Schools

District to buck charter change

The School Board will fight state oversight of charter schools in the county.

By PAULETTE LASH RITCHIE, Times Correspondent
Published November 22, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - The Hernando County School Board selected a new chairwoman and vice chairman Tuesday night and decided to fight on its own for control of local charter schools.

Sandra Nicholson was chosen unanimously as the chairwoman for the coming year; Jim Malcolm will serve as vice chairman.

As for the charter school issue, a new state body, the Florida Schools of Excellence Commission, wants to have its hand in the selection and supervision of charter schools, overriding the authority of school boards.

Three counties - Orange, Polk and Sarasota - have retained control over their charter schools after achieving perfect scores on the criteria put forth by the commission.

Hernando County scored 78 percent - a passing score, though not a perfect one.

"The issue is a change in the way business is done," Malcolm said. "The state decided to move this responsibility to a body in Tallahassee to make the decision for us. We have no say-so in what they approve, but if they err, we pick up the pieces."

The Hernando School Board last year joined a lawsuit filed by the Florida School Boards Association challenging the commission, but later withdrew.

Hernando County could join other counties in renewing the lawsuit, challenging the constitutionality of the commission. But School Board attorney Paul Carland made a different suggestion. "My recommendation is to renew as an individual county for exclusivity," he said.

Carland recommended appealing the denial of exclusive oversight of the county's charter schools directly to preserve the county's individual interests. The School Boards Association, he said, will pursue whether establishing the commission was constitutional, and Hernando County could benefit from that lawsuit, he said.

"The very nature of this is an affront to the constitutional rights of this board," Carland said.

The board voted unanimously to accept Carland's recommendation.

[Last modified November 21, 2007, 20:04:05]