(1) STUDENT MANAGEMENT.—The district school board may adopt programs and policies to ensure the safety and welfare of individuals, the student body, and school personnel, which programs and policies may:

(a) Prohibit the possession of weapons and drugs on campus, student hazing, and other activities that could threaten the operation of the school or the safety and welfare of the student body or school personnel.

(b) Require uniforms to be worn by the student body, or impose other dress-related requirements, if the district school board finds that those requirements are necessary for the safety or welfare of the student body or school personnel. However, students may wear sunglasses, hats, or other sun-protective wear while outdoors during school hours, such as when students are at recess. A district school board that implements a districtwide standard student attire policy pursuant to s. 1011.78 is eligible to receive incentive payments.

(c) Provide procedures for student dismissal precautions and for granting permission for students to leave school grounds during school hours, including releasing a student from school upon request by a parent or for public appearances of school groups.

(d) Provide procedures for managing protests, demonstrations, sit-ins, walk-outs, or other acts of civil disobedience.

(e) Provide procedures for detaining students and for readmission of students after expulsion.

(f) Regulate student automobile use and parking.

(2) FISCAL MANAGEMENT.—The district school board may adopt policies providing for fiscal management of the school district with respect to school purchasing, facilities, nonstate revenue sources, budgeting, fundraising, and other activities relating to the fiscal management of district resources, including, but not limited to, the policies governing:

(a) Sales calls and demonstrations by agents, solicitors, salespersons, and vendors on campus; local preference criteria for vendors; specifications for quantity purchasing; prioritization of awards for bids; declining bid awards; and purchase requisitions, approvals, and routing.

(b) Sales by booster clubs; marathon fundraisers; and student sales of candy, paper products, or other goods authorized by the district school board.

(c) Inventory and disposal of district property; use of safe-deposit boxes; and selection of real estate appraisers.

(d) Payment of contractors and other service providers.

(e) Accounting systems; petty cash accounts procedures and reporting; school activities funds procedures and reporting; management and reporting of grants from private sources; and management of funds, including auxiliary enterprise funds.

(f) District budgeting system, including setting budget deadlines and schedules, budget planning, and implementation and determination of budget priorities.

(g) Use of federal funds to purchase food when federal program guidelines permit such use.

(3) INSTRUCTIONAL AIDS.—The district school board may adopt policies providing for innovative teaching techniques, teaching programs and methods, instructional aids and objectives, extracurricular and interscholastic activities, and supplemental programs including, but not limited to, policies providing for:

(a) Use of technology, including appropriate use of the Internet as a tool for learning.

(b) Instructional priorities and objectives, pilot projects and evaluations, curriculum adoption and design, and lesson planning.

(c) Extracurricular and interscholastic activities, including field trips, publishing a student newspaper and other publications, and special programs relating to the arts, music, or other topics of current interest.

(d) Participation in physical education programs, including appropriate physical education attire and protective gear; programs for exceptional students; summer school; and the Title I program, including comparability procedures.

(4) FACILITIES MANAGEMENT.—The district school board may adopt policies providing for management of the physical campus and its environs, including, but not limited to, energy conservation measures; building and ground maintenance; fencing, landscaping, and other property improvements; site acquisition; new construction and renovation; dedication and rededication or naming and renaming of district buildings and other district facilities; and development of facilities management planning and priorities.

(5) SCHOOL COMMUNITY RELATIONS.—The district school board may adopt policies governing public gifts and donations to schools; input from the community concerning instruction resources; advertising in schools; participation in community affairs, including coordination with local governments and planning authorities; protocols for interagency agreements; business community partnerships; community use of school facilities; public solicitations in schools, including the distribution and posting of promotional materials and literature; visitors to the school campus; school advisory councils; and parent volunteers and chaperones.

(6) LEGAL ISSUES.—The district school board may adopt policies and procedures necessary to implement federal mandates and programs, court orders, and other legal requirements of the state.

(7) FIRST AID AND EMERGENCIES.—The district school board may adopt programs and policies to ensure appropriate response in emergency situations; the provision of first aid to individuals, the student body, and school personnel; and the effective management of student illness, which programs and policies may include, but are not limited to:

(a) The provision of first aid and emergency medical care and the provision of school health care facilities and services.

(b) The provision of school safety patrol.

(c) Procedures for reporting hazards, including threats of nature, bomb threats, threatening messages, and similar occurrences, and the provision of warning systems including alarm systems and other technical devices.

(d) Procedures for evacuating the classrooms, playground, or any other district facility.

(e) Procedures for reporting accidents, including traffic accidents and traffic violations involving district-owned vehicles.

(f) Student insurance programs.

(8) STUDENT ASSESSMENT AND AFFAIRS.—The district school board may adopt policies and procedures governing attendance monitoring and checks; truancy; fees, fines, and charges imposed on students; evaluation of student records and transcripts; transfer of student records; grading and academic evaluation of students; tests and examinations, including early examinations; guidance and counseling; student participation in competitions, student performances and exhibitions, contests for students, and social events; and graduation requirements and graduation exercises. A district school board may not prohibit a student from lawfully wearing the dress uniform of any of the Armed Forces of the United States or of the state at his or her graduation ceremony.

(9) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—The district school board may adopt policies and procedures governing purchase of property insurance, including comprehensive general liability insurance; transportation of students for extracurricular activities and special events, including transportation of students in privately owned vehicles; transportation of district personnel, including personal use of district owned vehicles; computer security and computer room access and computer database resources; mail and delivery services, including use of couriers; copyright compliance; and computerized data systems, including computer use, transmission of data, access to the Internet, and other technology-based services.

(10) DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD GOVERNANCE AND OPERATIONS.—The district school board may adopt policies and procedures necessary for the daily business operation of the district school board, including, but not limited to, the provision of legal services for the district school board; conducting a district legislative program; district school board member participation at conferences, conventions, and workshops, including member compensation and reimbursement for expenses; district school board policy development, adoption, and repeal; district school board meeting procedures, including participation via telecommunications networks, use of technology at meetings, and presentations by nondistrict personnel; citizen communications with the district school board and with individual district school board members; collaboration with local government and other entities as required by law; and organization of the district school board, including special committees and advisory committees.

(11) PERSONNEL.—The district school board may adopt policies and procedures necessary for the management of all personnel of the school system.

(12) AFFORDABLE HOUSING.—A district school board may use portions of school sites purchased within the guidelines of the State Requirements for Educational Facilities, land deemed not usable for educational purposes because of location or other factors, or land declared as surplus by the board to provide sites for affordable housing for teachers and other district personnel and, in areas of critical state concern, for other essential services personnel as defined by local affordable housing eligibility requirements, independently or in conjunction with other agencies as described in subsection (5).

(13) COOPERATION WITH FLORIDA COLLEGE SYSTEM INSTITUTIONS.—The district school board shall work with the Florida College System institutions in the district to ensure that the Florida College System institution students have access to remedial education.

(14) RECOGNITION OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT.—

(a) The Legislature recognizes the importance of promoting student academic achievement, motivating students to attain academic achievement, and providing positive acknowledgment for that achievement. It is the intent of the Legislature that school districts bestow the same level of recognition to the state’s academic scholars as to its athletic scholars.

(b) The district school board is encouraged to adopt policies and procedures to celebrate the academic and workforce achievement of students by:

1. Declaring an “Academic Scholarship Signing Day” to recognize the outstanding academic achievement of high school seniors who sign a letter of intent to accept an academic scholarship offered to the student by a postsecondary educational institution.

2. Declaring a “College and Career Decision Day” to recognize high school seniors for their postsecondary education plans, to encourage early preparation for college, and to encourage students to pursue advanced career pathways through the attainment of industry certifications for which there are statewide college credit articulation agreements.

District school board policies and procedures may include conducting assemblies or other appropriate public events in which students sign actual or ceremonial documents accepting scholarships or enrollment. The district school board may encourage holding such events in an assembly or gathering of the entire student body as a means of making academic success and recognition visible to all students.

History.—s. 56, ch. 2002-387; s. 26, ch. 2006-69; s. 13, ch. 2006-301; s. 33, ch. 2009-96; s. 1, ch. 2010-203; s. 16, ch. 2011-5; s. 19, ch. 2011-15; s. 3, ch. 2016-2; s. 1, ch. 2019-48; s. 10, ch. 2019-119.