ENROLLED 2017 CRC P 6003 20176003er 1 2 REVISION 3 3 A proposal to revise the State Constitution by the Constitution 4 Revision Commission of Florida. 5 6 A proposed revision relating to education; amending 7 Section 4 of Article IX and creating a new section in 8 Article XII of the State Constitution to establish a 9 limitation on the period for which a person may serve 10 as a member of a district school board; amending 11 Section 4 of Article IX of the State Constitution to 12 specify which schools are operated, controlled, and 13 supervised by a school board; and creating a new 14 section in Article IX of the State Constitution to 15 require the Legislature to provide for the promotion 16 of civic literacy in public education. 17 18 Be It Proposed by the Constitution Revision Commission of 19 Florida: 20 21 Section 4 of Article IX of the State Constitution is 22 amended, and a new section is added to that article, to read: 23 ARTICLE IX 24 EDUCATION 25 SECTION 4. School districts; school boards.— 26 (a) Each county shall constitute a school district; 27 provided, two or more contiguous counties, upon vote of the 28 electors of each county pursuant to law, may be combined into 29 one school district. In each school district there shall be a 30 school board composed of five or more members chosen by vote of 31 the electors in a nonpartisan election for appropriately 32 staggered terms of four years, as provided by law. A person may 33 not appear on the ballot for re-election to the office of school 34 board if, by the end of the current term of office, the person 35 would have served, or but for resignation would have served, in 36 that office for eight consecutive years. 37 (b) The school board shall operate, control, and supervise 38 all free public schools established by the district school board 39 within the school district and determine the rate of school 40 district taxes within the limits prescribed herein. Two or more 41 school districts may operate and finance joint educational 42 programs. 43 SECTION . Civic literacy.—As education is essential to the 44 preservation of the rights and liberties of the people, the 45 legislature shall provide by law for the promotion of civic 46 literacy in order to ensure that students enrolled in public 47 education understand and are prepared to exercise their rights 48 and responsibilities as citizens of a constitutional republic. 49 50 A new section is added to Article XII of the State 51 Constitution to read: 52 ARTICLE XII 53 SCHEDULE 54 Limitation on terms of office for members of a district 55 school board.-This section and the amendment to Section 4 of 56 Article IX imposing term limits for the terms of office for 57 members of a district school board shall take effect on the date 58 it is approved by the electorate, but no service in a term of 59 office which commenced prior to November 6, 2018, will be 60 counted against the limitation imposed by this amendment. 61 62 BE IT FURTHER PROPOSED that the following statement be placed on 63 the ballot: 64 65 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT 66 ARTICLE IX, SECTION 4, NEW SECTION 67 ARTICLE XII, NEW SECTION 68 SCHOOL BOARD TERM LIMITS AND DUTIES; PUBLIC SCHOOLS.— 69 Creates a term limit of eight consecutive years for school board 70 members and requires the legislature to provide for the 71 promotion of civic literacy in public schools. Currently, 72 district school boards have a constitutional duty to operate, 73 control, and supervise all public schools. The amendment 74 maintains a school board’s duties to public schools it 75 establishes, but permits the state to operate, control, and 76 supervise public schools not established by the school board.