House Bill 7069, in the 2017 Florida Legislature, helped to assure that the standard charter contract serves as the starting point for all negotiations between approved charter schools and their district sponsors. The legislative amendment to s. 1002.33(7), F.S., maintains that “any term or condition of a proposed charter contract that differs from the standard charter contract adopted by rule of the State Board of Education shall be presumed a limitation on charter school flexibility.” This does not prevent charter schools and school districts from negotiating changes made to the standard contract, but it does ensure that changes not mutually agreed to would be presumed limitations. Due to this strengthened language, it behooves us to update the standard contract based on feedback we have received from charter school operators and authorizers. Additionally, s. 1002.33(21), F.S., mandates that the Florida Department of Education also develop a standard charter renewal contract. Further, the establishment of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act has made it necessary for the Department to examine how we ask charter school applicants to address their plans to keep their students safe. We propose to enhance that particular section of the model application – Section 19: School Safety and Security – to require applicants to explain how they will be in compliance with this statute. This would also require revisions to the model application evaluation instrument that districts use. Specifically the evaluation criteria would be aligned with the new questions on the application.