Learning curves

Board to decide fate of two charter schools.

Two charter schools, rejected by the Palm Beach County School Board, will get a new chance at opening their doors. Today, the board is required to vote again on whether to accept them.

Renaissance Charter High School of Palm Beach, rejected in 2015, and South Palm Beach Charter School, rejected in 2014, appealed their denials to the state.

The School Board has been resistant for years to new charter schools, often rejecting more than a dozen applications a year because they say the charters don’t offer creative alternatives to existing schools, as required by state rules. The board joined six other Florida school districts last year in suing the state over a law requiring school districts to share property tax revenue with charters.

The board opened up a new front in the battle with charter schools more recently, when the members decided last month not to include charters as recipients of a proposed property tax that would boost teacher salaries and improve school security. The charters threatened to sue the district, saying they are public schools, although operated by private boards, that deserve a share of the $800-million tax bounty expected if voters approve the tax on Nov. 6.

The cases of the two rejected schools have gone through the circuit of state appeals board and courts. The last appeals by the school board were denied in July. Now the board has to decide whether to welcome the schools or file further appeals with the Fourth District Court of Appeal.