TALLAHASSEE, Fla. 鈥� Florida鈥檚 board of education signed off Wednedsay on a in the state, clearing the way for the to 鈥渃o-locate鈥� inside traditional public schools.
It鈥檚 the latest push by Florida officials to expand school choice in a state that has long been a national model for . The move comes as some public schools are as they grapple with , aging facilities and post-pandemic .
The new regulations approved by the state board build on a bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis this year to allow operators to open more 鈥渟chools of hope,鈥� charter schools that are meant to serve students from persistently low-performing schools.
鈥淲e have operators that want to come in and give the best education to those who are in schools that haven鈥檛 been getting the greatest education,鈥� Republican state Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka said while defending her bill on the House floor earlier this year.
鈥淟et鈥檚 give them the opportunity,鈥� she added.
Lawmakers created in 2017 to encourage more publicly funded, privately run schools to open in areas where traditional public schools had been failing for years, giving students and families in those neighborhoods a way to bail out of a struggling school.
This year's law loosens restrictions on where schools of hope can operate, allowing them to set up operations within the walls of a public school 鈥� even a high-performing one 鈥� if the campus has underused or vacant facilities.
The board's new regulations require public school districts to provide the same facilities-related services to the charter schools as they do their own campuses, including custodial work, maintenance, school safety, food service, nursing and student transportation 鈥� 鈥渨ithout limitation.鈥�
School districts must allow schools of hope to use 鈥渁ll or part of an educational facility at no cost鈥�, including classrooms and administrative offices, the rules read.
鈥淎ll common indoor and outdoor space at a facility such as cafeterias, gymnasiums, recreation areas, parking lots, storage spaces and auditoriums, without limitation, must be shared proportionately based on total full-time equivalent student enrollment,鈥� the rules continue.
Public school advocates urged the board to vote down the proposal at Wednesday's meeting. One such advocate, India Miller, argued that schools of hope are designed to be 鈥減arasitic鈥� to public schools.
鈥淭o me, it would be like asking Home Depot to give Lowe鈥檚 space in their store and pay all of their infrastructure costs. It just does not make sense to me,鈥� Miller said.
Board members, who are appointed by DeSantis, defended the new rules and dismissed concerns that the charter expansion could pull critical funding away from traditional public schools.
鈥淪chools of hope wouldn鈥檛 be necessary if our public school system had done its job along the way,鈥� said board Vice Chair Esther Byrd.
Associated Press writer Kimberlee Kruesi contributed reporting from Providence, Rhode Island. Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
