TAMPA, Fla. — Changes are coming to Florida’s Schools of Hope program after a vote by the State Board of Education on Friday. Schools of Hope allows certain charter schools to co-locate in schools deemed under capacity.
What You Need To Know
Once nicknamed “Schools of Nope” by critics, the state’s Board of Education is making some changes to the controversial Schools of Hope program
Some changes include defining what counts as vacant space, saying a school would have to be under 75% capacity, and that schools less than four years old can’t be targets
There are differences of opinion on whether the changes are enough
The board voted unanimously on the changes, saying it made them in response to concerns brought up by school board members across the state, but some education advocates say the fixes don’t go far enough.
Once nicknamed “Schools of Nope” by critics, the state’s Board of Education is making some changes to the controversial Schools of Hope program.
“It’s missing the component that allows parents, community members, (and) teachers to come together, create a plan, to control what we can,” said Damaris Allen.
Allen is the executive director of Families for Strong Public Schools. She spoke at Friday’s State Board of Education meeting in Key West ahead of the vote and says the changes they made aren’t enough.
“We shouldn’t settle for what small incremental changes we’ve been given. We should absolutely demand that our students have every opportunity to succeed, and this pulls away their opportunities,” said Allen.
Some changes include defining what counts as vacant space, saying a school would have to be under 75% capacity, and that schools less than four years old can’t be targets. There is also a restriction now on how many notices of intent to co-locate a charter can send, and one of the bigger changes is allowing districts to charge school operators for some of the added costs of co-location.
“This doesn’t even take effect until the ’27 – ’28 school year, and so the hysteria was overly dramatized,” said Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas. “But the adults again, in the room, the school board members who demonstrate true leadership skills and work with us behind the scenes to make sure we get this to a place, that not just helps out the districts, but makes sure students’ opportunities are not limited. I think this landed in a great spot, and that is what we appreciate at the department.”
Allen disagrees. She says that even with the changes, school districts will incur costs with co-location and the system is still first-come, first-serve, meaning fewer choices for public school families.
“It was a step in the right direction, but it isn’t where we need to be, it isn’t where parents want us to be, and so that is still a huge concern,” said Allen.
Schools of Hope co-location is set to take effect in the 2027-28 school year.