THE BILL ITSELF
CS/CS/HB 753
School Counselors
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An act relating to school counselors; amending s.
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1012.34, F.S.; requiring evaluation criteria for
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certified school counselors to be based on specified
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standards; amending s. 1012.55, F.S.; providing that
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persons seeking employment as school counselors are
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exempt from specified educator certification
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requirements; providing that school districts may
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require such persons to meet certain requirements as a
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condition of employment; providing an effective date.
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section
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1012.34, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
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1012.34 Personnel evaluation procedures and criteria.—
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(3) EVALUATION PROCEDURES AND CRITERIA.—Instructional
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personnel and school administrator performance evaluations must
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be based upon the performance of students assigned to their
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classrooms or schools, as provided in this section. Pursuant to
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this section, a school district's performance evaluation system
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is not limited to basing unsatisfactory performance of
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instructional personnel and school administrators solely upon
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student performance, but may include other criteria to evaluate
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instructional personnel and school administrators' performance,
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or any combination of student performance and other criteria.
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Evaluation procedures and criteria must comply with, but are not
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limited to, the following:
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(a) A performance evaluation must be conducted for each
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employee at least once a year, except that a classroom teacher,
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as defined in s. 1012.01(2)(a), excluding substitute teachers,
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who is newly hired by the district school board must be observed
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and evaluated at least twice in the first year of teaching in
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the school district. The performance evaluation must be based
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upon sound educational principles and contemporary research in
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effective educational practices. The evaluation criteria must
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include:
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1. Performance of students.—At least one-third of a
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performance evaluation must be based upon data and indicators of
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student performance, as determined by each school district. This
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portion of the evaluation must include growth or achievement
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data of the teacher's students or, for a school administrator,
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the students attending the school over the course of at least 3
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years. If less than 3 years of data are available, the years for
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which data are available must be used. The proportion of growth
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or achievement data may be determined by instructional
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assignment.
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2. Instructional practice.—For instructional personnel, at
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least one-third of the performance evaluation must be based upon
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instructional practice. Evaluation criteria used when annually
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observing classroom teachers, as defined in s. 1012.01(2)(a),
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excluding substitute teachers, must include indicators based
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upon each of the Florida Educator Accomplished Practices adopted
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by the State Board of Education.
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a. For instructional personnel who are not classroom
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teachers or certified school counselors, evaluation criteria
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must be based upon indicators of the Florida Educator
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Accomplished Practices and may include specific job expectations
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related to student support.
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b. For certified school counselors, evaluation criteria
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must be based upon indicators of the Florida School Counseling
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Standards adopted by the State Board of Education.
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c. This section does not preclude a school administrator
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from visiting and observing classroom teachers throughout the
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school year for purposes of providing mentorship, training,
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instructional feedback, or professional learning.
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3. Instructional leadership.—For school administrators, at
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least one-third of the performance evaluation must be based on
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instructional leadership. Evaluation criteria for instructional
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leadership must include indicators based upon each of the
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leadership standards adopted by the State Board of Education
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under s. 1012.986, including performance measures related to the
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effectiveness of classroom teachers in the school, the
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administrator's appropriate use of evaluation criteria and
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procedures, recruitment and retention of effective and highly
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effective classroom teachers, improvement in the percentage of
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instructional personnel evaluated at the highly effective or
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effective level, and other leadership practices that result in
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student learning growth. The system may include a means to give
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parents and instructional personnel an opportunity to provide
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input into the administrator's performance evaluation.
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4. Other indicators of performance.—For instructional
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personnel and school administrators, the remainder of a
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performance evaluation may include, but is not limited to,
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professional and job responsibilities as recommended by the
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State Board of Education or identified by the district school
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board and, for instructional personnel, peer reviews,
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objectively reliable survey information from students and
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parents based on teaching practices that are consistently
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associated with higher student achievement, and other valid and
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reliable measures of instructional practice.
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Section 2. Subsection (6) of section 1012.55, Florida
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Statutes, is renumbered as subsection (7), and a new subsection
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(6) is added to that section, to read:
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1012.55 Positions for which certificates required.—
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(6) A person who is seeking employment as a school
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counselor is exempt from the educator certification requirements
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in s. 1012.56(2)(g) and (i). Such exemption does not preclude a
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school district from requiring a certified school counselor to
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satisfy the requirements of s. 1012.56(2)(g) and (i) as a
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condition of employment.
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Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.