Politics
Legislation to help save students from cardiac arrest ready for House floor
A bill seeking to enhance preparedness for cardiac emergencies in public schools to help save the lives of Florida students is now ready for the House floor.
Hialeah Republican Rep. Alex Rizo and Clermont Republican Rep. Taylor Yarkosky presented the measure (HB 1607) to the House Education Administration Subcommittee at its final committee stop. The panel unanimously approved it.
Before presenting the bill, Yarkosky detailed some of the statistics on cardiac arrests in schools and the shockingly low survival rate if an automated external defibrillator (AED) is not reached within minutes of a cardiac event.
“Before I tell you what we’re doing in this bill, I want to give you all some statistics to think about,” Yarkosky said. “Sudden cardiac arrest is the No. 1 killer on school campuses. Roughly four of our school age youth die every day from sudden cardiac arrest, that’s about 1,500 students every year. The current survival rate when this happens is 9%; it could be as high as 90% if an AED is deployed within three minutes of the event happening.”
Yarkosky went on to note that the statistics show there is a growing number of Florida’s schoolchildren who are at risk of having a heart attack.
“Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death for student athletes, but it’s also the overall leading cause of death on school campuses, as I said,” Yarkosky explained.
“And what’s an even bigger concern and ticking time bomb if you will, is that approximately 1 in every 300 students, which is well over 15,000 kids in our state right now, have an undiagnosed heart condition. So, we know that there is great probability that something could happen with those students that are dealing with that.”
In explaining the bill, Yarkosky said AEDs would need to be available in all Florida schools.
“No. 1, we are going to require that all public schools, including charter schools, must have at least one operational AED on school grounds. It must be clearly marked and easily accessible, Yarkosky added.
“And I will say that we already require this in the Florida High School Athletic Association. But that will not make you compliant with this, if you have one, say in a gymnasium or in a … weight room. It has to be in a common area of the school.”
The bill would further mandate CPR or AED training, as well as create a new plan called the Plan for Urgent Lifesaving Emergencies (PULSE) plan. The State Board of Education would also be given the authority to adopt rules and implement the requirements.
“Folks, this is a commonsense bill,” Yarkosky said.
“If I told you that four kids every day are dying in fires in our schools, I think we would have the state shut down, we would be in Special Session and would be figuring out how we equip our schools with sprinklers, fire extinguishers. That’s why no one has died in a school since probably around the ’60s in Florida. But yet, we have four students everyday dying and we don’t even require an AED in the schools. For hundreds of dollars each, we’re not talking a massive amount of money there.”
In closing, Rizo said he was working on similar legislation three years ago and noted that if the legislation becomes law, Florida will be the first state in the U.S. to implement such a policy.
“In speaking to the American Heart Association, we started talking about a three-minute window to really save lives,” Rizo said. “Three minutes from the time of a cardiac arrest, the onset of one, that’s the magic window. Interestingly, there is no state, at least to my knowledge, that has a plan. We would be the first. So, this is an amazing bill.”
Rizo further pointed out that the cost to install AEDs in every school would be miniscule.
“We came up with basically our own study,” Rizo said. “We can put at least one AED in every single school in Florida for less than the price of one school lunch per child. It’s under a dollar. Is that worth saving a child’s life? Is that cost? I think it’s immeasurable.”
One lawmaker’s proposal to study how schools can ban cell phones during the school day cleared the first committee stop Monday.
A bill sponsored by Sen. Danny Burgess, a Zephyrhills Republican, would create a pilot program to help the state understand how best to eradicate cell phones from schools.
“We all know that cell phones are a distraction, that they take us away from the academics of school,” Burgess said as the Education Pre K-12 Committee voted 9-0 for SB 1296.
He compared cell phones to an addictive drug for kids.
In 2023, the Legislature passed a law requiring school districts to prohibit cell phone usage during instructional time in the classroom. But Burgess’ bill aims to take it further and explore how to ban phones during the entire school day, including on school grounds and during school-sponsored activities off school property but still during the school day. The report would also explore how the policy affects students’ behavior and academics.
Under his bill, six school districts — two small ones, two medium-sized ones and two large ones — would be part of a pilot program to report back to the Senate President and House Speaker by Dec. 1, 2026 about the situation. Burgess’ bill does not specify which school districts would participate.
“Hopefully we’re approaching this right by making sure that we’re surveying districts that may already have this implemented and then getting that feedback and determining if there’s a better, more comprehensive approach from that,” Burgess said.
Some of the questions lawmakers want to understand are the exceptions to a full ban, such as how do the schools allow phones for native English speakers to access curriculum or when students ride the school buses and during emergencies when parents need to reach their kids.
“The report must also include a model policy that school districts and charter schools may adopt,” the bill said. “The report must also include student code of conduct provisions for violations of the policy restricting the use of cell phones and other electronic devices.”
Burgess cited a National Library of Medicine study that found students who used phones in class took fewer notes and got worse grades compared to students who put their phones away.
His bill is headed next for the Children, Families, and Elder Affairs Committee.
A bill to boost housing access for young adults who have spent time in the foster care system was unanimously advanced by the Senate Education Postsecondary Committee Monday,
Miami Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia presented the measure (SB 584) and started by explaining an amendment that was adopted that removed certain requirements found in the original bill, with Garcia saying the change emphasizes coordination rather than providing guarantees.
“Specifically, it removes the requirement for state agencies to act as co-signers or guarantors on residential leases for foster youth currently not under the voucher program,” Garcia said. “However, it does preserve the core provisions that support the federal Youth to Independence, the FYI program. Agencies are still required to coordinate with local housing authorities, identify eligible youth, and certify their child welfare history and also provide and secure supportive services for the duration of the housing voucher.”
The bill would support the FYI program by mandating a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to fully implement it in Florida.
Boynton Beach Democratic Sen. Lori Berman asked why the bill was being amended, noting that she liked that youth were getting so much financial support. In response, Garcia said it was the fiscal impact that forced her to remove it from the original bill, but pointed out it was regrettable that it wasn’t able to be left in.
“The fiscal impact,” Garcia said. “The fiscal impact was going to be huge, and we wanted to make sure that we can take care of the ones that are currently under that program.”
Garcia said she was inspired by the youth that she has worked with during her time as a state senator, and noted the bill is one of many that works towards helping them succeed.
“You know, housing, we take it so for granted, sometimes we take our parents for granted,” Garcia said. “This is another wonderful bill of the many that we have run, that we continue to work on. All of us together, bipartisan, which is what I love to do.”
Garcia said that the bill would make housing a priority for vulnerable students by requiring Florida College System Institutions and state universities to give first priority and housing and work-study opportunities to students who are homeless or formally in the foster care system who are having difficulty aging out.
Schools would also be prohibited from requiring a co-signer or guarantor when vulnerable students receive housing assistance through state programs.
“I think that it’s very important that it expands all throughout Florida,” Garcia said. “Also, this ensures that young people aging out of foster care receive properly coordinated housing support.”
The bill further requires a state-wide study, directing the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability to conduct a comprehensive study on the barriers young adults face when trying to secure housing. The study must involve key stakeholders and be submitted to the Governor and the Legislature by Dec. 1, 2026.
The measure will now move to the Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee.
-
Entertainment8 years agoThe final 6 ‘Game of Thrones’ episodes might feel like a full season
-
Politics8 years ago
Congress rolls out ‘Better Deal,’ new economic agenda
-
Entertainment8 years ago
Mod turns ‘Counter-Strike’ into a ‘Tekken’ clone with fighting chickens
-
Entertainment8 years ago
New Season 8 Walking Dead trailer flashes forward in time
-
Tech8 years ago
Microsoft Paint is finally dead, and the world Is a better place
-
Tech8 years ago
Hulu hires Google marketing veteran Kelly Campbell as CMO
-
Tech8 years ago
Ford’s 2018 Mustang GT can do 0-to-60 mph in under 4 seconds
-
Politics8 years ago
Illinois’ financial crisis could bring the state to a halt