Opinion ID: 77050
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Where a Community College Derives Its Funding

Text: 20 The source of funds for community colleges in Florida also weighs in favor of concluding that a community college is an arm of the state. Although Edison is not exclusively funded by the state, state approval of institutional budgets evidences state control. Harden, 760 F.2d at 1163-64. There is state approval for the budgets of community colleges in Florida. The board of trustees must submit a budget request for the college to the State Board of Education. Fla. Stat. § 1001.64(11). The board of trustees must also account for expenditures of all state, local, federal, and other funds as required by the Department of Education, an agency governed by the State Board of Education. Id. §§ 1001.20, 1001.64(12). Another source of funding is the Community College Program Fund. This fund is comprised of all appropriations made by the Legislature for the support of current operating programs and shall be apportioned and distributed to the community college districts of the state on the basis of procedures established by law and rules of the State Board of Education. Id. § 1011.81.