(1) At least every 5 years, each board shall arrange for an educational plant survey, to aid in formulating plans for housing the educational program and student population, faculty, administrators, staff, and auxiliary and ancillary services of the district or campus, including consideration of the local comprehensive plan. The Department of Education shall document the need for additional career and adult education programs and the continuation of existing programs before facility construction or renovation related to career or adult education may be included in the educational plant survey of a school district or Florida College System institution that delivers career or adult education programs. Information used by the Department of Education to establish facility needs must include, but need not be limited to, labor market data, needs analysis, and information submitted by the school district or Florida College System institution.
(a) Educational plant survey and localized need assessment for capital outlay purposes.—A survey recommendation is not required when a district uses funds from the following sources for educational, auxiliary, and ancillary plant capital outlay purposes:
1. The local capital outlay improvement fund, consisting of funds that come from and are a part of the district’s basic operating budget;
2. A taxpayer-approved bond referendum, to fund construction of an educational, auxiliary, or ancillary plant facility;
3. One-half cent sales surtax revenue;
4. One cent local governmental surtax revenue;
5. Impact fees;
6. Private gifts or donations; and
7. The district school tax levied pursuant to s. 1011.71(2).
(b) Survey preparation and required data.—Each survey shall be conducted by the board or an agency employed by the board. Surveys shall be reviewed and approved by the board, and a file copy shall be submitted to the Department of Education or the Chancellor of the State University System, as appropriate. The survey report shall include at least an inventory of existing educational and ancillary plants, including safe access facilities; recommendations for existing educational and ancillary plants; recommendations for new educational or ancillary plants, including the general location of each in coordination with the land use plan and safe access facilities; campus master plan update and detail for Florida College System institutions; the utilization of school plants based on an extended school day or year-round operation; and such other information as may be required by the Department of Education. This report may be amended, if conditions warrant, at the request of the department or commissioner.
(c) Required need assessment criteria for district, Florida College System institution, state university, and Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind plant surveys.—Educational plant surveys must use uniform data sources and criteria specified in this paragraph. Each revised educational plant survey and each new educational plant survey supersedes previous surveys.
1. The school district’s survey must be submitted as a part of the district educational facilities plan defined in s. 1013.35. To ensure that the data reported to the Department of Education as required by this section is correct, the department shall annually conduct an onsite review of 5 percent of the facilities reported for each school district completing a new survey that year. If the department’s review finds the data reported by a district is less than 95 percent accurate, within 1 year from the time of notification by the department the district must submit revised reports correcting its data. If a district fails to correct its reports, the commissioner may direct that future fixed capital outlay funds be withheld until such time as the district has corrected its reports so that they are not less than 95 percent accurate.
2. Each survey of a special facility, joint-use facility, or cooperative career education facility must be based on capital outlay full-time equivalent student enrollment data prepared by the department for school districts and Florida College System institutions and by the Chancellor of the State University System for universities. A survey of space needs of a joint-use facility shall be based upon the respective space needs of the school districts, Florida College System institutions, and universities, as appropriate. Projections of a school district’s facility space needs may not exceed the norm space and occupant design criteria established by the State Requirements for Educational Facilities.
3. Each Florida College System institution’s survey must reflect the capacity of existing facilities as specified in the inventory maintained by the Department of Education. Projections of facility space needs must comply with standards for determining space needs as specified by rule of the State Board of Education. The 5-year projection of capital outlay student enrollment must be consistent with the annual report of capital outlay full-time student enrollment prepared by the Department of Education.
4. Each state university’s survey must reflect the capacity of existing facilities as specified in the inventory maintained and validated by the Chancellor of the State University System. Projections of facility space needs must be consistent with standards for determining space needs as specified by regulation of the Board of Governors. The projected capital outlay full-time equivalent student enrollment must be consistent with the 5-year planned enrollment cycle for the State University System approved by the Board of Governors.
5. The district educational facilities plan of a school district and the educational plant survey of a Florida College System institution, state university, or the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind may include space needs that deviate from approved standards for determining space needs if the deviation is justified by the district or institution and approved by the department or the Board of Governors, as appropriate, as necessary for the delivery of an approved educational program.
(d) Review and validation.—The Department of Education shall review and validate the surveys of school districts and Florida College System institutions, and the Chancellor of the State University System shall review and validate the surveys of universities, and any amendments thereto for compliance with the requirements of this chapter and shall recommend those in compliance for approval by the State Board of Education or the Board of Governors, as appropriate. Annually, the department shall perform an in-depth analysis of a representative sample of each survey of recommended needs for five districts selected by the commissioner from among districts with the largest need-to-revenue ratio. For the purpose of this subsection, the need-to-revenue ratio is determined by dividing the total 5-year cost of projects listed on the district survey by the total 5-year fixed capital outlay revenue projections from state and local sources as determined by the department. The commissioner may direct fixed capital outlay funds provided from general revenue or from state trust funds to be withheld from districts until such time as the survey accurately projects facilities needs.
(e) Periodic update of Florida Inventory of School Houses.—School districts shall periodically update their inventory of educational facilities as new capacity becomes available and as unsatisfactory space is eliminated. The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to determine the timeframe in which districts must provide a periodic update.
(2) Only the district school superintendent, Florida College System institution president, or the university president shall certify to the Department of Education a project’s compliance with the requirements for expenditure of PECO funds prior to release of funds.
(a) Upon request for release of PECO funds for planning purposes, certification must be made to the Department of Education that the need for and location of the facility are in compliance with the board-approved survey recommendations, that the project meets the definition of a PECO project and the limiting criteria for expenditures of PECO funding, and that the plan is consistent with the local government comprehensive plan.
(b) Upon request for release of construction funds, certification must be made to the Department of Education that the need and location of the facility are in compliance with the board-approved survey recommendations, that the project meets the definition of a PECO project and the limiting criteria for expenditures of PECO funding, and that the construction documents meet the requirements of the Florida Building Code for educational facilities construction or other applicable codes as authorized in this chapter.
History.—s. 14, ch. 2002-296; s. 826, ch. 2002-387; s. 128, ch. 2003-1; s. 18, ch. 2003-391; s. 136, ch. 2004-357; s. 2, ch. 2006-132; s. 178, ch. 2007-217; s. 32, ch. 2010-78; s. 210, ch. 2011-5; s. 43, ch. 2018-6; s. 21, ch. 2019-23.