School Board discusses suing the State to stop Newberry Charter School

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At a workshop on September 16, the School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) discussed suing the State in an attempt to reverse the Charter School Review Commission’s approval of the conversion of Newberry Elementary School to a charter school.

Vice Chair Tina Certain, who was chairing the meeting while Chair Sarah Rockwell attended virtually, said she had requested that the discussion be added to the workshop agenda so the board could discuss it as a group. 

History of SBAC’s appeal

After a controversial vote in which parents approved the charter conversion by a vote of 149-125 and the teacher vote was 22-21 out of 44 teachers (one ballot was deemed ineligible), the Newberry Charter School board submitted their application to the State’s Charter School Review Commission (CSRC) instead of submitting it to the district; the district argued at the CSRC meeting that the original vote did not pass because the administrative rule at the time held that “a majority” of the teachers employed at the schools had to vote for the charter. However, the Florida Department of Education later stated in a letter that state statutes only required a threshold of 50%, not 50% plus one.

The decision was appealed before the Charter School Appeal Commission (CSAC) in Tallahassee on August 25, and although that board was split on the validity of the charter vote, 3-2, the appeal failed (SBAC’s other objections were also denied by the board).

On the issue of whether the vote met the threshold, this is the analysis from the CSAC:

“Where there is a conflict between statute and an administrative rule, the statute must control. See Canal Ins. Co. v. Continental Cas. Co., 489 So. 2d 136, 138 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986) (“When any conflict exists between the statute and the regulation, the statute, of course, controls.”); Fla. Dep’t of Revenue v. A. Duda & Sons. Inc., 608 So. 2d 881, 884 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992) (“In the event of a conflict between a statute and an administrative regulation on the same subject, the statute governs.”); Phillips v. Leon Cty. Public Works, 277 So. 3d 1076, 1080 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019) (“When an administrative rule conflicts with the enabling statute, the statute will control.”).”

The appeal is on the agenda of the September 24 meeting of the State Board of Education.

Certain: “I have really strong feelings about that school staying under district control.”

Certain said, “I’m the fighter. You know, as a public asset, it was an asset that was purchased with taxpayer dollars from the community,… and it provides schooling in a rural area… I have really strong feelings about that school staying under district control. Because what I see happening — it was a fear earlier, but what I see happening is, the citizens that live in the incorporated area of Newberry are going to be paying twice for school taxes, because their City government has pledged to be the financial backstop… They pledged a $2 million loan.” 

She continued, “The reason I say that they’ll pay twice… is because they’re now going to have to cover any finances and in-kind services to the school via taxes and fees that are only paid by citizens that live in an incorporated area. They also will have to pay the Required Local Effort (property taxes) and the school taxes, because that’s how we get funded.”

The CSAC found “competent, substantial evidence” that Newberry Charter School’s budget “meets the required standards”

From the CSAC’s report to the State Board of Education:

“[The Florida Institute for Charter Innovation’s] (FCI) evaluation of [the budget] found that it met the standard, noting that the Applicant had realistic revenue projections,… demonstrating that the Applicant can operate a school in a fiscally sound manner. FCI also noted that the Applicant had an experienced team to guide the school in making budgetary decisions… The Applicant explained the financial commitment from the City of Newberry and loan, which will primarily be used for startup costs during the planning year, and answered other budgetary questions posed by the members. Based on the foregoing, the Appeal Commission found that there is competent, substantial evidence to support the finding that the Budget section meets the required standards”

Certain: “I’m not one to just roll over, but I’m just one vote,… so I wanted to know what our path forward is.”

Certain said she believed the school would only accept children from Newberry, “and that is not how public schools are organized in Florida… I’m not one to just roll over, but I’m just one vote,… so I wanted to know what our path forward is.” She asked Board Attorney David Delaney for his thoughts.

Board Attorney Delaney: “There are not any more administrative appeals after the State Board of Education, and instead, the only possible legal avenue at that point would involve litigation.”

Delaney said, “It would be premature for the board to map out exactly what path forward it wants to take until the State Board of Education has ruled or made its final decision. But just talking broadly, there are not any more administrative appeals after the State Board of Education, and instead, the only possible legal avenue at that point would involve litigation.”

Superintendent Kamela Patton said, “What I think I’m hearing you say is that there’s no regular appeal, so the only other thing they could do is literally sue the State.” Delaney responded, “Yes, ma’am.”

Rockwell asked Delaney what the lawsuit would be like: “What would we be asserting in a lawsuit? Or are there multiple options for what that lawsuit could look like?”

Delaney said there are multiple options, but he didn’t want to “dig too deep into legal strategy in a public meeting, and also before the Board of Education has made its final decision. So I would recommend some caution there.”

Rockwell said, “I guess just knowing that there’s more than one avenue is sufficient for now.”

Member Thomas Vu, who also attended the meeting virtually, said he felt “very similar to Certain, you know, about being a fighter, especially about public assets that [have] been taken away from the community, in a way, and that is now not going to serve students, as was promised to the community when this vote happened.”

Certain concluded, “So yeah, well, we’ve had our conversation… We’re just kind of like spinning our wheels.” She adjourned the meeting.