New education legislation proposed:
More parental input and school board term limits
By Tami Stevenson
A bill called “K-12 Education” (HB 1467) is receiving a lot of attention. It has been called one of the most controversial education proposals of the 2022 legislative session.
The education bill passed the Florida House last week with 78 Yeas - 40 Nays and is now off to the Senate. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Sam Garrison, R-Fleming Island.
The legislation is aimed at making it easier for parents and community members to weigh in and challenge books in school libraries and instructional materials available for students in schools. It also would put eight year term limits on school board members.
In the early stages of this bill, school board salaries would have been taken away almost completely. Although, the bill was amended to leave the salaries alone but give school board members term limits of eight years.
Unless otherwise amended, as it makes its way through the Senate, this bill would require elementary schools to publish on their websites, a searchable format that lists all materials maintained in the school library and a list of all instructional materials. It would allow the public to copy, scan, duplicate, or photograph portions of original materials within the limits of “fair use” under the copyright laws of the United States.
The bill originally included grades K-12 in the searchable list, but was amended that only elementary schools publish a materials list on their website. Instead, according to the bill text, middle and high school grades would have instructional and library materials chosen by someone that went through a specified training program for the selection of materials.
Parents of students and residents of the county of any school district would be able to contest specific instructional material by filing a petition on a form provided by the school within 30 days. The school board would then be required to conduct at least one open public hearing before an unbiased and qualified hearing officer that is not an employee or agent of the school district. The hearing procedure would be required to provide adequate and fair opportunity for each petitioner to be heard and present evidence to the hearing officer. However, the school board’s decision after convening a hearing would be final and not subject to further petition or review, according to the bill text.
Principals would be responsible for overseeing compliance with school district procedures. Penalties for a school district not complying with these requirements would result in salaries being withheld from school board members and the district superintendent until the conditions are corrected.
School districts would be required to submit a yearly report to the Commissioner of Education that identifies each material that was objected to for the school year and include the specific objections. Also, each piece of material that was removed or discontinued as the result of an objection would be reported. The Department of Education would be required to publish and regularly update a list of materials that were removed or discontinued.
