Certification fees.

(1) The State Board of Education shall establish by rule separate fees for applications, examinations, certification, certification renewal, late renewal, recordmaking, and recordkeeping, and may establish procedures for scheduling and administering an examination upon an applicant’s request. Unless otherwise specified in this subsection, each fee shall be based on department estimates of the revenue required to implement the law with respect to certification of school personnel. The application fee is nonrefundable. The rule must specify an examination fee for the following:

(a) Initial registration for first-time test takers.

(b) Retake of the full battery of subtests of an examination, if applicable. The retake fee for the full battery of subtests may not exceed the fee for the initial registration.

(c) Retake for each subtest of an examination. The retake fee for each subtest must be prorated based on the number of subtests within the examination.

(2) The proceeds from the collection of certification fees, fines, penalties, and costs levied pursuant to this chapter shall be remitted by the Department of Education to the Chief Financial Officer for deposit into a separate fund to be known as the “Educational Certification and Service Trust Fund” and disbursed for the payment of expenses incurred by the Educational Practices Commission and in the printing of forms and bulletins and the issuing of certificates, upon vouchers approved by the department.

(3) The State Board of Education shall waive initial general knowledge, professional education, and subject area examination fees and certification fees for:

(a) A member of the United States Armed Forces or a reserve component thereof who is serving or has served on active duty or the spouse of such a member.

(b) The surviving spouse of a member of the United States Armed Forces or a reserve component thereof who was serving on active duty at the time of death.

(c) An honorably discharged veteran of the United States Armed Forces or a veteran of a reserve component thereof and the spouse or surviving spouse of such a veteran.

(d) A retired first responder, which includes a law enforcement officer as defined in s. 943.10(1), a firefighter as defined in s. 633.102(9), or an emergency medical technician or paramedic as defined in s. 401.23.

(4) The State Board of Education shall waive initial subject area examination fees and certification fees for a teacher who holds a temporary or professional certificate in:

(a) Exceptional Student Education K-12 and who applies to add a subject coverage in Elementary Education K-6.

(b) Elementary Education K-6 and who applies to add a subject coverage in Exceptional Student Education K-12.