Does a virtual charter school have to pay for its students to use the school district's testing facilities?

Plain-English summary

A virtual charter school sponsored by the Palm Beach County school district asked whether it had to pay the district for its students to use the district's testing facilities and technology to take statewide assessments.

Attorney General Pam Bondi answered that it did not have to pay a separate charge. By statute, the district that sponsors a charter school must provide certain administrative services, including "test administration services, including payment of the costs of state-required or district-required student assessments." Virtual charter school students must take their state assessments within the district where they live, and the district must give them access to its testing facilities. To pay for the administrative services it provides, the district may withhold a fee of up to 5 percent of the charter school's funding. The AG read these provisions together: the cost of testing facility access is one of the administrative services the district provides, and it is already covered by that up-to-5-percent fee, so the virtual charter school does not owe an additional payment for it.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2013. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Who provides testing services for a virtual charter school's students?
A: The sponsoring school district. The opinion read section 1002.33(20)(a)1. to require the sponsor to provide test administration services, including paying the costs of state- or district-required student assessments.

Q: Where do virtual charter school students take state assessments?
A: Under section 1002.45(6), within the school district where the student resides, and the district must give the student access to its testing facilities.

Q: How does the district get paid for these services?
A: Section 1002.33(20)(a)8. lets the sponsor withhold a fee of up to 5 percent of the funding the charter school would otherwise receive, to cover the administrative services the district provides.

Q: Can the district bill the virtual charter school separately for testing-facility access?
A: Not according to this opinion. The AG concluded the testing-facility costs are part of the administrative services already covered by the up-to-5-percent fee, applying the rule that when the Legislature prescribes how something is to be done, that is the exclusive method.

Background and statutory framework

Florida funds charter schools as part of the state's public education program, "the same as" other public schools (the opinion cited AGO 2004-67 for this principle). Section 1002.33(1) lets a charter school operate as a virtual charter school.

Three provisions controlled the analysis. Section 1002.33(20)(a)1. requires the sponsor to provide administrative services including test administration and payment of assessment costs. Section 1002.45(6) requires virtual charter students to take state assessments within their home district and requires the district to provide access to its testing facilities. Section 1002.33(20)(a)8. authorizes the sponsor to withhold a fee of up to 5 percent to cover those services. Reading the statutes together, and applying Alsop v. Pierce, 19 So. 2d 799 (Fla. 1944) (where the Legislature prescribes the mode, that mode must be observed), the AG concluded the testing-facility costs fall within the up-to-5-percent fee rather than being separately billable.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• § 1002.33, Fla. Stat. (Charter schools)
• § 1002.45, Fla. Stat. (Virtual instruction programs)

Cases:

• Alsop v. Pierce, 19 So. 2d 799 (Fla. 1944), where the Legislature prescribes the mode, that mode must be observed

Source

• Landing page: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/ag-opinions/virtual-charter-schools-costs-of-student-assessments
• Official print view: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/print/pdf/node/1588

Original opinion text

Mr. Brady J. Cobb
South Florida Virtual Charter School Board, Inc., and Florida Virtual Academy at Palm Beach
642 Northeast Third Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33304

RE: VIRTUAL CHARTER SCHOOLS – PUBLIC EDUCATION – SCHOOL DISTRICTS – payment of costs of state-wide assessments of virtual charter school students included within administrative fee retained by school district. ss. 1002.33 and 1002.45, Fla. Stat.

Dear Mr. Cobb:

On behalf of South Florida Virtual Charter School Board, Inc., and the Florida Virtual Academy at Palm Beach, you ask the following:

Must a virtual charter school pay for access to school district testing facilities and the technology for taking state-wide assessment tests for students enrolled in the virtual charter school which the school district has sponsored?

In sum:

The school district sponsoring a virtual charter school is required to provide certain administrative services to the school, including test administration services, which includes payment of the costs of state-required or district-required student assessments. The school district may withhold a fee of up to 5 percent of the funding from the Florida Education Finance Program and the General Appropriations Act to be received by a virtual charter school to cover the cost of the administrative services provided to the charter school, including the cost of virtual charter school students' access to and use of district testing facilities.

Initially, it should be acknowledged that this office has previously issued a legal opinion to a charter school. In Attorney General Opinion 2004-67, this office determined that charter schools are part of the state's program of public education and shall be funded "the same as" other schools in the public school system. In light of the subject matter of your request, this office sought, received, and considered the views of the School District of Palm Beach County on the question presented here.

Section 1002.33(1), Florida Statutes, authorizes a charter school to operate as a virtual charter school. The sponsor of a charter school is required to provide certain administrative and educational services to a charter school, including "test administration services, including payment of the costs of state-required or district-required student assessments[.]"[1] Each student enrolled in a virtual charter school must "[t]ake state assessment tests within the school district in which such student resides, which must provide the student with access to the district's testing facilities."[2] (e.s.)

The sponsor of a virtual charter school is authorized to withhold a fee of up to 5 percent, which "shall be used to cover the cost of services provided under [section 1002.33(20),] subparagraph 1. . .or other technological tools that are required to access electronic and digital instructional materials."[3] This plain language requires no further interpretation in its directive that a school district, as the sponsor of a virtual charter school, may retain up to 5 percent of the funds payable to a virtual charter school and that such funds cover the provision of testing facilities for state-wide assessments. Where the Legislature has prescribed the manner in which something is to be accomplished, it in effect operates as a prohibition against its being done in any other manner.[4]

Accordingly, it is my opinion that the administrative services required to be provided by a school district sponsoring a virtual charter school include the payment of the costs of state-required or district-required student assessments, including the cost of virtual charter school students' access to and use of district testing facilities, and that such costs are contained within the fee of up to 5 percent retained by the school district.

Sincerely,

Pam Bondi
Attorney General

PB/tals

________________

[1] Section 1002.33(20)(a)1., Fla. Stat.

[2] Section 1002.45(6), Fla. Stat.

[3] Section 1002.33(20)(a)8., Fla. Stat.

[4] See Alsop v. Pierce, 19 So. 2d 799, 805 (Fla. 1944) (where Legislature prescribes the mode, that mode must be observed).