CIRCUIT COURT

POLK COUNTY, FLORIDA

POLK CHARTER SCHOOLS ASSOCIATION, ]

AND OTHERS, TRUSTEES, ]
]
PLAINTIFFS, ]
]
V. ] Case No. 53-2010-006347-0000-00
] Section 07
SCHOOL BOARD OF POLK COUNTY, ] J. McCarthy
FLORIDA, ]
]
DEFENDANT. ]
__________________________________________]

DEFENDANT’S MEMORANDUM
FOR CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE

In anticipation of the Court’s Case Management Conference, the School Board is

submitting this Memorandum to briefly summarize its response to the Plaintiffs’ Complaint.

This is not intended as the School Board’s formal response to the Complaint, but rather, as a

summary of the School Board’s position to assist the Court in anticipating how this action might

best proceed.

The Plaintiffs’ Complaint requests both declaratory relief and a temporary injunction.

The injunctive relief sought by the Plaintiffs is more in the form of a mandamus action, since the

Plaintiffs are asking the Court to require the School Board to continue providing certain services

that are not required either by statutory mandate or agreements between the School Board and

the charter schools. The Plaintiff is asking the court to require the School Board to expend

significant public funds and to continue to provide services for which the School Board has no

statutory or contractual obligation to do.

 Section 1002.33(20), Florida Statutes, provides for two categories of services that the

School Board, also referred to as “sponsor”, provides to charter schools. Subparagraph (a) of

that statute sets forth those services that the School Board is mandated to provide to the charter

schools. These services shall be referenced herein as “Mandatory Services”. The School Board

is compensated for those services through what the Plaintiffs refers to as “a 5 percent

administrative fee”. In fact, as a result of recent legislative changes, the Lake Wales Charter

Schools, for example, will only be paying an annual fee of 0.06% of the Charter School student

generated funds, or $41 per student, per year that the School Board retains for the Mandated

Services provided to the Lake Wales Charter Schools. The proposed changes to the services

the School Board provides to the charter schools do not affect any of the Mandated

Services required to be provided by the School Board.

The second statutory category of services provided by the School Board to the charter

schools, as authorized in Section 1002.33(20)(b) and (c), Florida Statutes, are optional services

that the School Board may provide subject to an agreement with each charter school. Such

services will be referenced herein as “Non-mandatory Services”. These Non-mandatory Services

are provided by the School Board to the various charter schools pursuant to specific written

agreements between the School Board and each charter school. Each of these agreements

provides specifically that either party may terminate the contract on thirty (30) days prior notice,

and the School Board has complied with this notice requirement. The Plaintiffs’ request for a

temporary injunction asks the court to require the School Board to continue providing

these Non-mandatory Services to the charter schools beyond the time required by the

specific agreements entered into by the charter schools.

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 A third category of services the School Board has provided to charter schools are those

that are not required either by statute or by agreement. In the past the School Board has provided

certain services to the charter schools as a courtesy; and in light of the School Board’s looming

budget crisis, the School Board has informed the charter schools that such services will no longer

be available. Such services will be referenced herein as “Voluntary Services”. As with the Non-

mandatory Services, the Plaintiffs’ requested injunction seeks to require the School Board

to expend public funds and provide such Voluntary Services for which the School Board

has neither statutory or contractual obligations to provide.

The Complaint in Paragraph 29 sets forth specifically those Non-mandatory Services or

Voluntary Services that the Plaintiffs alleges will constitute irreparable harm if terminated, even

though each charter school was given ample written notice of the termination. At the Court’s

earliest convenience, the School Board is prepared to present evidence that each of these Non-

mandatory or Voluntary Services are readily available to the charter schools through other

means, and that the School Board has offered assistance to all charter schools in obtaining such

services through alternate sources. To assist the Court to better understanding the context in

which these issues arise, summarized below is the type of evidence the School Board is ready to

present regarding each of these Non-mandatory and Voluntary Services:

Student Transportation Services (Non-mandatory)

Such services were provided to the charter school by agreement with 30 days termination.
The School Board has agreed to continue student transportation services through the end of
2010, giving the charter schools five months lead time to provide transportation. Evidence can
be presented that private bus companies specializing in transporting students can be available to
provide that service within two weeks.

Vehicle/Bus Maintenance (Non-mandatory)

Such services were provided to certain charter schools by agreement with 30 day
termination. Charter Schools who are currently using their own buses and/or vehicles have a

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number of options available to provide the maintenance of those vehicles, and School Board
representatives from the Transportation Department have already begun assisting charter schools
with such maintenance options.

School Bus Inspections (Non-mandatory)

Such services were provided to certain charter schools by agreement with 30 day
termination. The School Board’s Transportation Department has already provided charter
schools with contact information on private contractors that can provide this service and certain
charter schools have already been in communication with such contractors.

Bus Driver/Attendant Training (Voluntary)

The School Board has no statutory or contractual obligation to provide this service. The
Florida Department of Education will provide training for individuals who can then train bus
drivers and bus attendants. The charter schools can send an individual to receive this training,
and it is also available through private contractors.

Vehicle Fueling Service (Non-mandatory)

Such services were provided to certain charter schools with 30 day termination.
Obviously, gasoline and diesel fuel are available at numerous locations throughout Polk County,
both at retail locations and through commercial services.

Vehicle Crash Investigation and On-Scene Support (Voluntary)

The School Board has no statutory or contractual obligation to provide this service. The
School Board will continue to investigate accidents involving School Board buses transporting
charter school students until that service ends December 31, 2010. Accident investigation is
available to the charter schools through the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, local law enforcement
agencies, and through other private services.

Under Two-Mile Validation Evaluations (Voluntary)

The School Board has no statutory or contractual obligation to provide this service. This
is clearly not a critical service, and it is a service that can be provided by anyone with minimal
training.

Daily Courier Service (Voluntary)

The School Board has no statutory or contractual obligation to provide this service. This
service is nothing more than an individual driving between schools who picks up and delivers
documents and small packages. This type of service is available to the charter schools through
the United States Postal Service, private courier companies, or any individual with a vehicle.

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Emergency Disaster Preparedness Support (Voluntary)

The School Board has no statutory or contractual obligation to provide this service.
Charter schools are no different than every other private school that is required to develop and
carry out such a plan. The School Board has provided each charter school with a template, so
that they simply need to fill in the blanks to create their individual plans. Services from various
law enforcement agencies are available to charter schools in responding to emergency situations.
The Readiness Emergency Management for Schools Grant provided for training and exercises
for school administrators. Administrators from charter schools participated in such training, and
charter schools will not be prevented from participating in future opportunities under such Grant.

Connect-ED Support (Voluntary)

The School Board has no statutory or contractual obligation to provide this service.
Connect-Ed is a service for which the School Board contracts with an outside vendor, and certain
charter schools already have their own connected contracts for that service. Other charter
schools have the option to contract for such services.

Information Services Issues (Voluntary)

The School Board has no statutory or contractual obligation to provide this service.
Statutorily Mandated Services the School Board is required to provide to charter schools include
FCAT scores, standardized test scores, previous public schools student report cards, and
students’ performance measures, and the School Board will continue to provide those services.
The charter schools will continue to have access to the District’s student information system,
Genesis.

Health Training Issues (Voluntary)

The School Board had previously had annual contracts with charter schools to provide
this service, but no contracts were entered into for the 2010-2011 school year. The School
Board’s policies and procedures for health training are available on-line to the charter schools,
and the actual training is available through the American Red Cross, American Heart
Association, etc. Charter schools can also contract for health services with the Polk County
Health Department.

County Competitions (Voluntary)

The School Board has no statutory or contractual obligation to provide this service.
Charter school students will continue to have the opportunity to participate in these programs,
competitions and tournaments, and the only change being made is that charter school students
will have to pay the School Board’s actual cost related to such participation.

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Access to District Re-Certification Resources (Voluntary)

The School Board has no statutory or contractual obligation to provide this service. The
Alternative Certification Program (ACE), ESOL Endorsement, and REESOL endorsement
classes will continue to be available to charter school teachers. The REESOL classes will be at
no cost to charter school teachers, but there will be a fee for the ACE and ESOL classes.
Reading Endorsement is an on-line course offered by the Florida Department of Education.

Denial of Access to Public Meetings (Voluntary)

The School Board has no statutory or contractual obligation to provide this service. The
School Board’s meetings of their administrators are not public meetings. The charter schools
have no right to insist that they be permitted to meetings between the School Board and its
administrators. Further, the School Board has several venues for distributing information to
charter schools, and meetings between the School Board and charter school directors are held at
least quarterly. Many relevant documents are posted on the School Board’s website in areas
specifically designed to assist charter school directors and staff.

Third Grade Retentions (Voluntary By Grant)

Portfolio C, FEFP, and SAT 10 funding is paid to the charter schools in their proportional
share, and the charter schools have the option to use those funds for the development of required
programs.

Charter Students Covered by Grant (Voluntary By Grant)

The Mobile Laptop Cart project is available through a specific grant that identifies needs
in particular schools, including certain charter schools. Training and goods will continue to be
provided to such charter schools as authorized in the Grant.

Denial of Access to Web-Based Programs (Voluntary)

The School Board has no statutory or contractual obligation to provide this service. The
function of all web-based programs utilized by the charter school through the School Board can
be replicated by outside providers, and such services can be provided on reasonably short notice.

In Summary, the School Board has not suggested that it will terminate any Mandated

Services to which the charter schools are entitled. As demonstrated above, all other services are

either voluntary or provided pursuant to agreements that can be terminated by either party on

thirty (30) days notice. Such Voluntary and Non-mandated Services are those the charter

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schools can either provide on their own or are readily available through other vendors or third

party providers. No emergency exists, and the School Board respectfully submits that a

temporary injunction would not be appropriate under these circumstances. Further, the School

Board submits that it can present such documentary and testimonial evidence at the Court’s

earliest convenience establishing the facts generally set forth above. Before any injunction or

other action is taken, the School Board would request the opportunity to be able to participate in

an evidentiary hearing addressing all issues presented by the Plaintiffs’ Complaint.

DATED this ___ day of August, 2010.

___________________________________
Wesley Bridges, Esq. General Counsel
Polk County School Board
Post Office Box 391
Bartow, FL 33831

___________________________________
Dabney L. Conner, Esquire
Florida Bar Number 126695
Donald H. Wilson, Jr., Esquire
Florida Bar Number 222208
Boswell & Dunlap LLP
245 South Central Avenue
Post Office Drawer 30
Bartow, Florida 33831
Phone: (863) 533-7117
Fax: (863) 533-7412

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 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I HEREBY CERTIFY that the original of this Defendant’s Memorandum for Case

Management Conference was filed with the Clerk of Court, and a copy furnished via e-mail to

Robin Gibson, Esquire at r.gibson@gibsonlawfirm299.com on this ___ day of August, 2010.

___________________________________
Donald H. Wilson, Jr.