School Choice

Most at the meeting praised the superintendent for acting quickly to prevent Schools of Hope from moving into public schools with empty space.

Sarasota is one of several districts in the Tampa Bay region with low enrollment, and has public schools in danger of being taken over by charters.

A Suncoast Searchlight analysis finds Sarasota County’s public and charter schools are nearly equally under capacity — operating at 82% and 84% utilization, respectively — challenging the premise of Florida’s new “Schools of Hope” law.

For the past six weeks, parents have pressured lawmakers and district leaders to leave their neighborhood school alone, despite its low enrollment.

As Mater Academy seeks to co-locate inside Oak Park School — Sarasota County’s only K-12 school for students with special needs — the move raises critical questions about how charter schools serve (or fail to serve) children with disabilities.

In a letter to families, the district announced it was withdrawing the proposal following backlash from parents.

Booker Elementary and Booker Middle were included in the superintendent's plan to prevent a charter school from moving in because both are operating at less than half capacity.

Mater Academy has a Schools of Hope designation from the state, meaning it can apply to share space in public schools with low enrollment.

The idea is to protect Brookside Middle from a charter takeover by moving Suncoast Polytechnical High there and creating a new school for grades 6 to 12.

The district lost 7,000 students this year alone in part due to the state's school voucher program.

Tom Hudson of "The Florida Roundup" joined Houston Public Radio to discuss how Florida is serving as a model for school voucher programs.

All parents are eligible for public funds to help pay for nonpublic education since state lawmakers have dramatically expanded access to the scholarships in recent years.