Miami-based charter school operator Mater Academy, which is targeting school districts across the state under the expanded “Schools of Hope” program, has major plans for Duval County, according to a report from our news partner, Jacksonville Today.
According to documents Jacksonville Today received from the district through a public records request, Duval County Public Schools received letters from Mater Academy detailing its plans to open charters inside 25 existing schools, which the company referred to as “underused/vacant/surplus” facilities.
The move takes advantage of recent expansions to Florida’s Schools of Hope program, which allows a handful of charter operators to move into neighborhoods served by struggling traditional public schools.
New rules compel districts to allow “Schools of Hope” to use district buildings rent-free, and to allow existing schools to share common areas and resources with the private operators.
The letters from Mater, dated Oct. 8, asked the district to provide the schools’ floor plans and to allow Mater before- and after-hours access to the buildings “for facility tours and vendor walkthroughs.”
News4JAX previously reported on similar letters sent to the St. Johns County School District.
According to Jacksonville Today’s reporting, the 25 Duval County schools Mater Academy identified are mostly elementaries, four of which have closed during district consolidations.
Of the remaining 21, more than 75% are in School Districts 4 and 5, represented by Darryl Willie and Reggie Blount, and which include Northwest Jacksonville and a large swath of the Northside.
Eight of the schools are at more than 50% student capacity. Four are at above 60%. Highland Estates Academy is at 99%.
All but one, George Washington Carver Elementary, received a C grade or better last year. Two of the schools — Pickett and Rufus E. Payne elementaries — received A grades from the state last year. Carver is already scheduled to consolidate with Payne and close soon.
Of the 25 schools Mater Academy named, only seven were designated by the state this year as persistently low performing. Sixteen schools that were labeled as persistently low-performing were not selected by Mater Academy.
Mater says the schools in Duval County will open in August 2027, and the company projects it will have enrolled more than 11,000 Duval students within five years.
Because the district receives about $9,000 per student in state funding, Mater Academy’s proposal could divert almost $100 million away from Duval’s traditional public schools.
“No decisions have been made, and we are carefully reviewing these requests in accordance with state law,” Duval Schools spokesperson Arwen FitzGerald tells Jacksonville Today.
For the full list of schools and more on this story, visit JaxToday.org.
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