Florida bill would require public schools to report on unused land for statewide registry

Democrats in Florida are balking at legislation requiring school districts to disclose how much vacant land they own.

The state’s education department would use the ensuing data to create a statewide registry, Florida Politics reported.

“One Democrat feared HB 1147 might be the 2026 version of Schools of Hope, which passed last year and allows charter schools to gain access to rent-free space inside traditional public schools with low enrollment. Charter school operators are now trying to take advantage of it at potentially hundreds of schools.”

As previously reported by The Lion, microschool advocates hailed this change as a way to streamline growth in alternative education options. 

“This is the silent friction point that has existed for years that no one could figure out how to solve,” said Ryan Delk, co-founder and CEO of the microschooling company Primer. 

‘Vacant, unimproved lands owned by school districts’ 

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Danny Nix Jr., is a commercial Realtor who noted the legislation doesn’t apply to future land acquisitions. 

“I want to be very clear – this bill only speaks to vacant, unimproved lands owned by school districts,” he said. “This bill does not speak to any facilities, school buildings, or any assets used to educate school children.” 

Other lawmakers, including Democrat Rep. Kelly Skidmore, expressed reluctance over the idea of public-school property being given to other types of educational alternatives. 

“I’m a little concerned about this,” she said. “I’m really suspicious myself that this is an inventory for vacant land to be given away to charter schools or other types of schools.” 

However, Nix argued the state currently lacks an inventory of all land held by districts. 

“The goal of this legislation is to have one place where all vacant land can be accounted for,” he observed. “It lets us know at the state where we’re sitting at.” 

Zoning challenges 

Microschool operators such as Frank and Natalie Farro often cite zoning and facility challenges as limiting factors on their growth and services. 

“Location has been the hardest thing for us,” Frank told The 74, a nonprofit news organization. “You have to find some mystical alignment of the universe in order to land a place that is zoned for a school – or you have to be massive, with a massive amount of capital, to go find another place.” 

Despite challenges, the number of students using microschools – approximately 1-2 million children, according to the RAND Corporation – continues to increase, and the Sunshine State has helped lead the way in their development. 

The Microschool Florida group counts approximately 200 listings in its directory. 

“(Microschools are) only serving 30, 40, maybe 50 families,” said Nathan Hoffman, senior legislative director for the Foundation for Florida’s Future. “They’re not serving hundreds of families. The size of the buildings that are necessary, the land that’s necessary, is not going to be the same.”