Palm Beach County schools settle money-sharing lawsuit with charter schools. What now?
The settlement ends a yearslong fight over whether charter schools should get money approved by voters for teacher pay and school safety projects.
The Palm Beach Post | By Katherine Kokal | Updated November 2, 2023
Palm Beach County’s school board has approved a $1.1 million settlement and agreed to make two years in retroactive payments to charter schools from a 2018 property tax hike.
The settlement, approved Wednesday with the two charter schools that sued, ends a years-long dispute about whether all 49 charter schools are entitled to more than $40 million collected from a referendum approved by voters for school safety initiatives and higher teacher pay.
$60 million already paid to charter schools
Charter schools are public schools run by private entities. The tax increase was designed to be “dedicated for operational needs of non-charter district schools,” and it generates $200 million each year.
After the ballot measure was approved, now-shuttered Lake Worth charter school Academy for Positive Learning, Lantana charter school Palm Beach Maritime Academy and two parents sued the school board, arguing that charter schools were entitled to a portion of the money.
In 2021, the 4th District Court of Appeal agreed with charter schools. Since then, the district has paid $60 million to charter schools. The schools can use the money for day-to-day operating expenses, textbooks, technology, transportation, building, remodeling, and paying debts, according to the settlement.
At issue in this suit was whether the school district also was required to cough up between $40 million and $50 million in retroactive pay to charter schools to cover the time between the start of the property tax increase in 2019 and the appeals court decision in 2021.
In settling the suit, the school district agreed make the retroactive payments to the Palm Beach Maritime Academy and other county charter schools, although the issue of interest on the payments appears to be up in the air, according to the charter schools’ attorney.
The School District of Palm Beach County declined to comment on the settlement before it was executed.
The settlement agreement is separate from a charter school cost-sharing law that went into effect in July. The law requires the school district to share part of its money set aside for its 10-year capital construction plan with eligible charter schools. School district officials estimate the new rules will cost the school district between $189 million and $427 million over the next 10 years.
How many students attend Palm Beach County charter schools?
More than 22,000 students attend Palm Beach County’s charter schools. Academy for Positive Learning, which was an active school when the lawsuit began, closed its doors Aug. 9.
This year, the school district counted about 400 fewer charter students in comparison with last year, according to enrollment data. Charters are exempt from significant state and local operating and management regulations, but they cannot charge tuition or be affiliated with religious institutions.
In June, the school board filed a notice that was the first step in asking the Florida Supreme Court to review the issue of the retroactive payments to charter schools. Previously, the state’s top court declined to weigh in on whether the money should be shared at all with charter schools.
As part of the settlement terms, the school board will drop its appeal to the state Supreme Court and the case will be closed.
Shawn Arnold, the attorney representing the charter schools, said his clients are “pleased this matter has been resolved.”
Arnold added that Palm Beach County’s loss in the original case and ensuing settlement on retroactive payments to charters is likely precedent-setting for other charter school cost-sharing cases in Florida, including in cases in Miami-Dade, Broward and Pinellas counties.
