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.
Sarasota school district representatives have said the letters were premature, but the action indicates they will most likely file again. The letters show Mater most likely did little research into the schools. They even misspelled Emma E. Booker Elementary — a historic school and community pillar — as Brooker Elementary. If approved, the district would be required to provide access to classrooms, cafeterias, playgrounds, and parking lots for this outside operator with no connection to our community. This isn’t partnership — it’s a partial takeover of public space that could grow over time.
The harm isn’t theoretical. Even before any co-location has taken place, the disruption of our community is real. In an attempt to outmaneuver Hope operators, the Sarasota County School District has proposed rezoning nearly 400 neighborhood students currently attending Wilkinson Elementary. That’s a tremendous amount of disruption, all because of a deeply flawed state policy that prioritizes charter intrusion over community stability.
Sarasota’s schools are not failing. They are among the best in the state, built on decades of community investment, talented educators, and involved parents. To suggest that these schools need “rescuing” by an out-of-town charter chain is an insult to every family, teacher and taxpayer who helped make them successful.
The Legislature must fix this law during the upcoming Legislative Session. Lawmakers should repeal or amend the budget language that opened every school in the state to these forced partial takeovers, and restore local control to elected school boards. Communities — not distant entities — should decide how their public school buildings are used.
We support innovation and choice when it comes from genuine community demand, not when it’s imposed through backroom budget language that bypassed public debate. This new law does not create choice for parents — it strips it away.
If Tallahassee truly wants to bring “hope” to Florida students, it should start by fully funding our schools — not by turning A-rated schools into real estate opportunities for distant charter operators. The Sarasota County School Board should fight any proposal that compromises the integrity of our schools, and lawmakers must act quickly this Session to reverse this overreach before more communities are thrown into turmoil.
Our message is simple: Stop the unwanted takeovers, fix the law, prioritize parents’ rights, and let Sarasota — and every district in Florida — keep doing what we do best, educating our children in strong, community-led public schools that belong to us, not to private operators from hundreds of miles away.
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This piece was authored by a coalition of parents concerned for their children’s schools: Samantha Burt, Laquichia Webb, Allie Martin, Jodanna Osceola, Nigel Osceola, Micaela Tidd, Nick Owens, Brandy Krasinski, Meredith Karp, Kelly LaJoie, and Rhiannon Kidd.