SARASOTA, Fla. ( WWSB ) - The Sarasota County School Board Friday approved a plan to reimagine a dozen schools, creating more K-8 campuses and better use existing facilities.

Called the Future Focused Strategic Initiative, Superintendent Terry Connor said the plan is designed to attract and retain students by expanding specialized programs like STEAM and gifted education; to adapt existing buildings to current needs; and to protect local control of schools.

Local control is being threatened, the school district says, by a Miami-based charter school company, which says it wants to occupy at least three Sarasota County schools under the state’s new “Schools of Hope” law.

The law, which went into effect in June, opens the door for charter schools to occupy space at any public school with

See Full Page