Statute 1008.36 - School Recognition Program
Commonly referred to by parents the 'A+ Funds' or 'A+ Money'
Title XLVIII - K-20 EDUCATION CODE, ASSESSMENT
AND ACCOUNTABILITY
1008.36 Florida School Recognition Program
1. The Legislature finds that there is a need for a program to reward
school districts and charter schools for putting parents first and
complying with the provisions of emergency rules promulgated by the
Department of Health related to face covering mandates during the
2020-2021 or 2021-2022 school year.
2. The Florida School Recognition Program is created to recognize the
efforts of outstanding faculty and staff from school districts and
charter schools that overcame pandemic-related learning disruptions to
maintain highly productive schools by providing financial awards to
public schools that for the 2021-2022 school year:
(a) Sustain high performance by receiving a school grade of "A,"
making excellent progress; or
(b) Demonstrated exemplary
improvement due to innovation and effort by improving at least one
letter grade compared to the 2018-2019 school year.
3. All public schools, including charter schools,
that receive a school grade pursuant to
s. 1008.34
and were not found in violation of emergency rules promulgated by the
Department of Health related to face covering mandates during the
2020-2021 or 2021-2022 school year are eligible to participate in the
program.
4.(a) The Department of Education may distribute the funds appropriated in Specific Appropriation 88A when the official school grades for the 2021-2022 school year are available. The results of these school grades shall be used to calculate the distribution of the appropriated funds. The amount for each eligible school district and charter school shall be based on the school district's and charter school's proportionate share of the total eligible full-time equivalent students.
(b) Funds must be distributed to the school's fiscal agent and placed in the school's account and must be used for purposes listed in subsection (5) as determined jointly by the school's staff and school advisory council. If school staff and the school advisory council cannot reach agreement by February 1, the awards must be equally distributed to all classroom teachers currently teaching in the school. If a school selected to receive a school recognition award is no longer in existence at the time the award is paid, the district school superintendent shall distribute the funds to teachers who taught at the school in the previous year in the form of a bonus.
5. School recognition awards must be used for the following:
(a) Nonrecurring bonuses to the faculty and staff;
(b) Nonrecurring expenditures for educational equipment or materials to
assist in maintaining and improving student performance; or
(c) Temporary personnel for the school to assist in maintaining and
improving student performance.
Notwithstanding statutory provisions to the contrary, incentive
awards are not subject to collective bargaining.