The Palm Beach County School District has rejected requests from a trio of charter school operators who want to establish charter schools on the campuses of district-operated schools deemed underused because of declining enrollment.
Mater Academy, BridgePrep Academy and Somerset Academy all sent the district a letter requesting to “co-locate” at more than 40 district-operated schools under the state’s Schools of Hope program, which was established to allow high-performing charter school operators to set up charter schools in the zones of underperforming traditional public schools.
This year, state lawmakers expanded the program to allow charter school operators to establish charter schools in any underused traditional school building, regardless of that school’s academic performance…