As parents of students at Wilkinson Elementary, Brookside Middle, and other Sarasota County schools, we are speaking out against the so-called “Schools of Hope” expansion and the chaos it has unleashed in our community. The idea that a Miami-based charter chain could claim space inside our high-performing public schools — schools that have helped Sarasota earn an A rating for more than two decades — is preposterous. It tramples on parents’ rights, undermines local control, and is already causing real harm to students, parents, and communities.
The problem began with language quietly added to this year’s state budget. The new provision allows charter “Hope operators” to co-locate in any district that contains a state-designated “opportunity zone” — which is every district in Florida — and to occupy any public school they deem “underutilized” or “suitable.” That means any school with open student “stations,” no matter how successful, is now vulnerable to a partial takeover. That’s thousands of schools across the state. It’s an open invitation for politically connected charter chains to move into functioning neighborhood schools and carve out taxpayer-funded space for themselves, without local approval.
That’s exactly what’s now happening in Sarasota County, and several districts across the state. Mater Academy, a large charter network based in Miami, recently filed letters of intent to occupy portions of Brookside Middle, Emma E. Booker Elementary, and Oak Park School — to the complete shock of our entire community…