Duval county school board member Lori Hershey gives an excellent explanation and I encourage you to listen. She explains that the school board has no control over charter schools. Charter schools have their own board which the taxpayers do not elect. Link to the board meeting and Lori Hershey's comments which start towards the end at the 4 hour and ten minute mark:
I pulled the 3 minute clip from the school board meeting and put it on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/FrIGfRnPT04 In the clip, Dr. Greene and School Board member Hershey discuss the fact that charter schools MIGHT be shut down if they receive an F two years in a row. BUT the state Board of Education can over rule that. Excerpt from f.s. 1002.33(9)(n)
3. A charter school’s charter contract is automatically terminated if the school earns two consecutive grades of “F” after all school grade appeals are final unless:
a. The charter school is established to turn around the performance of a district public school pursuant to s. 1008.33(4)(b)2. Such charter schools shall be governed by s. 1008.33;
b. The charter school serves a student population the majority of which resides in a school zone served by a district public school subject to s. 1008.33(4) and the charter school earns at least a grade of “D” in its third year of operation. The exception provided under this sub-subparagraph does not apply to a charter school in its fourth year of operation and thereafter; or
c. The state board grants the charter school a waiver of termination.
With a statewide charter school authorizer created by SB 758 in 2022, it will be easier for charter schools to open in Florida without the consent of the local community or the elected school board. We need to be concerned about this. Currently there are inadequate regulations in Florida concerning charter schools. And SB 758 made it worse. SB 758 requires that charter schools that have been receiving D grades still must be renewed for 5 years. Excerpt from SB 758:
376 The charter of a charter school that meets
377 these requirements and has received a school grade lower than a
378 “B” pursuant to s. 1008.34 in the most recently graded school
379 year must be renewed for no less than a 5-year term except as
380 provided in paragraph (9)(n)
I hope you'll listen to Susan's YouTube video that she made about this: https://youtu.be/RVBiNrnMduU Let Susan know if you're interested in her giving this presentation to your group. She can be reached at susaninflorida@gmail.com
Over 90% of Duval district-run schools received a C or better grade whereas less than 70% of the charter schools did. List of the grades for Duval county district-run and charter-run for 2022: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aiuNUkdvzPULmU7dMXW6CMFUsi8SOHWu/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=117272387615776474691&rtpof=true&sd=true
HB 7069, passed in 2017, requires that charter schools’ receive capital outlay funds on a per student basis if the local voters want to raise funds for the district-owned school buildings via property taxes.
HB 7123, passed in the 2019 legislative session, forces the school districts to give charter schools money if they want to raise money for the neighborhood and magnet schools with a voter approved property tax increase.
The state legislature in 2020 forced voters—with HB 7097—to share with charter schools on a per student basis if they wanted to raise funds to renovate the district-owned school buildings that double as hurricane shelters via a local sales surtax increase.
