New Charter School Expansion Bill Filed in Florida

justiceNew legislation regarding charter schools is beginning to appear in the Florida Legislature.  This one makes it easier for charters designated as ‘high performing’ to expand.  The bill does give districts some ability to designate needed charters.

This is a bill to watch. A summary and link to the bill follows.

Senator Brandes has filed SB692 to make it easier to expand high performing charter schools in the state.  Currently, 1002.331 F.S. limits expansion to one charter school; this bill would exempt high performing charters from the limit.  Out-of-state charter schools could apply for high performing status by amending 1002.332.  Charters authorized under this law would have reduced administrative fees paid to school districts for three years.

The amendment out-of-state exemption to current law would apply only to high performing charters which would locate in the zone of a public school designated as in need of intervention, meet capacity needs, or to meet innovative choice options identified by the district and school board.

The State will design a rubric to qualify as high performing charters that aligns with the Federal Replication and Expansion of High-Quality Charter Schools in the Federal Register, V 76, No. 133.

Posted in Authorization, Charter Schools, Florida, Legislation.

One Comment

  1. It is important to understand how the State of Florida measures capacity, over capacity and the implications for expenditure and authorizations to spend capital funds by local school districts. There is soooo much more here than meets the eye. Would urge everyone to beware the easy measure of “over capacity.”

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