A proposed charter school that unwillingly found itself at the center of a "culture war" in Florida's capital city has formally appealed its rejected application to the state level.
The Leon County School Board rejected Tallahassee Classical School's application this spring, despite a review by the district's staff that supported its plan for a new school that would focus on teaching the great books of Western civilization.
Jana Sayler, a trained accountant who joined forces with a team of Leon County educators to start the school, said they were confident the state's Charter School Appeals Commission would find their plan meets the requirements in state law.
"We expect that the state will approve our opening for the 2019-20 school year," she said.
By that time, she says, she hopes the district will develop the strong working relationship with the district — which several school board members said they wanted.
By Jim Saunders
News Service of Florida
Pointing to similar cases in other parts of Florida, an appeals court Wednesday overturned a decision by the State Board of Education that would have cleared the way for two charter schools in Indian River County.
The ruling by a three-judge panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal was a victory for the Indian River County School Board, which in 2015 denied two charter-school applications filed by Somerset Academy, Inc. Backers of the charter schools took the issue to the State Board of Education, which rejected the decision of the Indian River board and said Somerset Academy should be allowed to move forward with the schools.
Wednesday's ruling by the appeals court said the Indian River board had “clear and convincing evidence” on a series of issues that supported the denial of the proposed charter schools. As an example, the appeals court said the Indian River board showed that the applications failed to meet financial requirements included in state law. (more…)
The Florida Supreme Court today declined to hear a local school board's attempt to overturn the state's charter school appeals system.
The move comes school districts across the state prepare to challenge a wide-ranging charter school law.
The case may bolster the idea that lawmakers and the state Board of Education can check local boards' authority to oversee public schools — including charters.
The wide-ranging legal battle surrounds the Florida Charter Education Foundation's attempt to open a school in Palm Beach County.
The high court's decision means the school will have to make its case anew to the state's Charter School Appeal Commission.
But it also staves off the local school board's attempt to have the high court declare Florida's charter school appeals system unconstitutional.
That constitutional dispute drew a host of statewide and national groups into the case.
In a statement, Rod Jurado, chair of the Florida Charter Educational Foundation, said the school board was stymied in yet another "attempt to limit parental choice in education." (more…)
The Florida Board of Education today declined a North Florida charter school's bid to remain open another school year.
Orange Park Performing Arts Academy earned two consecutive F's under Florida's school grading system.
As a result, it must lose its charter contract unless it can show the school board it outperformed nearby schools with comparable demographics.
Adam Miller, the state's school choice director, presented data showing the charter generally performed "significantly lower" than similar schools. Its lowest-performing students did especially poorly. (more…)
A charter school won another victory in a multifaceted legal battle with a South Florida school board.
But even if a ruling issued by the state's Division of Administrative Hearings stands, the fight isn't over.
The Palm Beach County School Board created a rule in 2014 that required charters, among other things, to prove they were "innovative" when they applied to open new schools.
Charter school backers argued the rule was intended to stifle competition. Renaissance Charter School Inc. filed a legal challenge, arguing the school board overstepped its legal authority.
An administrative law judge largely agreed in a ruling this week. June McKinney knocked down four specific parts of the school board's rule.
Those included:
However, McKinney dismissed some of the charter school's complaints. For example, the judge rejected arguments the board's rule, in its entirety, ran afoul of Florida law. (more…)
Six charter schools face automatic closure under Florida's "double F" law. But four of them may ask the state Board of Education for an extra year to raise their grades.
The board meets next week in Tallahassee. State law limits its authority to grant charter school appeals. Charters that earn consecutive F's have to show they outperformed nearby public schools. Otherwise, they automatically lose their right to operate.
Orange County's Oasis Preparatory Academy opted to shut down. The Orlando Sentinel reports administrators concluded their appeal would not succeed.
Meanwhile, the board of Learning Path Academy in Palm Beach met the day before the state released A-F grades to consider "voluntary termination." (more…)
Yesterday, a Florida appeals court handed a charter school group a partial victory.
Some legal complications remain for the Florida Charter Educational Foundation, but it prevailed on the key constitutional question — whether the state has the authority to overturn local school board decisions on charter school applications.
The 4th District Court of Appeal's decision upholding charter school appeals is a big deal. National business and education reform organizations had gotten involved in the case. A statement issued this morning by the National Alliance for Public Charter schools explains what was at stake.
There are many reasons a charter school can be denied their application at the local level – reasons ranging from legitimate concerns to political interests that benefit adults, not students. We are pleased that Florida has upheld the constitutionality of the pathway which allows charter schools that have been denied their application to appeal to the State Board of Education. It is imperative that Florida’s students, and all students, have access to high-quality public school options – and that political interests don’t prevent these options. The State Board of Education will provide an expert and supervisory eye to such appeals processes, and ensure decisions are truly being made with the best interests of students in mind.
A Florida school district today lost one round in a multi-faceted legal showdown with a major charter school operator, but it's safe to say the fight is just beginning.
The Florida Board of Education ruled the Polk Charter Academy should be allowed to open a new school.
The Polk County School Board had rejected the charter application last fall, arguing, among other things, that it would not "substantially replicate" Winthrop Charter Academy, a high-performing charter school in neighboring Hillsborough County.
A 2011 law allows charter schools to gain "high-performing" status if they maintain clean financial records and earn top marks in the state's A-F grading system. A 2013 law makes it easier for those schools to expand. If a school board rejects one of their applications to "replicate" in a new location, they can bypass the state charter school appeals commission and take their case directly to the state board. That's what happened with Polk Charter Academy.
The Polk school district contends the Florida Charter Educational Foundation, the nonprofit governing board that applied to open Polk Charter Academy, could not possibly replicate Winthrop Charter Academy because that school is overseen by a separate entity known as the Bay Area Charter Foundation.
If the Polk charter does not replicate a high-performing charter, it would have to go before the state appeals commission, and would face a longer legal slog to overturn the school board's rejection.
When the state board heard the appeal today, Wes Bridges, an attorney for the Polk school district, said "we wouldn't be here" if the Bay Area charter group had been the one to submit the charter application. (more…)
If a charter school is doing well, its operator should be encouraged to open more schools.
That's the idea behind charter school replication. It might seem simple, but defining "replication" is sometimes less simple than meets the eye. It's triggered several under-the-radar legal battles between Florida school boards and charter operators.
A new one might be brewing in Polk County, where the school board this week rejected a charter school application after district officials questioned whether a proposed school would truly replicate a high-rated charter school in neighboring Hillsborough County.
Florida law makes it easier for charters labeled academically "high-performing" to replicate their model in a new location. School boards can only reject these schools if they find "clear and convincing evidence" that they don't meet standards in state law. If a school board rejects a high-performing charter replication, the school can appeal directly to the state Board of Education.
In Polk, the school board decided the proposed charter school, governed by the Florida Charter Educational Foundation, didn't replicate Hillsborough County's Winthrop Charter School, which is governed by the Bay Area Charter Foundation. (more…)
Last week, the Florida Board of Education decided two charter school appeal cases from Palm Beach County.
The two sides' arguments in one of the cases highlight the tensions between charter school networks that say they cater to parent demand, districts that operate most of Florida's public schools, and competing claims about which providers best meet the needs of a community. Palm Beach County is currently taking the state to court, arguing it has the right to deny charter applications for schools it feels won't be sufficiently "innovative."
First, attorney Stephanie Alexander spoke for the proposed Renaissance Charter High School of Palm Beach, a non-profit responsible for schools run by Charter Schools USA. She noted the same group had successfully applied to open seven charter schools in the district, six of which are now operating, but none of which is a high school. (more…)
