Closing some Broward schools? Here’s why they could get new life as charter schools

By SCOTT TRAVIS | stravis@sunsentinel.com | South Florida Sun Sentinel

Some schools may be on the Broward School District’s chopping block in the few years, but that doesn’t necessarily mean students won’t be able to get an education there.

These campuses could get a second life as a charter school, due to a state law that gives charter schools access to surplus properties as well as zoning restrictions that could a restrict a school site from being used for non-educational reasons.

A state law that hasn’t been discussed during the district’s “Redefining Our Schools” efforts would give charter schools access to facilities the district no longer needs. The statute has been in effect for more than 25 years but has rarely been used, experts say.

But at least one operator of charter schools, the city of Pembroke Pines, is discussing the possibility of using that law to acquire district schools. “The state statute is very, very important to us,” Thomas Good, vice mayor of Pembroke Pines, told the City Commission at a May 1 meeting.

The law states “if a district school board facility or property is available because it is surplus, marked for disposal, or otherwise unused, it shall be provided for a charter school’s use on the same basis as it is made available to other public schools in the district.”