(1) Before acquiring property for sites, each district school board and Florida College System institution board of trustees shall determine the location of proposed educational centers or campuses. In making this determination, the board shall consider existing and anticipated site needs and the most economical and practicable locations of sites. The board shall coordinate with the long-range or comprehensive plans of local, regional, and state governmental agencies to assure the consistency of such plans. Boards are encouraged to locate district educational facilities proximate to urban residential areas to the extent possible, and shall seek to collocate district educational facilities with other public facilities, such as parks, libraries, and community centers, to the extent possible and to encourage using elementary schools as focal points for neighborhoods.

(2) Each new site selected must be adequate in size to meet the educational needs of the students to be served on that site by the original educational facility or future expansions of the facility through renovation or the addition of relocatables.

(3) Sites recommended for purchase or purchased must meet standards prescribed in law and such supplementary standards as the State Board of Education prescribes to promote the educational interests of the students. Each site must be well drained and suitable for outdoor educational purposes as appropriate for the educational program or collocated with facilities to serve this purpose. As provided in s. 333.03, the site must not be located within any path of flight approach of any airport. Insofar as is practicable, the site must not adjoin a right-of-way of any railroad or through highway and must not be adjacent to any factory or other property from which noise, odors, or other disturbances, or at which conditions, would be likely to interfere with the educational program. To the extent practicable, sites must be chosen which will provide safe access from neighborhoods to schools.

(4) It shall be the responsibility of the board to provide adequate notice to appropriate municipal, county, regional, and state governmental agencies for requested traffic control and safety devices so they can be installed and operating prior to the first day of classes or to satisfy itself that every reasonable effort has been made in sufficient time to secure the installation and operation of such necessary devices prior to the first day of classes. It shall also be the responsibility of the board to review annually traffic control and safety device needs and to request all necessary changes indicated by such review.

(5) Each board may request county and municipal governments to construct and maintain sidewalks and bicycle trails within a 2-mile radius of each educational facility within the jurisdiction of the local government. When a board discovers or is aware of an existing hazard on or near a public sidewalk, street, or highway within a 2-mile radius of a school site and the hazard endangers the life or threatens the health or safety of students who walk, ride bicycles, or are transported regularly between their homes and the school in which they are enrolled, the board shall, within 24 hours after discovering or becoming aware of the hazard, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, report such hazard to the governmental entity within the jurisdiction of which the hazard is located. Within 5 days after receiving notification by the board, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, the governmental entity shall investigate the hazardous condition and either correct it or provide such precautions as are practicable to safeguard students until the hazard can be permanently corrected. However, if the governmental entity that has jurisdiction determines upon investigation that it is impracticable to correct the hazard, or if the entity determines that the reported condition does not endanger the life or threaten the health or safety of students, the entity shall, within 5 days after notification by the board, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, inform the board in writing of its reasons for not correcting the condition. The governmental entity, to the extent allowed by law, shall indemnify the board from any liability with respect to accidents or injuries, if any, arising out of the hazardous condition.

(6) If the school board and local government have entered into an interlocal agreement pursuant to ss. 1013.33(2) and 163.31777 or have developed a process to ensure consistency between the local government comprehensive plan and the school district educational facilities plan, site planning and selection must be consistent with the interlocal agreements and the plans.

History.—s. 22, ch. 2002-296; s. 831, ch. 2002-387; s. 132, ch. 2003-1; s. 211, ch. 2011-5; s. 101, ch. 2012-5; s. 22, ch. 2012-99.