The Florida legislative session ended on March 9. Here are the K12 affecting bills that passed:
Hope scholarships
Victims of bullying or violence will have the ability to seek a transfer to another public school, or a scholarship to attend a private school. HB 7055
Revisiting HB 7069
School districts will regain some flexibility to support district-wide programs with federal Title I funding. Funding for the Schools of Hope program will remain available for years to come. HB 7055/HB 5001
Home education
A bill headed to Gov. Rick Scott would keep school districts from adding hoops for homeschool families to jump through. And it would allow homeschool students to take career education courses offered by school districts. HB 731
Dual enrollment
Homeschoolers will be able to take college courses for free, without having to pay for textbooks or meet academic requirements beyond those placed on their public-school peers.
A 2013 provision allowing articulation agreements to specify whether private schools or colleges are responsible for tuition and fees has been repealed. It’s not yet clear exactly what that will mean for private school students who want to take college courses while they’re still in high school. HB 7055