(1) MATCHING GRANTS.—The Florida Academic Improvement Trust Fund shall be utilized to provide matching grants to the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind Endowment Fund and to any public school district education foundation that meets the requirements of this section. For purposes of this section, a public school district education foundation includes each district school board direct-support organization established pursuant to s. 1001.453 and the education foundation established by the Florida Virtual School established pursuant to s. 1002.37. Donations, state matching funds, or proceeds from endowments established pursuant to this section shall be used at the discretion of the public school district education foundation or the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind for academic achievement within the school district or school, and shall not be expended for the construction of facilities or for the support of interscholastic athletics. No public school district education foundation or the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind shall accept or purchase facilities for which the state will be asked for operating funds unless the Legislature has granted prior approval for such acquisition. (2) ALLOCATION OF THE TRUST FUND.—Funds appropriated to the Florida Academic Improvement Trust Fund shall be allocated by the Department of Education in the following manner:(a) For every year in which there is a legislative appropriation to the trust fund, an equal amount of the annual appropriation, to be determined by dividing the total legislative appropriation by the number of local education foundations as well as the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, must be reserved for each public school district education foundation and the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind Endowment Fund to provide each foundation and the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind with an opportunity to receive and match appropriated funds. Trust funds that remain unmatched by contribution on April 1 of any year shall be made available for matching by any public school district education foundation and by the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind which shall have an opportunity to apply for excess trust funds prior to the award of such funds.
(b) Matching grants shall be proportionately allocated from the trust fund on the basis of matching each $4 of state funds with $6 of private funds. To be eligible for matching, a minimum of $4,500 must be raised from private sources.
(c) Funds sufficient to provide the match shall be transferred from the state trust fund to the public school education foundation or to the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind Endowment Fund upon notification that a proportionate amount has been received and deposited by the foundation or school into its own trust fund.
(d) If the total of the amounts to be distributed in any quarter pursuant to this subsection exceeds the amount of funds remaining from specific appropriations made for the implementation of this section, all grants shall be proportionately reduced so that the total of matching grants distributed does not exceed available appropriations.
(3) GRANT ADMINISTRATION.—(a) Each public school district education foundation and the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind participating in the Florida Academic Improvement Trust Fund shall separately account for all funds received pursuant to this section, and may establish its own academic improvement trust fund as a depository for the private contributions, state matching funds, and earnings on investments of such funds. State matching funds shall be transferred to the public school district education foundation or to the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind Endowment Fund upon notification that the foundation or school has received and deposited private contributions that meet the criteria for matching as provided in this section. The public school district education foundations and the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind are responsible for the maintenance, investment, and administration of their academic improvement trust funds.
(b) The public school district education foundations and the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind shall be responsible for soliciting and receiving contributions to be deposited and matched with grants for academic achievement within the school district or school.
(c) Each public school district education foundation and the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind shall be responsible for proper expenditure of the funds received pursuant to this section.
