CS/CS/HB 1255 Summary

• Removes requirement that Florida Virtual School be administratively housed within the Office of Technology and Information Services; allows greater flexibility in school access to FVS courses during and after normal school days.

• Creates new ethics provision prohibiting district school board members and relatives from soliciting or accepting gifts exceeding $50 from vendors or entities doing business with the school district.

• Adds auditory-oral education programs as a school choice option for deaf and hard of hearing students ages 3-7 who have received implants or assistive hearing devices.

• Revises school grading system to base grades on statewide assessments; modifies Opportunity Scholarship Program eligibility requirements and McKay Scholarship term definitions to clarify continuity of educational choice.

• Establishes new requirements for middle school career and professional academies, digital curriculum development, restraint and seclusion documentation standards, and prekindergarten assessment procedures; requires Department of Education to review and revise exceptional student education service descriptions by 2012-2013 school year.