Florida SB 1704: Public Records/County Supervisor of Elections

Bill Text

1704 
Charter School Funding 
2026-01-09T11:00:09Z 
Providing local funding sources for certain charter schools; prohibiting a district school board from delaying specified payments to a charter school; providing that certain charter school facilities are exempt from assessments and fees; revising requirements for a charter school to be eligible to receive capital outlay funding, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 1704 

 By Senator Yarborough 

 4-01541-26 20261704__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to charter school funding; amending s. 
 3 1002.33, F.S.; providing local funding sources for 
 4 certain charter schools; prohibiting a district school 
 5 board from delaying specified payments to a charter 
 6 school; providing that certain charter school 
 7 facilities are exempt from assessments and fees; 
 8 requiring certain funds to remain with a conversion 
 9 school; deleting a requirement for a charter school 
 10 system’s governing board to be designated as a local 
 11 educational agency; providing an exception for certain 
 12 landlords and other persons and entities to be members 
 13 of a charter school governing board under certain 
 14 circumstances; amending s. 1013.62, F.S.; revising 
 15 requirements for a charter school to be eligible to 
 16 receive capital outlay funding; revising the 
 17 calculation methodology to determine a capital outlay 
 18 allocation to a charter school; revising authorized 
 19 uses of charter school capital outlay funds; providing 
 20 an effective date. 
 21 
 22 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 23 
 24 Section 1. Paragraphs (b) and (e) of subsection (17), 
 25 paragraphs (d) and (e) of subsection (18), paragraph (a) of 
 26 subsection (25), and paragraph (d) of subsection (26) of section 
 27 1002.33, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 
 28 1002.33 Charter schools.— 
 29 (17) FUNDING.—Students enrolled in a charter school, 
 30 regardless of the sponsorship, shall be funded based upon the 
 31 applicable program pursuant to s. 1011.62(1)(c), the same as 
 32 students enrolled in other public schools in a school district. 
 33 Funding for a charter lab school shall be as provided in s. 
 34 1002.32. 
 35 (b)1. Funding for students enrolled in a charter school 
 36 sponsored by a school district shall be the sum of the school 
 37 district’s operating funds from the Florida Education Finance 
 38 Program as defined in s. 1011.61(4) and the General 
 39 Appropriations Act, including gross state and local funds, and 
 40 funds from the school district’s current operating discretionary 
 41 millage levy authorized under s. 1011.71(1) and (9); divided by 
 42 total funded weighted full-time equivalent students in the 
 43 school district; and multiplied by the weighted full-time 
 44 equivalent students for the charter school. Charter schools 
 45 whose students or programs meet the eligibility criteria in law 
 46 are entitled to their proportionate share of categorical program 
 47 funds included in the total funds available in the Florida 
 48 Education Finance Program by the Legislature, including the 
 49 student transportation allocation and the educational enrichment 
 50 allocation. Total funding for each charter school shall be 
 51 recalculated during the year to reflect the revised calculations 
 52 under the Florida Education Finance Program by the state and the 
 53 actual weighted full-time equivalent students reported by the 
 54 charter school during the full-time equivalent student survey 
 55 periods designated by the Commissioner of Education. For charter 
 56 schools operated by a not-for-profit or municipal entity, any 
 57 unrestricted current and capital assets identified in the 
 58 charter school’s annual financial audit may be used for other 
 59 charter schools operated by the not-for-profit or municipal 
 60 entity within the school district. For charter schools operated 
 61 by a not-for-profit entity, any unrestricted current or capital 
 62 assets identified in the charter school’s annual audit may be 
 63 used for other charter schools operated by the not-for-profit 
 64 entity which are located outside of the originating charter 
 65 school’s school district, but within the state, through an 
 66 unforgivable loan that must be repaid within 5 years to the 
 67 originating charter school by the receiving charter school. 
 68 Unrestricted current assets shall be used in accordance with s. 
 69 1011.62, and any unrestricted capital assets shall be used in 
 70 accordance with s. 1013.62(2). 
 71 2.a. Funding for students enrolled in a charter school 
 72 sponsored by a state university or Florida College System 
 73 institution pursuant to paragraph (5)(a) shall be provided in 
 74 the Florida Education Finance Program as defined in s. 
 75 1011.61(4) and as specified in the General Appropriations Act. 
 76 The calcula