Florida legislation · 2026 Regular Session
Florida H423: Student Elopement
Status: Failed, March 13, 2026
Requires public schools to create School Staff Assistance for Emergencies (SAFE) Team & school elopement plan; provides requirements for SAFE Teams, elopement plans, & schools.
What the bill says
An act relating to student elopement; creating s. 1003.211, F.S.; providing definitions; requiring public schools to create a School Staff Assistance for Emergencies (SAFE) Team and a school elopement plan; providing requirements for the plan; providing for membership and responsibilities of the SAFE team; requiring the SAFE team to create student-specific elopement quick reference guides for certain students; providing requirements for such guides; requiring public schools to annually submit their plans to the district school board; authorizing the State Board of Education to adopt rules…
From the introduced text, November 13, 2025:
An act relating to student elopement; creating s. 1003.211, F.S.; providing definitions; requiring public schools to create a School Staff Assistance for Emergencies (SAFE) Team and a school elopement plan; providing requirements for the plan; providing for membership and responsibilities of the SAFE team; requiring the SAFE team to create student-specific elopement quick reference guides for certain students; providing requirements for such guides; requiring public schools to annually submit their plans to the district school board; authorizing the State Board of Education to adopt rules; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Section 1003.211, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 1003.211 School elopement plans.— (1) For purposes of this section, the term: (a) "Disability" means, for a student in kindergarten through grade 12, an autism spectrum disorder, as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, published by the American Psychiatric Association, or an intellectual disability, as defined in s. 393.063. HB 423 2026 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb423-00 Page 2 of FLORIDAHOUSEOFREPRESENTATIVES (b) "Elopement" means when a student with autism or another disability, who has a documented history of elopement or an identified safety risk related to elopement, leaves a safe or designated area, the supervision of school staff, or …