School Board of Palm Beach County v. Survivors Charter Schools, Inc.

Summary

The Supreme Court of Florida considered whether the Administrative Procedure Act applied when a charter school sponsor immediately terminated a charter under section 1002.33(8)(d), Florida Statutes (2005). The court held that the comprehensive charter-school statutory scheme did not incorporate APA procedures into immediate termination decisions and quashed the Fourth District's decision. The case was remanded for consideration of other due process and evidentiary issues.

Holdings

1. The APA does not apply when a school board or other charter-school sponsor immediately terminates a charter for good cause or because the health, safety, or welfare of students is threatened.
2. Immediate termination means termination without an interval of time and does not mean termination within any period shorter than ninety days following APA notice and hearing procedures.
3. Due-process principles do not require the court to construe the charter-school statute as incorporating the APA; whether the procedures actually used violated due process remained unresolved.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Florida Administrative Procedure Act applies when a school board immediately terminates a charter under section 1002.33(8)(d), Florida Statutes (2005).
2. Whether the term "immediately" in section 1002.33(8)(d) permits termination only after the APA's fourteen-day notice and hearing procedures.
3. Whether due-process concerns require application of the APA to an immediate charter termination.

Disposition

quashed