Florida SB 494: Administration of Vaccines

Bill Text

494 
Student Elopement 
2025-11-13T10:24:01Z 
Requiring public schools to create a School Staff Assistance for Emergencies (SAFE) Team and a school elopement plan; providing requirements for the plan; providing for membership and responsibilities of the SAFE Team; requiring the SAFE Team to create student-specific elopement quick reference guides for certain students, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 494 

 By Senator Arrington 

 25-00193A-26 2026494__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to student elopement; creating s. 
 3 1003.211, F.S.; defining terms; requiring public 
 4 schools to create a School Staff Assistance for 
 5 Emergencies (SAFE) Team and a school elopement plan; 
 6 providing requirements for the plan; providing for 
 7 membership and responsibilities of the SAFE Team; 
 8 requiring the SAFE Team to create student-specific 
 9 elopement quick reference guides for certain students; 
 10 providing requirements for such guides; requiring 
 11 public schools to annually submit their plans to the 
 12 district school board; authorizing the State Board of 
 13 Education to adopt rules; providing an effective date. 
 14 
 15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 16 
 17 Section 1. Section 1003.211, Florida Statutes, is created 
 18 to read: 
 19 1003.211 School elopement plans.— 
 20 (1) For purposes of this section, the term: 
 21 (a) “Disability” means, for a student in kindergarten 
 22 through grade 12, an autism spectrum disorder, as defined in the 
 23 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth 
 24 Edition, published by the American Psychiatric Association, or 
 25 an intellectual disability as defined in s. 393.063. 
 26 (b)1. “Elopement” means when a student with autism spectrum 
 27 disorder or other disability leaves a safe or designated area, 
 28 the supervision of school staff, or school grounds without 
 29 authorization or awareness of potential risk, and such student 
 30 has a documented history of doing so. 
 31 2. Elopement may include wandering, walking away, running 
 32 away, or otherwise departing an assigned location unsupervised 
 33 or unnoticed, only when the behavior is connected to the 
 34 student’s disability-related needs and poses a safety concern. 
 35 3. Elopement does not include intentional class-skipping or 
 36 other non-disability-related absences. 
 37 (2) To ensure the safety of students with disabilities at 
 38 risk of elopement, each public school shall create a School 
 39 Staff Assistance for Emergencies (SAFE) Team and a school 
 40 elopement plan. The plan must include procedures for immediately 
 41 contacting the parent or guardian of a student with disabilities 
 42 if the student elopes. The plan must include procedures for 
 43 conducting an immediate, coordinated on-campus search and 
 44 contacting emergency services only when the student is 
 45 reasonably believed, based on verified information or direct 
 46 observation, to have left school grounds and to be at risk of 
 47 harm. 
 48 (3) The school principal and an assistant principal shall 
 49 serve on the SAFE Team, and the school principal shall appoint 
 50 at least three other school members, including the school 
 51 resource officer, to serve on the team. The SAFE Team shall do 
 52 all of the following: 
 53 (a) Create and annually update the school elopement plan 
 54 and respond to all elopements. 
 55 (b) Provide training to all school personnel to familiarize 
 56 such personnel with the school elopement plan and all necessary 
 57 procedures. 
 58 (4)(a) If a student with disabilities is prone to 
 59 elopement, the SAFE Team, in coordination with the student’s 
 60 parent or guardian, must create a student-specific elopement 
 61 quick reference guide. The elopement quick reference guide must 
 62 include all of the following: 
 63 1. The student’s identifying information. 
 64 2. A current photograph of the student. 
 65 3. The student’s level of communication. 
 66 4. A list of the student’s interests, behaviors, 
 67 preferences, and aversions. 
 68 5. Any health considerations for the student. 
 69 6. A list of any GPS technology that could be used to help 
 70 locate the student. 
 71 7. A list of possible locations where the student may go 
 72 when eloping. 
 73 (b) The SAFE Team must distribute a student’s elopement 
 74 quick reference guide to the student’s parent and all relevant 
 75 school personnel. 
 76 (5) Each public school must annually provide its elopement 
 77 plan to the district school board. 
 78 (6) The state board may adopt rules to administer this 
 79 section. 
 80 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.