New Schools of Hope requests double up in Sarasota, Manatee

A second charter school operator requesting to co-locate in unused space on Sarasota and Manatee county campuses says it has applied to “a number of locations’’ but does not intend to operate on all of them.

Miami-based Somerset Academy this week joined Mater Academy this week in transmitting notices under Florida’s Schools of Hope provisions to operate at Sarasota’s Brookside Middle and Emma Booker Elementary. Mater Academy had made a previous requests for space in Sarasota County — albeit before the permitted date of Nov. 11. In its request, Somerset referred to the north-county elementary school as Emma Booker Elementary.

Both Sarasota campuses mentioned in the filings are part of a sweeping district plan to revise educational programming and eliminate empty seats. The Florida Department of Education received the filings on Nov. 7 after unanimous approval by the Sarasota County School Board.

In Manatee County, space in Palmetto’s Lincoln Memorial Middle and Bradenton’s Sara Scott Harllee Center was similarly requested by both companies this week. Mater also made earlier requests for the same Manatee campuses.

"It is important to note that these letters are notifications of interest — not confirmation that a School of Hope will open at these sites,'' a statement from Manatee County Schools said. "The District has not met with representatives from the charter operators, nor are any meetings scheduled at this time.''

In Somerset’s case, a statement from the company says it is 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 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.

An item on the State Board of Education's Nov. 13 agenda entitled "Approval of Hope Operator Designation for Somerset Academy" was marked "withdrawn," though documentation accompanying the item indicates the company meets approval criteria.

“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.”

Both Manatee and Sarasota school districts say they intend to contest the applications. The school districts have 20 days from receipt of the request to do so.

Under the Sarasota school district’s reimagining plan, space at Emma Booker is slated to become a Junior Achievement center for business and financial simulation in the 2027-28 school year, similar to facilities now operating in Tampa. 

Brookside is to become a magnet school with a curriculum focused on technical and computer learning. 

Under the new visions, both campuses would shift from occupancy rates of 45% or less to around 75% or more. Ten other Sarasota schools would change in some form under the plan with the goal of reducing empty seats by elimination or by attracting students who might otherwise have left for charter, private or home school options.

Proponents say Schools of Hope-designated operations open options for parents by allowing the charter school to set up in established facilities of traditional schools without having to find and pay for facilities of their own. Opponents point to the predicament school districts find themselves in, potentially acting as an unpaid charter-school landlord.

Asked about potential ill effects of Schools of Hope on public school campuses, Gov. Ron DeSantis in September said he remained behind the measure.

“I don’t think that that’s true,” the governor said of unintended campus consequences, adding the law would “attract charter operators in areas that are very poor performing, and one of the aspects of that was there’s excess space in the school buildings that the charter operator could use that excess space and then do a program.”

Meanwhile, a state senator from Pinellas County filed a bill last week for the next legislative session to overturn Schools of Hope’s most controversial component.

“By eliminating language requiring co-location in public schools, we are ensuring schools do not face the unintentional consequence of an unfunded mandate, and that students can continue thriving in their schools without losing access to spaces they need for academic success,” Sen. Darryl Rouson, (D-St. Petersburg) said in a statement.