SB 1620 Florida Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Public Education

Summary

Public Education; Providing members of a district school board with specified rights; requiring that certain documents from district school board meetings be kept as public records; providing that a school district employee may not be required or incentivized to sign a nondisclosure agreement or confidentiality agreement; prohibiting a school district from imposing certain conditions on employment, etc.

Bill status in committee 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 22, 2026 Last action Mar 9, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

S 1620 c1 → S 1620 c2 · 9 edits

MAJOR

The bill was significantly streamlined by removing provisions related to school board member legal representation and specific meeting discussion rules. The revised version focuses on core transparency and employment rights, including public access to documents, budget transparency, and a ban on nondisclosure agreements for employees.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed; provisions regarding the right to legal representation for board members and specific rules about post-meeting discussions were removed.

REQUIREMENT

Removed the right for school board members to have the district employ an attorney to represent them in legal actions.

Removed the specific rule allowing school board members to discuss agenda items with staff after receiving legal advice.

Removed the explicit right for board members to keep union contract discussions confidential.

Removed the requirement for the board to publicly disclose the purpose and costs when hiring an additional attorney.

Removed the specific definition of 'good cause' for rejecting employee nominations, which previously included nepotism.

Changed the document access rule to require requests be fulfilled within 10 business days and to extend access to non-public records like internal legal opinions.

Updated the 'good cause' definition for rejecting employee nominations to only include fabrication of credentials, failure to meet minimum requirements, and certificate revocation.

Added a specific prohibition on school districts imposing conditions on employment to circumvent the ban on nondisclosure agreements.

Removed the requirement for school officers to receive specified training on ethical conduct and reporting misconduct.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 3, 2026

How they voted

22–0

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 24

Mar 3, 2026

D Democratic5

5 Yea

100% Yea

I Independent1

1 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican18

16 Yea 2

88% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 4, 2026

Upper · Passed

Pending reference review -under Rule 4.7(2) - (Committee Substitute)

upper

Mar 3, 2026

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (22-0-2)

senate

Feb 26, 2026

Upper · Passed

On Committee agenda-- Rules, 03/03/26, 9:00 am, 412 Knott Building

upper

Feb 11, 2026

Upper · Passed

Pending reference review under Rule 4.7(2) - (Committee Substitute)

upper

Feb 5, 2026

Upper · Passed

On Committee agenda-- Judiciary, 02/10/26, 12:00 pm, 110 Senate Building

upper

Feb 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

Favorable by Education Pre-K - 12; YEAS 6 NAYS 0

upper

Jan 29, 2026

Upper · Passed

On Committee agenda-- Education Pre-K - 12, 02/03/26, 3:30 pm, 412 Knott Building

upper

Jan 22, 2026

Introduced

upper

Jan 16, 2026

Committee

Referred to Education Pre-K - 12; Judiciary; Rules

upper

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor