilities; requiring
3 the Office of Educational Facilities and the Office of
4 Safe Schools to collaborate with specified entities to
5 review the State Requirements for Educational
6 Facilities; providing requirements for the review;
7 requiring that recommendations be provided to
8 specified entities; providing an effective date.
9
10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
11
12 Section 1.
(1) The Office of Educational Facilities and
13
the
Office of Safe Schools within the Department of Education
14
shall collaborate with
at least one
state university that has
15
research experience
in
the design and construction of
16
educational facilities
;
district facilities directors
;
17
representatives of the Florida Building Commission
;
and sheriffs
18
or police chiefs
to review the State Requirements for
19
Educational Facilities required under s. 1013.37
, Florida
20
Statutes,
and make recommendations, as appropriate, to improve
21
teacher and student safety and accountability through
a school’s
22
physical plant.
The review must include all of the following:
23
(a) Recommended changes in
new construction and renovations
24
which
may reduce the occurrence of misconduct between teachers
25
and students and between students. Such misconduct may include,
26
but is not limited to, physical and sexual abuse, inappropriate
27
relationships with students, bullying, and harassment.
28
(
b
) Configurations of a physical plant, such as using
29
lighting, windows, doors, mirrors, and cameras, to ensure that
30
student interactions with adults are observable and that there
31
are opportunities for the interactions to be interrupted, to
32
reduce times that a student may be isolated, and to maintain
33
access control over spaces.
34
(2)
The review required in this section must be conducted
35
in a manner that does not conflict with, diminish, or compromise
36
physical plant hardening requirements for school safety, which
37
must prioritize the creation of a secure, layered environment
38
designed to
prevent,
detect, delay, and respond to threats.
39
(
3
) Recommendations must be submitted to the department,
40
which
shall transmit the recommendations and any comments
as a
41
part of its next biennial review
to the Florida Building
42
Commission consistent with s. 1013.37(4),
Florida Statutes,
with
43
copies to
the Governor,
the State Fire Marshal,
the President of
44
the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
.
45 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.