FL S2516

Florida College System institutions may apply by August 1, 2024, to participate in the state group health insurance and prescription drug coverage programs, with a minimum 3-year enrollment period, a $500 application fee, and enrollment beginning before July 31, 2025

Creates the Graduation Alternative to Traditional Education (GATE) Program for students ages 16-21 who have discontinued traditional high school, allowing them to concurrently enroll in adult secondary education and career education programs with tuition, registration, lab, and exam fees waived, and establishes a GATE Scholarship Program to reimburse participating institutions and a Student Success Incentive Fund providing $750 per diploma earned and $1,000 per industry certification earned

Revises the Family Empowerment Scholarship and Florida Tax Credit Scholarship programs by setting the transportation scholarship at a flat $750 (removing the variable school bus expenditure calculation), limiting eligibility to households at or below 185% of the federal poverty level or students in foster/out-of-home care, and capping awards to one per household

Creates a juvenile justice education supplement consisting of a class-size-reduction allocation and a new student allocation calculated using percentages of the base student allocation, with additional funding for students with disabilities, and authorizes state agencies to contract with AMIkids, Inc., to provide alternatives to institutionalization for youth

Creates the Bridge to Speech Program to fund auditory-oral education programs and the Charity for Change program to implement character education standards, increases early learning coalition administrative expenditure caps from 4% to 5%, and allows co-enrolled students to be reported for funding for up to four courses per year instead of two