Statewide Policies for School Shared-Use Agreements Proposed by Florida Legislators (2013)

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In 2013, HB 525 and SB 392 were introduced as companion bills to encourage the adoption of shared use (joint use) agreements in Florida and to promote physical activity during non-school time. Because taxpayer money is used to operate schools, legislators argue that facilities should be available to the public during after school hours.

Along with most other states across the country, obesity and lack of physical activity are increasingly a problem among children in Florida. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), less than half of the children across the country have access to parks, sidewalks, or recreation centers.

In order to create more places for play, Rep. Jake Raburn (R-Valrico) sponsored HB 525 (2013) to keep school playgrounds open during after school hours. The bill later failed in the House Education Committee.

If enacted, this particular piece of legislation would have served to create policies and procedures for an appeal process, which could be used for negotiations, in the case that a joint use agreement were to fail.The law would have also required school districts to submit a copy of the written agreement to the Department of Education (DOE) within 30 days of adopting a shared use policy, and the agreement would be made publicly available on their website.

Read the full text to HB 0525: Joint Use of Public School Facilities & SB 392: Joint Use of Public School Facilities