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Sarasota speakers warn 'Schools of Hope' expansion could privatize public buildings, siphon resources
Summary
Multiple public commenters at the Sarasota County School Board meeting urged local leaders to resist the state Schools of Hope program and related legislation, saying it allows for-profit operators to use public school facilities and staff without adequate local oversight.
Community members told the Sarasota County School Board they fear the state’s Schools of Hope policy — discussed broadly at the meeting and cited in several public comments — would allow private operators to occupy public facilities and divert resources away from district-run programs.
“Schools of Hope are predatory, they are profiteering, they are parasitic,” said India Miller, a community speaker, who urged the district to resist what she described as privatization. Several commenters compared the program to “paid squatting,” saying operators could use school facilities at little or no cost while drawing funding and administrative support.
Speakers cited state-level legislation by name in general terms (commenters referenced SB 1708) and asked board members and local legislators to pursue “guardrails” or a pause on the policy’s rollout. Zaire Ke Kahuna Samdi, a Sarasota public-schools graduate, said the state language was not specific about how the state will distinguish “underused” from “underperforming” facilities and warned that local oversight and community input could be bypassed.
Other speakers urged board members to call and pressure state legislators, organize parent coalitions, host town halls and otherwise press for clearer state guidance before local properties are repurposed. Multiple commenters linked concerns about Schools of Hope to the district’s discussion about underused buildings and the proposed relocation of Suncoast Polytech, saying the two issues are related but distinct.
Board members repeatedly said they oppose sudden unilateral changes imposed from Tallahassee and that they intend to press the district’s state delegation for clearer protections; they also said they would pursue community engagement on the topic. No formal board action or policy change on Schools of Hope was taken at the meeting.
Speakers called for public transparency, legislative guardrails, and local strategies to protect CTE programs and A/B-rated schools from forced co-location or takeover by external operators.
