Volusia County School District is not giving up its efforts to not certify a charter school and is asking a state appeals court that already ruled in favor of the charter school to consider a do-over of the case.
The school board is asking Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal, among other things, for an "en banc" or new hearing before the full court in its ongoing legal fight with supporters of Florida East Coast Charter School, a K-5 technology-focused school in Ormond Beach.
The Florida Record reached out to the school district for comment about their next move in the legal battle and, by way of reply, the school board's attorneys provided their Feb. 8 filing with the appeal court.
In that filing, the school district's attorneys asked the court for a new hearing after the court last month found in favor of the charter school's supporters, referring to the district's case as "unpersuasive."
The school board was asking for "limiting language" in state law that just isn't there, the appeal court said in its Jan. 22 opinion.
"This Court will not, under the guise of statutory interpretation, amend the statute to limit the scope of its reasonable and obvious implications," the five-page opinion stated.
The court also "declines the invitation to interpret" state law to allow for requesting or gathering information that already has been presented, the opinion said.
"Such an interpretation would, in addition to being contrary to the statute's plain meaning, render portions of the pertinent statutory provisions meaningless," the opinion said.
In its request for rehearing, the school board claimed the court's opinion, "if allowed to stand as written, eviscerates the powers of school boards statewide, relegating them to nothing more than a speed bump in the road to ultimate decision making at the state level. The request for rehearing also complains that appeal court Chief Judge Kerry I. Evander concurred in the opinion's result only and had not written a separate opinion.
"In the Opinion, the panel found that the State Board [of Education]’s final order was supported by competent substantial evidence but did not elaborate on this finding," the request said. "However, the Opinion does discuss in more detail its finding that the State Board was permitted under the Florida Statutes to accept and rely on new evidence that had not been a part of the record on appeal."
Requests for rehearing are almost compulsory for losing sides in court cases. They are seldom granted.