Central Florida’s school districts continue to struggle with a growing student population.
Officials in those districts say charter schools might help absorb new students. But they’re also not happy with a new state law that requires them to share local facilities funding with charters they authorize.
In Lake County, nearly half the schools are at capacity. Officials expect 17 out of 42 schools will be over capacity by 2022. By then, they estimate the district will grow by 1,400 students. The district lacks an ample funding source to build new schools.
In Osceola, the student population grew by 1,130 during the 2016-17 school year, according to data from the Florida Department of Education.
Charter schools have provided a relief valve in both districts, helping absorb students and reduce crowding. The same is true in other places, like southern Hillsborough County.
But a new law signed this year may change the calculus for some districts. Lake County officials, for example, say the new requirement that districts share local capital funding with charter schools may make it harder for them to save up for future building projects.
Growth in Osceola charter schools In the last two years Osceola County added five charter schools. Last school year, there were 11,510 students enrolled in 18 schools, state data show.
Osceola school board member Tim Weisheyer told WFTV Channel 9 in a 2016 interview that without charters, the district would have to build more schools, which it would struggle to afford.
In an interview, Jay Wheeler, the longest-serving member of the Osceola board, said that still holds true. He said he believes charter schools serve a need in the community.
At the same time, he criticized HB 7069, which he said would push the privatization of public schools.“It is going to have a negative effect in every county in Florida,” he said.
Wheeler said the district has seen charters close due to poor performance. That forces other public schools to absorb their students, sometimes in the middle of a school year.
Lake County not happy with HB 7069
The new law’s revenue-sharing provisions won’t have an immediate effect in Lake County.
The district has $268 million in debt. Payments on that debt consume most of the local tax revenue earmarked for school facilities. As a result, it won’t have to share a proportionate amount of funding with its charter schools this year.
But in 2018, officials project they’ll have to share $1.1 million. As the years go by and debt gets retired, those numbers will likely climb, according to an analysis from Lake County’s growth management department.
Right now, a top school board priority is to build a K-8 school in the southern part of the county to relieve two overflowing elementary schools. But the district won’t have money to build that school before 2021.
School board officials are weighing another charter school application. That may give the district another opportunity to evaluate the need for new construction.
In the meantime, district officials have said partnerships they formed with several charter schools have created a safety valve.
Right now, there are four conversion charters and three upstart charter schools in Lake County. Pinecrest Academy also recently opened. Last school year, there were 5,290 students in Lake County charter schools, an increase of 404 from 2015-16, state data show.
School Board Chairman Marc Dodd said charters serve a vital purpose in Lake County. But with the new law, he has more reservations. He also echoed the sentiments of some lawmakers, especially in the state Senate, who said the state needs to find a way to address a funding “crisis” for public school facilities.
“They are coming and relieving us with overcrowding and growth,” he said of charter schools. “We wouldn’t need to solve the problem if we had the funding to build those schools. They are coming to solve a problem the state created.”
The school board in Lake rejected the idea of taking on more debt. Instead, officials support a “pay-as-you-go” policy of building new schools as the district can afford them.
That means the district needs to hold money in reserve each year, and gradually save enough to build new schools. Dodd said he worries that if the district has to share some revenue there won’t be enough funding for new construction.
“We will have to start delaying projects,” he said.
School board member Bill Mathias said he still believed a partnership with charter schools is beneficial to students.
“I am an advocate of school choice,” he said. “We see some very good things. Our superintendent’s vision that we will be competitive with charters is inspiring to me. In the marketplace, parents will make choices about what is right for their child.”
Even so, Mathias said using district revenue to pay for charter school facilities that may be privately owned “is just fundamentally wrong.”
In recent years, flatlining revenue and maxed-out debt limits have limited state funding for district and charter school facilities alike. Superintendent Diane Kornegay said in an email that while charters help the district absorb growth, sharing local revenue with them could present a challenge.
“The decrease in state funding over the years has put constraints on our efforts to maintain and modernize our facilities,” she said. “This additional loss of funding will further impact those efforts.”
