$314M nonprofit charter school operator targets region for major expansion

A Hialeah Gardens nonprofit charter school operator, attempting to utilize provisions in Florida's Schools of Hope law, has filed requests to occupy space in schools in at least four counties in the region: Hillsborough Manatee, Polk and Sarasota.

District officials in most cases are pushing back on the requests. One school board member, in Manatee, says the charter school entity would only get access to a school in that district over her "dead body."