Outline of the state of Florida
State
Florida
Required

Category
Family Engagement in Local Governance

Category
Family Engagement in Local Governance

State law requires parent or family member representation on school governance councils or in school improvement planning efforts.

Florida Statutes 1001.452 District and school advisory councils.

(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—

  • (a) The district school board shall establish an advisory council for each school in the district and shall develop procedures for the election and appointment of advisory council members. Each school advisory council shall include in its name the words “school advisory council.” The school advisory council shall be the sole body responsible for final decisionmaking at the school relating to implementation of ss. 1001.42(18) and 1008.345. A majority of the members of each school advisory council must be persons who are not employed by the school district. Each advisory council shall be composed of the principal and an appropriately balanced number of teachers, education support employees, students, parents, and other business and community citizens who are representative of the ethnic, racial, and economic community served by the school. Career center and high school advisory councils shall include students, and middle and junior high school advisory councils may include students. School advisory councils of career centers and adult education centers are not required to include parents as members. Council members representing teachers, education support employees, students, and parents shall be elected by their respective peer groups at the school in a fair and equitable manner as follows:
  • 1.  Teachers shall be elected by teachers.
  • 2.  Education support employees shall be elected by education support employees.
  • 3.  Students shall be elected by students.
  • 4.  Parents shall be elected by parents.
Policy Type
Statute

Florida Statutes 1002.23 Family and School Partnership for Student Achievement Act.

(4) Each district school board shall adopt rules that strengthen family involvement and family empowerment. The rules shall be developed in collaboration with parents, school administrators, teachers, and community partners, and shall address:

(a) Parental choices and responsibilities;

(b) Links with community services;

(c) Opportunities for parental involvement in the development, implementation, and evaluation of family involvement programs; and

(d) Opportunities for parents to participate on school advisory councils and in school volunteer programs and other activities.

Policy Type
Statute

Florida Statutes 1008.345. Implementation of state system of school improvement and education accountability.

(6) (d) The commissioner shall assign a community assessment team to each school district or governing board with a school that earned a grade of “D” or “F” pursuant to s. 1008.34 to review the school performance data and determine causes for the low performance, including the role of school, area, and district administrative personnel. The community assessment team shall review a high school’s graduation rate calculated without high school equivalency diploma recipients for the past 3 years, disaggregated by student ethnicity. The team shall make recommendations to the school board or the governing board and to the State Board of Education based on the interventions and support strategies identified pursuant to subsection (5) to address the causes of the school’s low performance and to incorporate the strategies into the school improvement plan. The assessment team shall include, but not be limited to, a department representative, parents, business representatives, educators, representatives of local governments, and community activists, and shall represent the demographics of the community from which they are appointed.

Policy Type
Statute