CRC - 2017 P 32
By Commissioner Donalds
donaldse-00056-17 201732__
1 A proposal to amend
2 Sections 2, 4, and 7 of Article IX of the State
3 Constitution to provide that members of the State
4 Board of Education, district school boards, state
5 university boards of trustees, and the Board of
6 Governors of the State University System shall serve
7 without compensation but are entitled to reimbursement
8 for travel and per diem expenses in accordance with
9 state law.
10
11 Be It Proposed by the Constitution Revision Commission of
12 Florida:
13
14 Sections 2, 4, and 7 of Article IX of the State
15 Constitution are amended to read:
16 ARTICLE IX
17 EDUCATION
18 SECTION 2. State board of education.—The state board of
19 education shall be a body corporate and have such supervision of
20 the system of free public education as is provided by law. The
21 state board of education shall consist of seven members
22 appointed by the governor to staggered 4-year terms, subject to
23 confirmation by the senate. The state board of education shall
24 appoint the commissioner of education. Members of the state
25 board of education may not be compensated for their services to
26 the board, but may be reimbursed for travel and per diem
27 expenses in accordance with Florida law.
28 SECTION 4. School districts; school boards.—
29 (a) Each county shall constitute a school district;
30 provided, two or more contiguous counties, upon vote of the
31 electors of each county pursuant to law, may be combined into
32 one school district. In each school district there shall be a
33 school board composed of five or more members chosen by vote of
34 the electors in a nonpartisan election for appropriately
35 staggered terms of four years, as provided by law. Members of a
36 school board may not be compensated for their services to the
37 board, but may be reimbursed for travel and per diem expenses in
38 accordance with Florida law.
39 (b) The school board shall operate, control and supervise
40 all free public schools within the school district and determine
41 the rate of school district taxes within the limits prescribed
42 herein. Two or more school districts may operate and finance
43 joint educational programs.
44 SECTION 7. State University System.—
45 (a) PURPOSES. In order to achieve excellence through
46 teaching students, advancing research and providing public
47 service for the benefit of Florida’s citizens, their communities
48 and economies, the people hereby establish a system of
49 governance for the state university system of Florida.
50 (b) STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM. There shall be a single state
51 university system comprised of all public universities. A board
52 of trustees shall administer each public university and a board
53 of governors shall govern the state university system.
54 (c) LOCAL BOARDS OF TRUSTEES. Each local constituent
55 university shall be administered by a board of trustees
56 consisting of thirteen members dedicated to the purposes of the
57 state university system. The board of governors shall establish
58 the powers and duties of the boards of trustees. Each board of
59 trustees shall consist of six citizen members appointed by the
60 governor and five citizen members appointed by the board of
61 governors. The appointed members shall be confirmed by the
62 senate and serve staggered terms of five years as provided by
63 law. The chair of the faculty senate, or the equivalent, and the
64 president of the student body of the university shall also be
65 members. Members of a board of trustees may not be compensated
66 for their services to the board, but may be reimbursed for
67 travel and per diem expenses in accordance with Florida law.
68 (d) STATEWIDE BOARD OF GOVERNORS. The board of governors
69 shall be a body corporate consisting of seventeen members. The
70 board shall operate, regulate, control, and be fully responsible
71 for the management of the whole university system. These
72 responsibilities shall include, but not be limited to, defining
73 the distinctive mission of each constituent university and its
74 articulation with free public schools and community colleges,
75 ensuring the well-planned coordination and operation of the
76 system, and avoiding wasteful duplication of facilities or
77 programs. The board’s management shall be subject to the powers
78 of the legislature to appropriate for the expenditure of funds,
79 and the board shall account for such expenditures as provided by
80 law. The governor shall appoint to the board fourteen citizens
81 dedicated to the purposes of the state university system. The
82 appointed members shall be confirmed by the senate and serve
83 staggered terms of seven years as provided by law. The
84 commissioner of education, the chair of the advisory council of
85 faculty senates, or the equivalent, and the president of the
86 Florida student association, or the equivalent, shall also be
87 members of the board. Members of the board of governors may not
88 be compensated for their services to the board, but may be
89 reimbursed for travel and per diem expenses in accordance with
90 Florida law.