KLS Keeping Law Simple Legislation in plain English

Straight-ahead summaries built from the official bill text. We keep the source links front and center and leave the decision up to you.

Back to Florida

HB1543 • 2026

Schools of Hope

Schools of Hope

Education
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Aristide
Last action
2026-03-13
Official status
House - Died in Education Administration Subcommittee
Effective date
2026-07-01

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details about cost-sharing mechanisms, leaving room for interpretation regarding the exact nature and extent of shared costs.

Schools of Hope Act

This bill allows schools of hope to enter into mutual management plans with school districts for the use and maintenance of district facilities.

What This Bill Does

  • Allows schools of hope to enter into mutual management plans with school districts for the use of district facilities.
  • Requires these plans to include provisions where both the school of hope and the school district share specified costs related to facility maintenance.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Schools of hope
  • Local school districts

Terms To Know

Mutual management plan
An agreement between a school district and a school of hope for the use and maintenance of facilities.
School of Hope
A type of public school that operates under special conditions to improve performance in persistently low-performing schools.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify the exact details of how costs will be shared between schools of hope and districts.
  • It is unclear what specific maintenance or other costs are included in the sharing provisions.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-13 House

    • Died in Education Administration Subcommittee

  2. 2026-01-15 House

    • Referred to Education Administration Subcommittee • Referred to PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee • Referred to Education & Employment Committee • Now in Education Administration Subcommittee

  3. 2026-01-13 House

    • 1st Reading (Original Filed Version)

  4. 2026-01-09 House

    • Filed

Official Summary Text

Schools of Hope; Authorizes mutual management plans for school district facilities used by schools of hope to include provision for school of hope & school district to share specified costs.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HB 1543 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1543-00
Page 1 of 3
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to schools of hope; amending s. 2
1002.333, F.S.; authorizing the mutual management 3
plans for school district facilities used by schools 4
of hope to include a provision for the school of hope 5
and school district to share specified costs; 6
providing an effective date. 7
8
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 9
10
Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (7) of section 11
1002.333, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 12
1002.333 Persistently low-performing schools.— 13
(7) FACILITIES.— 14
(a) A school of hope shall use facilities that comply with 15
the Florida Building Code, except for the State Requirements for 16
Educational Facilities. A school of hope that uses school 17
district facilities must comply with the State Requirements for 18
Educational Facilities only if the school district and the hope 19
operator have entered into a mutual management plan for the 20
reasonable maintenance of such facilities. The mutual management 21
plan shall contain a provision by which the district school 22
board agrees to maintain the school facilities in the same 23
manner as its other public schools within the district or a 24
provision that provides for the school of hope and district 25

HB 1543 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1543-00
Page 2 of 3
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

school board to share the maintenance and other costs for such 26
school facilities. A school of hope may colocate with another 27
school in a public school facility. The school district must 28
permit any school of hope to use all or part of underused, 29
vacant, or surplus school district facilities, and receive 30
facility-related services, pursuant to State Board of Education 31
rule. Students enrolled in the school of hope shall be included 32
in the district's total capital outlay full-time equivalent 33
membership for the purpose of s. 1013.62 and for calculating the 34
Public Education Capital Outlay maintenance funds or any other 35
maintenance funds for the facility. The local governing 36
authority shall not adopt or impose any local building 37
requirements or site-development restrictions, such as parking 38
and site-size criteria, student enrollment, and occupant load, 39
that are addressed by and more stringent than those found in the 40
State Requirements for Educational Facilities of the Florida 41
Building Code. A local governing authority must treat schools of 42
hope equitably in comparison to similar requirements, 43
restrictions, and site planning processes imposed upon public 44
schools. The agency having jurisdiction for inspection of a 45
facility and issuance of a certificate of occupancy or use shall 46
be the local municipality or, if in an unincorporated area, the 47
county governing authority. If an official or employee of the 48
local governing authority refuses to comply with this paragraph, 49
the aggrieved school or entity has an immediate right to bring 50

HB 1543 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1543-00
Page 3 of 3
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

an action in circuit court to enforce its rights by injunction. 51
An aggrieved party that receives injunctive relief may be 52
awarded reasonable attorney fees and court costs. 53
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 54