Florida HB 109: Conversion Therapy

Bill Text

HB 109 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb109-00
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to corporal punishment; amending s. 2
1002.20, F.S.; prohibiting school district employees 3
from using corporal punishment on public school 4
students; amending ss. 1003.32, 1006.07, and 1012.28, 5
F.S.; conforming provisions to changes made by the 6
act; providing an effective date. 7
8
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 9
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Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (4) of section 11
1002.20, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 12
1002.20 K-12 student and parent rights.—Parents of public 13
school students must receive accurate and timely information 14
regarding their child's academic progress and must be informed 15
of ways they can help their child to succeed in school. K-12 16
students and their parents are afforded numerous statutory 17
rights including, but not limited to, the following: 18
(4) DISCIPLINE.— 19
(c) Corporal punishment.—A school district employee may 20
not use 1. In accordance with s. 1003.32, corporal punishment, 21
as defined in s. 1003.01, on of a public school student may only 22
be administered by a teacher or school principal within 23
guidelines of the school principal and according to district 24
school board policy. Another adult must be present and must be 25

HB 109 2026

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informed in the student's presence of the reason for the 26
punishment. Upon request, the teacher or school principal must 27
provide the parent with a written explanation of the reason for 28
the punishment and the name of the other adult who was present. 29
2. A district school board having a policy authorizing the 30
use of corporal punishment as a form of discipline shall include 31
in such policy a requirement that a parent provide consent for 32
the school to administer corporal punishment. The district 33
school board policy may require such consent for the school 34
year, or before each administration. The district school board 35
shall review its policy on corporal punishment once every 3 36
years during a district school board meeting held pursuant to s. 37
1001.372. The district school board shall take public testimony 38
at the board meeting. If such board meeting is not held in 39
accordance with this subparagraph, the portion of the district 40
school board's policy authorizing corporal punishment expires. 41
Section 2. Paragraph (k) of subsection (1) of section 42
1003.32, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 43
1003.32 Authority of teacher; responsibility for control 44
of students; district school board and principal duties.—Subject 45
to law and to the rules of the district school board, each 46
teacher or other member of the staff of any school shall have 47
such authority for the control and discipline of students as may 48
be assigned to him or her by the principal or the principal's 49
designated representative and shall keep good order in the 50

HB 109 2026

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classroom and in other places in which he or she is assigned to 51
be in charge of students. 52
(1) In accordance with this section and within the 53
framework of the district school board's code of student 54
conduct, teachers and other instructional personnel shall have 55
the authority to undertake any of the following actions in 56
managing student behavior and ensuring the safety of all 57
students in their classes and school and their opportunity to 58
learn in an orderly and disciplined classroom: 59
(k) Use corporal punishment according to school board 60
policy and at least the following procedures, if a teacher feels 61
that corporal punishment is necessary: 62
1. The use of corporal punishment shall be approved in 63
principle by the principal before it is used, but approval is 64
not necessary for each specific instance in which it is used. 65
The principal shall prepare guidelines for administering such 66
punishment which identify the types of punishable offenses, the 67
conditions under which the punishment shall be administered, and 68
the specific personnel on the school staff authorized to 69
administer the punishment. 70
2. A teacher or principal may administer corporal 71
punishment only in the presence of another adult who is informed 72
beforehand, and in the student's presence, of the reason for the 73
punishment. 74
3. A teacher or principal who has administered punishment 75

HB 109 2026

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shall, upon request, provide the student's parent w