{"id":132672,"date":"2026-01-26T21:45:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T21:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/132672\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T21:45:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T21:45:07","slug":"state-to-consider-limiting-recently-expanded-school-of-hope-program-tallahassee-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/132672\/","title":{"rendered":"State to consider limiting recently expanded School of Hope program \u2013 Tallahassee Reports"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Jay Waagmeester, The Florida Phoenix <\/p>\n

The state\u2019s newly expanded charter school co-location program could be limited after the Florida Department of Education received \u201ca lot of feedback,\u201d an administrator said.<\/p>\n

The department hosted a rule development meeting Monday, soliciting feedback for Schools of Hope rules, the program that lawmakers vastly expanded in the waning hours of the 2025 legislative session.<\/p>\n

Since the last-minute change approved by lawmakers, traditional public schools have been overwhelmed by newly-enabled charter school operators applying to open inside unused portions of public schools.<\/p>\n

The department had not finalized rule language as of Monday. The state said it anticipates the language will be posted this week to the state\u2019s\u00a0website\u00a0and that the state Board of Education will review language during its Feb. 20 meeting in Key West. The state website provides room for members of the public to submit feedback.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Adam Emerson, director of the Office of School Choice at the department, was the only speaker during a teleconference Monday. He said since the state implemented the expansions in the fall, there has been \u201ca lot of feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Emerson, some \u201chigh-level components that we will consider\u201d in further Schools of Hope administrative rules include:<\/p>\n

Limits around the number of building notices submitted by a single Hope operator. \u201cWe are limiting the number of building notices in this particular rule development.\u201d\u201cWe are looking at greater assurances around a Hope operator\u2019s proposed co-location with a district school.\u201dMore provisions with mutual management plans \u201cwith a goal of offsetting some of the costs that are associated with that co-location.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be looking at tweaking the criteria to approve the Hope operator\u201d and setting timelines for operators to submit notices of intent to co-locate, Emerson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Schools of Hope program was created under former House Speaker Richard Corcoran to allow charter schools to open near \u201cpersistently low performing\u201d schools, but the 2025 Legislature expanded the area and scope that these publicly funded and privately operated charter schools that may open in areas adjacent to \u201cpersistently low performing\u201d traditional public schools may serve.<\/p>\n

It allows these schools to open in\u00a0low-income zones\u00a0or even outside such zones if there is a suitable underused, vacant, or surplus facility, and in the attendance zone of a \u201cpersistently low performing school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the new law, \u201chope operators\u201d are allowed to open in vacant spaces inside public schools at no cost. School districts must provide custodial, maintenance, safety, food, nursing, and transportation services if the school of hope requests it.<\/p>\n

In September, the day after the Board of Education implemented the law, Gov. Ron DeSantis and billionaire Ken Griffin\u00a0announced\u00a0that a New York-based charter operator would open in Miami.<\/p>\n

Less than a week after the rule went into effect last fall, the Florida Policy Institute, a non-partisan policy research organization,\u00a0reported\u00a0that charter operators had sent 690 \u201cletters of intent\u201d to co-locate inside of public schools in 22 counties.<\/p>\n

Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas\u00a0defends\u00a0the program, and the GOP-led Legislature has not indicated a move toward addressing school concerns in this legislative session, although Democratic legislators have proposed changes to the laws passed less than a year ago.<\/p>\n

These proposed administrative rules could be the first try at addressing concerns.<\/p>\n

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