Current through Reg. 50, No. 187; September 24, 2024
An application proposing to covert an existing public school
to a charter school must demonstrate the support of teachers and parents in
accordance with Section
1002.33(3)(b),
F.S. The following provisions are established to detail the ballot process by
which such support shall be demonstrated.
(1) Initiation of ballot process. A district
school board, the principal, teachers, parents, and/or the school advisory
council at an existing public school that has been in operation for at least
two (2) years may submit a request in writing to the school administrator to
conduct a vote for conversion. The administrator shall complete the ballot
process within sixty (60) days of receipt of the written request.
(2) Ballot process.
(a) Support for a conversion charter school
shall be determined by secret ballot.
(b) Teachers and parents shall be offered the
opportunity to vote on whether or not to approve the charter school
proposal.
(c) A minimum of one
school day shall be allotted for teachers to submit a ballot and a minimum of
six (6) consecutive school days shall be allotted for parents to submit a
ballot.
(d) Written notification of
a ballot shall be provided to teachers and parents at least thirty (30) days
prior to conducting the ballot. The notification shall include, at a minimum:
1. The definition of a charter
school;
2. A description of the
conversion process;
3. The dates
and conditions under which a ballot may be submitted;
4. The date and location of a scheduled
public meeting where the ballots will be counted; and,
5. Contact information for additional
questions.
(e) The
official ballots shall be created and distributed by the school and submitted
by teachers and parents in a sealed, unmarked envelope also provided by the
school.
(f) Separate ballot boxes
shall be created for teacher and parent votes and each box shall be visibly
sealed, supervised during school hours, and secured when the school is closed
in order to maintain the confidentiality of ballots.
(g) Upon placement of the ballot by the voter
into the ballot box, the school administrator or designee who is not eligible
to vote shall confirm the individual's eligibility to vote and document who
submitted the ballot in order to ensure only eligible individuals vote and no
individual votes more than once.
(3) Ballot results.
(a) As soon as possible, but not more than
three (3) school days after closing the ballot, a public meeting shall be held
in which an independent arbitrator, selected by the agreement between the
school administrator and the applicant, will unseal the teacher and parent
ballot boxes and count the ballots aloud in the presence of meeting
attendees.
(b) Each vote shall be
tallied by the independent arbitrator.
(c) The final ballot results shall be posted
in a prominent location on the school site.
(d) If at least fifty (50) percent of
teachers employed at the school and at least fifty (50) percent of voting
parents support the charter proposal, provided that a majority of parents
eligible to vote participate in the process pursuant to (5)(d), the conversion
charter application must be submitted during the same calendar year the vote is
held. If this voting threshold is not met, an application may not be submitted
to the sponsor.
(e) Only one (1)
vote per calendar year may be held.
(4) Teacher voting. For purposes of this rule
a teacher is an individual as defined in Section
1012.01(2)(a),
F.S., and employed by the school for more than half of each school day. School
administrators are not eligible to vote.
(a)
Teacher ballots shall be uniform in design and created and distributed by the
school along with a sealable, unmarked envelope.
(b) A teacher who is absent, on leave, or
otherwise unavailable to submit his or her ballot during the designated
balloting window may:
1. Designate another
individual to submit his or her ballot. The teacher must put the sealed ballot
in another envelope and sign the seal of the outside envelope. When the
designee presents the ballot at the school's site, it shall be removed from the
signed outer envelope and immediately placed in the ballot box.
2. Submit the ballot early upon mutual
agreement between the teacher and the school administrator.
(c) A teacher may refuse to vote
or choose not to submit a ballot, which is equivalent to voting not to approve
the charter proposal.
(5)
Parent voting. For purposes of this rule, each household shall receive one
ballot regardless of the number of students residing in the household. If a
student has two households, the household of the enrolling parent shall receive
the ballot.
(a) Parent ballots shall be
uniform in design and created and distributed by the school along with a
sealable, unmarked envelope.
1. The ballot and
envelope shall be mailed to the household of each student enrolled in the
school before the ballot is conducted.
2. Extra ballots shall be made available at
the school's location during the balloting window.
3. A ballot may be sent home with a student
if the parent's address is found to be invalid.
(b) If the parent is unable to submit the
ballot in person at the school site, he or she may put the sealed ballot in
another envelope, sign the seal of the outside envelope, and mail the ballot to
the school. The parent shall include identification on the outer envelope such
as a return address to ensure only one ballot is submitted per household. If
the ballot is submitted improperly, it shall not be counted.
(c) A teacher who is also the parent of a
student enrolled in the school shall be allowed to submit both a teacher ballot
and the parent ballot submitted for the household.
(d) A majority of parents eligible to vote
must participate in the ballot process pursuant to Section
1002.33(3)(b),
F.S.; therefore, for purposes of this rule, a majority is more than
half.
Rulemaking Authority
1002.33(28) FS.
Law Implemented 1002.33(3)(b)
FS.
New 6-22-10, Amended
11-22-22.
