The Okaloosa County School Board reviewed its 2025 legislative priorities Monday, with Superintendent Marcus Chambers presenting four key areas: student behavioral reforms, education funding, reduced regulations in public schools, and risk management strategies.

The behavioral reform priorities include granting districts authority to extend alternative placement or expulsion in cases involving weapons charges, credible threats, or unresolved safety concerns. The district also seeks to strengthen protections for educators addressing behavioral issues and establish clearer guidelines for parent-school collaboration in addressing student misconduct.

• “Student behaviors are different today,” Superintendent Marcus Chambers told the board during a morning workshop. “We want to make sure that we have the resources to be able to support all students.”

On education funding, Chambers emphasized the need to address salary compression affecting experienced teachers, noting that while “this board has done a great job with the funds that we have allocated,” additional state support is needed. The priorities call for increasing the Base Student Allocation to help districts address rising costs in transportation, teacher recruitment, textbooks, cybersecurity, and inflation.

The superintendent also indicated that state-mandated school start times could be reexamined. Current law requires high schools to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. and middle schools no earlier than 8 a.m. beginning in 2026. 

School Board Member Tim Bryant, who serves as the board’s advocacy designee, suggested the start time decision may return to district control. “What looks good on paper doesn’t always pan out in real life,” Bryant said.

• The district previously expressed concerns about the start time mandate’s impact on elementary students and transportation logistics, given existing bus driver shortages.

In the area of reduced regulations, the district is seeking to reinstate an Integrated Curriculum certification for middle school Exceptional Student Education teachers and expand it to high school ESE teachers. This would reduce the requirement for self-contained ESE teachers to earn up to five certifications to be considered “in field.”

The district’s risk management priorities include seeking legislation to fund the first $25 million of losses due to named extreme weather events for each Florida school district. This coverage would allow districts to obtain additional insurance layers at reduced costs, potentially resulting in tax savings. The proposal also calls for funding to support disaster preparedness and emergency shelter operations.

The board unanimously approved the 2025 Okaloosa County School District Legislative Priorities Monday night at their regular meeting.