BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. — Jennifer Levi, a mother of three, said her youngest son was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and he is in a Broward County Public School cluster class.

Levi said she and other parents are advocating for a charter school managed by BCPS that can meet the “profound and intense support needs” of students with ASD.

“He’s part of a population that is significantly underserved,” Levi said.

Levi’s vision comes as the Broward County School Board is dealing with a school district that faces a steep drop in enrollment and a new Florida law opening the door for more charter schools.

BCPS Superintendent Howard Hepburn recently said six schools under capacity could close.

“We had about an 8,000 to 9,000 student decline for the start of the school year, which equated to about $85 to $90 million,” Hepburn said.

All of the state’s school districts were preparing for the new influx of charter schools after Gov. Ron DeSantis approved Florida Senate Bill 2510 on June 30.

“When you have a competitor in your building and we are actually paying for many of the services that they require, that’s the journey that we’re concerned about and how it’s going to look for us as a school district,” Hepburn said.

The law, which takes effect on Nov. 11, gives way for “a third-party administrator” to transfer “money from a loan fund” to the Schools of Hope program, a charter school for students from “persistently low-performing schools.”

The Florida State Board of Education advanced rules on Sept 24 to give the Schools of Hope charter school operators a process that is allowed by Florida statutes.

The six Florida-designated Schools of Hope operators are Mater Academy, RCMA, Democracy Prep Public Schools, Inc., IDEA Public Schools, Success Academy, Renaissance/Warrington Preparatory Academy, and KIPP New Jersey, according to the Florida Department of Education.

BCPS is moving forward with Redefining Our Schools, a plan to adapt to the loss of funds because of low enrollment. It includes workshops and meetings that have been ongoing since July and are set to continue through January.

The next meeting is on Oct. 27 to discuss programming offerings at Coral Springs High School and five middle schools: Coral Springs, Forest Glen, Margate, Ramblewood, and Sawgrass Springs. There are also three meetings in November, two in December, and two in January.

The district aims to implement the Redefining Our Schools plan for the 2026-27 school year.

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