ORLANDO, Fla. — Under a new law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last week, Florida parents will now have to opt in to corporal punishment at the state’s public schools.
The law requires parents to consent either at the beginning of each school year or before the punishment is administered.
School districts will have to review their policies every three years.
The law was the result of a four-year push by a group of University of Florida students who were bothered by a story in Levy County, when a student was hit without the parents’ consent.
They initially wanted to ban corporal punishment statewide, at least for disabled children, but were forced to compromise when more conservative communities pushed back.
“You might be able to say… if you got something onto the floor of the legislature, everyone would vote for it, it would pass. But that’s just not how it works in reality, right?” Graham Bernstein, the now-former leader of the Florida Student Policy Forum, said.
Bernstein continues, “I think it’s one of the best lessons I’ve probably ever had to learn… You can’t just imprint your perspective onto other people. You have to try to work with them in good faith.”
Rising sophomore and incoming president Jacob Kaplan said the work involved a lot of email sending and meetings in Tallahassee to vouch for the bill, titled HB 1255.
He agreed with Bernstein’s assessment.
“Without that compromise and without that communication, we have a great idea, but nothing actually would come of it,” he said. “That’s the most important thing for me to remember going forward.”
Kaplan said the group was turning to other ideas, but didn’t tip his hand.
Given that the latest effort took Bernstein’s entire college career to pass, he said he didn’t anticipate adding a second law to his future resume so soon.
“There’s definitely a high bar after this year,” Kaplan said.
Under a new law signed by Gov. DeSantis last week, Florida parents will now have to opt in to corporal punishment at the state’s public schools.
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