Charter schools run by the for-profit company Academica want to set up inside dozens of Tampa Bay area public schools, and hundreds statewide, according to a slew of notices sent out the week of Nov. 10.
The notices come under a new Florida statute expanded the scope of a program called “Schools of Hope.” Once meant for areas with poor performing schools, it now allows charter companies to request space inside any underenrolled public school.
Some districts see the bids as a way to operate for free in taxpayer-funded school buildings, with most of the charters’ expenses paid for by public schools. Two Sarasota County School Board members have described requests as a “hostile takeover” and “grift.”…