Florida may pay for burials of students who died at school

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Florida may pay to rebury students whose remains were once interred on the grounds of a now shuttered reform school.

House and Senate committees on Tuesday voted unanimously for bills ordering state officials to preserve any records, artifacts or remains that were found on the site of a Panhandle school.

The Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna was shuttered in 2011. Some former students have accused authorities of physical and sexual abuse.

In an investigation, researchers exhumed dozens of bodies from the campus 60 miles west of Tallahassee.

Legislation sponsored by Sen. Arthenia Joyner and Rep. Ed Narain would provide up to $7,500 for funeral and burial expenses for each body exhumed from Dozier.

The measures also call on state officials to begin planning for a memorial.