Back to School w/New Laws in Florida & Debby Not a Downer for Florida’s Insurance Industry – Top 3 Takeaways – August 12th, 2024
- Back to school. Today marks the first day of school for most school districts across the state. Locally Palm Beach, Martin and Indian River County schools are among those returning to school today. As school gets back underway it’s a reminder for all of us to carefully mind the store when driving through school zones. But the start of a new school year is also a time for new policy rollouts as well. And while the 2024-2025 Florida school year doesn’t come with nearly as many changes in education policy as what we’ve seen over the prior three years, as a series of Parental Rights in Education laws took effect, there are several new laws that kick in today that parents, students and fellow Floridians alike should be aware of. All told there were seven new laws that are in place as of today (technically as of July 1st, but given that today’s the first day of school...).
- The most extensive tweaks in policy come with the state's new Education law. Among the policies in place for this year, all public schools must offer 11th and 12th grade students the opportunity to take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Test and the ability to consult with a military recruiter. On that note the Purple Star of School of Distinction program is in place for schools that have large military family populations (197 schools are entering this school year under the program). The state’s new law restricts the ability for Floridians who don’t have children in schools to be able to challenge books used within schools, or in school libraries, to issue challenges under Florida’s parental rights law. The state’s new law also comes with increased scrutiny of underperforming schools with a fast-tracked program for traditional public schools to convert to charter schools if deemed appropriate. Florida’s new School Safety law mandates that all doors and entrances to schools be locked at all times unless they are being guarded. The law also mandates that sheriff's offices report all information about trained school guardians to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement so there’s a clear accounting for how many school guardians are active and the schools that they are guarding. The new school safety policy also expressly prohibits the flying of any drones over Florida’s schools. Florida’s New World’s Education Programs law establishes a new grant program to help struggling K-5th grade students obtain tutors for reading and math if needed. The new law also created a designated center to take the lead in the rollout of AI services to grade schools across the state. Florida already has the country’s largest school choice program, with universal school choice already an option within certain limits. With that said, it was expanded again with military families relocated during a school year and families with special needs students gaining extra flexibility for school choice options throughout the school year as needed. The most impactful from a school operation perspective is in the new Deregulation of Schools law. The new law provides much more autonomy to school boards and individual schools to operate and make their own decisions. This includes everything from school boards having full decision-making ability over whether to close schools for emergencies and when to make up lost days or not to if that’s determined to be appropriate. School boards can use federal funds as districts see fit among many available changes empowering local decision-making within education. Other decisions that can be made locally as a result of a different but similar law, whether a school district chooses to offer virtual education and the ability for schools to use their own testing calendars as opposed to state mandated dates. Not many of the tweaks and changes are headline grabbing material like what’s often made national news in Florida in previous years, nevertheless the changes are many, are substantive, and generally should be supported by the education establishment within the state at the local level – which hasn’t always been the case in recent years.
- Debby was not a downer for Florida’s property insurance industry. If there’s anything Florida’s property insurance industry, and thus Florida’s property insurance policy holders need, it’s a benign hurricane season. The recovery from Florida’s property insurance crisis is in full swing with the average Floridian not set to experience an increase in property insurance premium costs upon policy renewal for the rest of the year for the first time in eight years. Of course, what could quickly derail the progress that’s being made is a massive hurricane creating a mass claims event. Thankfully Debby was not that for Florida. While folks in Florida’s Big Bend would sure like a break after Hurricane Idalia last year and now Debby this year, if a hurricane is going to hit Florida there’s not a better place for one to go in terms of minimizing the impact on people and property. Through last week, only 8,856 claims had come into Florida’s property insurers with losses estimated at $66.7 million (losses will be far greater outside of Florida and mainly within the National Flood Insurance program). Claims will still likely rise and costs along with it, but what’s clear is that adjusted for inflation Debby will be one of the least costly hurricanes in Florida’s history. On that note key property insurance reinsurer Gallagher Re called Debby “a very manageable” event for Florida’s insurance industry. Meaning Debbie didn’t do anything to derail the trajectory of Florida’s property insurance recovery. Of course, in order for that to remain the case we could really use to be hurricane free for the rest of the season in our state.