Florida Charter School Law: From Application to Renewal

The charter school sector keeps growing in the State of Florida. More than 400,000 students are now being educated in more than 730 charter schools across the state (2025-26), and charters are open in most of Florida’s 67 school districts.

To discuss a charter school matter anywhere in Florida, call us at 850-567-8445 or fill in the message form on this page.

Mr. Woodring has been working with charter school legal issues since 1999, and has worked with hundreds of charter schools, in dozens of Florida’s school districts. We can help with the legal needs of the entire life cycle of a charter school: putting together the application, getting the sponsor’s approval, negotiating the charter contract, securing a facility and entering into the contracts you need with vendors, selecting your teachers, filling out your governing board, dealing with teacher and student issues, and making sure you are in compliance with open government and public records requirements. We can also help with contract amendments, with disputes with the sponsor over the interpretation of the contract, and with any investigations or audits relating to compliance with local, state, or federal requirements. If a sponsor gives notice of its intent to terminate or not renew a charter, we handle the hearing on that notice before the Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH).

Who Can Sponsor a Charter School

When this site was first written, a charter school could be approved only by a school district. District school boards still sponsor most charter schools, but applicants now have other routes. A Florida College System institution or a state university may sponsor charter schools in certain circumstances, and the Charter School Review Commission, which sits in the Department of Education, can review and approve an application itself. When the Commission approves one, the school board of the district where the school will be located becomes the sponsor (sections 1002.33(5) and 1002.3301, Florida Statutes). Where to apply has become a legal and strategic decision of its own.

A Page for Each Stage

• Charter School Applications – the application, the sponsor’s review, and appeals of a denial
• Charter Contract Negotiation – the standard contract and the timetable for agreeing on it
• Contract Disputes & Amendment – mediation and hearings when you and the sponsor disagree
• Charter Termination & Non-Renewal – notice, hearing rights, and deadlines
• Investigations & Compliance – audits, monitoring, and complaints
• General Counsel Services – continuing counsel for governing boards and operators

We also work with charter operators and charter management organizations from other states that are opening schools in Florida or working with Florida charters, and with operators of Schools of Hope, a separate category of charter school with its own requirements (section 1002.333).

Please contact us if we may be of assistance to you on charter school matters. And, as always, we encourage you to contact us before you even know you have a legal problem with your charter school: it can be much less expensive to do preventive legal work than to fight fires once they are fully engaged. You can call us at 850-567-8445, email us at Info@woodringlawfirm.com, or fill in the message form on this page.