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Is a Florida charter school a public school, or not?

 
A first grade teacher works on a bulletin board outside her classroom at a southeast Hillsborough County charter school.
A first grade teacher works on a bulletin board outside her classroom at a southeast Hillsborough County charter school.
Published Oct. 20, 2017

Florida lawmakers have taken great pains to include charter schools in the pantheon of the state's public education system.

But the state Ethics Commission saw things a bit differently in a draft advisory opinion offered to a Lake Wales city commissioner who also serves as legal counsel to the Lake Wales charter school system.

In Robin Gibson's case, highlighted in a Politico Florida story that's behind a paywall, the city is considering whether to sell or donate property to the charter school system. Gibson wanted to know whether he could participate in the transaction, or if he had a conflict of interest.

The opinion goes through a myriad points over when Gibson could, and could not, take part in the deal. In one section, the agency states that it considered charter schools to be "business entities" rather than government agencies for purposes of the state ethics code.

"Charter schools are corporate in nature and are governed by an independent board of trustees," the draft opinion states. "As such, we find charter schools more similar to 'business entities.' ... Corporations differ from government agencies in nature, structure and purpose. They are independent legal 'persons' with statutory rights and obligations differing from those of government agencies. Of particular relevance here, officers and employees of government agencies are governed by the Code of Ethics in its entirety, while board members of charter schools are bound only by certain provisions, and charter school employees are not subject to the Code at all."

It also notes that charter school board members are not subject to the same laws that restrict district school board members in areas such as supervising a relative or accepting gifts from vendors. These are some of the reasons why the commission suggested Gibson would face a voting conflict of interest on the property transfer, if it occurs.

Read the full draft opinion for more details.