Rejections sent to Manatee, Sarasota Schools of Hope requesters

It’s a solid no, or an even-simpler rejection, from school administrators in Sarasota and Manatee counties regarding the first co-location requests by charter school operators for space in public schools.

But that might not be the end of the two school districts’ initial Schools of Hope requests.

Superintendent Terry Connor of Sarasota and Manatee attorney Kevin Pendley both sent rejection notices in November to Somerset Academy and Mater Academy, denying space sought by the two south Florida corporations at four public campuses under Florida’s Schools of Hope provisions.

In the case of Somerset, Connor’s rationale was that the system was not an approved Schools of Hope operator. Manatee simply did not respond to that company.

In the case of Mater, both counties called its requests unworkable for a variety of reasons, including future plans, age-inappropriate facilities or a pending redistricting process. "Because of this on-going redistricting effort,'' Pendley wrote, "the data on which Mater's notice is based is, or will become, obsolete or inaccurate upon adoption of the revised District zoning plan.''

Both operators have open to them an appeals process. Ultimately, the state’s education board would make the final call, based on a recommendation from the proceeding.

Mater and Somerset requested space in Manatee’s Lincoln Memorial Middle School and Sara Scott Harllee Center along with Sarasota’s Brookside Middle and Emma Booker Elementary. The two charter operators were seeking space under the Florida law, amended recently, that allows designated Schools of Hope to “co-locate” on public school campuses with excess capacity.

Beginning Nov. 11, the first day such official requests were permitted, 22 school districts around the state began receiving co-location requests. According to the Florida Policy Institute, “at least 690” individual campus requests were made. Some campuses attracted more than one.

Days earlier in November, Sarasota County’s school board unanimously approved a sweeping set of plans reimagining about a dozen county schools with excess capacity, not only for the purposes of heading off Schools of Hope requests, but also to lure students back from private schools and more traditional charter school operations.

For instance:

• Emma Booker Elementary would use excess space to build out a Junior Achievement financial and business education simulation center for the 2027-28 school year. The resulting space usage would bring the school from 44% occupancy to 82%.
• Brookside Middle would become a magnet school focused on AI, robotics, cybersecurity and information technology. Capacity usage would move from 45% to 73%.
• A series of schools now for kindergarten through fifth grade would be converted to K-8 campuses.
• A building at Fruitville Elementary school would be demolished.

In Somerset’s case, a statement in November from the company says it was casting a wide net with ambitions to later focus on a smaller number of campuses beyond next school year. The company refers to itself as a Schools of Hope operator, but it does not appear on the list of Schools of Hope-designated operators published by the state. The company did not immediately answer a question on how this is so.

“Our purpose is not to replace or displace existing schools, but to collaborate with districts to expand public access to underutilized facilities and provide families with more educational opportunities,’’ the statement said. “While we have sent notices regarding a number of potential locations, our intent is not to operate in all of them. In fact, we anticipate opening only a handful of schools for the 2027–28 school year. Once final locations are selected, we will rescind notices for all other sites.”