(e) The board of trustees is invested with full power and authority to:1. Appoint a president, faculty, teachers, and other employees and remove the same as in its judgment may be best and fix their compensation.
2. Procure professional services, such as medical, mental health, architectural, and engineering.
3. Procure legal services without the prior written approval of the Attorney General.
4. Determine eligibility of students and procedure for admission.
5. Provide for the students of the school necessary bedding, clothing, food, and medical attendance and such other things as may be proper for the health and comfort of the students without cost to their parents, except that the board of trustees may set tuition and other fees for nonresidents.
6. Provide for the proper keeping of accounts and records and for budgeting of funds.
7. Enter into contracts.
8. Sue and be sued.
9. Secure public liability insurance.
10. Do and perform every other matter or thing requisite to the proper management, maintenance, support, and control of the school at the highest efficiency economically possible, the board of trustees taking into consideration the purposes of the establishment.
11. Receive gifts, donations, and bequests of money or property, real or personal, tangible or intangible, from any person, firm, corporation, or other legal entity. However, the board of trustees may not obligate the state to any expenditure or policy that is not specifically authorized by law. If the bill of sale, will, trust indenture, deed, or other legal conveyance specifies terms and conditions concerning the use of such money or property, the board of trustees shall observe such terms and conditions.
12. Deposit outside the State Treasury such moneys as are received as gifts, donations, or bequests and may disburse and expend such moneys, upon its own warrant, for the use and benefit of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind and its students, as the board of trustees deems to be in the best interest of the school and its students. Such money or property does not constitute and may not be considered a part of any legislative appropriation.
13. Sell or convey by bill of sale, deed, or other legal instrument any property, real or personal, received as a gift, donation, or bequest, upon such terms and conditions as the board of trustees deems to be in the best interest of the school and its students.
14. Invest such moneys in securities enumerated under s. 215.47(1), (2)(c), (3), (4), and (10), and in The Common Fund, an Investment Management Fund exclusively for nonprofit educational institutions. 15. After receiving approval from the Administration Commission, exercise the power of eminent domain in the manner provided in chapter 73 or chapter 74.
(f) The board of trustees shall:1. Prepare and submit legislative budget requests for operations and fixed capital outlay, in accordance with chapter 216 and ss. 1011.56 and 1013.60, to the Department of Education for review and approval. The department must analyze the amount requested for fixed capital outlay to determine if the request is consistent with the school’s campus master plan, educational plant survey, and facilities master plan. Projections of facility space needs may exceed the norm space and occupant design criteria established in the State Requirements for Educational Facilities. 2. Approve and administer an annual operating budget in accordance with ss. 1011.56 and 1011.57. 3. Require all funds received other than gifts, donations, bequests, funds raised by or belonging to student clubs or student organizations, and funds held for specific students or in accounts for individual students to be deposited in the State Treasury and expended as authorized in the General Appropriations Act.
4. Require all purchases to be in accordance with the provisions of chapter 287 except for purchases made with funds received as gifts, donations, or bequests; funds raised by or belonging to student clubs or student organizations; or funds held for specific students or in accounts for individual students.
5. Administer and maintain personnel programs for all employees of the board of trustees and the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind who shall be state employees, including the personnel classification and pay plan established in accordance with ss. 110.205(2)(d) and 216.251(2)(a)2. for academic and academic administrative personnel, the provisions of chapter 110, and the provisions of law that grant authority to the Department of Management Services over such programs for state employees. 6. Give preference in appointment and retention in positions of employment as provided within s. 295.07(1). 7. Ensure that the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind complies with s. 1013.351 concerning the coordination of planning between the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind and local governing bodies. 8. Ensure that the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind complies with s. 112.061 concerning per diem and travel expenses of public officers, employees, and authorized persons with respect to all funds other than funds received as gifts, donations, or bequests; funds raised by or belonging to student clubs or student organizations; or funds held for specific students or in accounts for individual students. 9. Adopt a master plan which specifies the mission and objectives of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind. The plan shall include, but not be limited to, procedures for systematically measuring the school’s progress toward meeting its objectives, analyzing changes in the student population, and modifying school programs and services to respond to such changes. The plan shall be for a period of 5 years and shall be reviewed for needed modifications every 2 years. The board of trustees shall submit the initial plan and subsequent modifications to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate.
10. Designate a portion of the school as “The Verle Allyn Pope Complex for the Deaf,” in tribute to the late Senator Verle Allyn Pope.