BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Brevard Public Schools is expected to form a task force to help the district navigate Florida’s new “Schools of Hope” law — a program aimed at bringing high-performing, privately run charter schools into low-performing traditional schools.
The program was expanded to allow for co-location of charter schools at underutilized or vacant public school facilities.
One state-approved operator, Mater Academy, has already expressed interest in opening programs at Cape View Elementary, Oak Park Elementary, Roosevelt Elementary, and Palm Bay Magnet High School.BPS objected, noting that Cape View and Roosevelt are A-rated and not located within state-designated Opportunity Zones.
At Palm Bay Magnet, the district pushed back against Mater’s proposal to run a full K–12 program. And at Oak Park, officials say the space Mater requested simply isn’t available.
More requests, however, are expected.
School Board Chair Matt Susin says new requests bring operational questions — from school resource officers to specialists who may not be able to contract with a private operator. He emphasized that these are taxpayer-funded buildings and that the district wants to ensure any shared use supports community needs and parental choice.
Susin told Eyewitness News, “There’s a lot more that goes into this than just allowing people to start coming into our schools. And quite frankly, we like the model as far as look, this is the taxpayers’ dollars. This is the taxpayers building. This is not Brevard Public Schools’ this is theirs. So, we want to try to find a way to utilize the space for good things and parental choice. We just need to make sure that the safety of our children is taking into consideration.”
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