JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — For the first time, the Duval County school board has made a public, unified stance against the Florida Department of Education’s (FLDOE) recent ‘Schools of Hope’ expansion.
The FLDOE said that the ‘Schools of Hope’ program started as a way of providing students with access to charter schools in areas with low-performing public schools. Last year, we reported when state lawmakers expanded the program to allow charter schools to move into, or “co-locate” in, public schools for free, if there is enough physical space to do so.
Back in October, we reported when the Miami-based “Mater Academy” charter school operator applied to move into 25 public schools in Duval County. This week, school board members shared that 23 of those applications have since been withdrawn, meaning that only Merrill Road Elementary and Fort Caroline School of the Arts are being considered as locations for ‘Schools of Hope.’
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With state lawmakers set to meet again in Tallahassee this month for the next legislative session, the Duval County school board approved the following list of requested reforms to the ‘Schools of Hope’ program:
- Refine eligibility criteria so they accurately identify underperforming schools
- Update facility utilization metrics to reflect current classroom and building use,
instructional models, and student enrollment patterns
- Preserve the authority of locally elected school boards to manage district property and
- resources in fulfilling their constitutional responsibilities
- Clarify statutory definitions to provide consistent guidance for both districts and charter operators
Before the approval, close to two dozen parents and public school advocates shared their public comments with school board members, during which almost all of them spoke against Schools of Hope.
But the board approved its list of reforms with a 4-3 vote. No school board members advocated against reforms to the ‘Schools of Hope’ expansion, but some didn’t see a need to put it on their platform for state lawmakers.
School board chair Charlotte Joyce shared a firm belief that Duval County would not end up seeing any ‘Schools of Hope’ after the next legislative session, and expressed confidence that the expansion to the statewide program would see major reforms. She argued that adding a call for reform from Duval County Public Schools could overlook the other local needs that will be advocated for.
“You’re wasting your time when you could be advocating for other things,” Joyce said, “this is going to be fixed.
Other board members, like Darryl Willie, argued that adding ‘Schools of Hope’ reforms to the district’s legislative platform was too important an opportunity to pass up.
“I think we should all be in favor of [these reforms], because this is detrimental,” Willie said.
School board members said they planned to talk about their proposed ‘Schools of Hope’ reforms more in-depth during their workshop planned for January 20th.
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