Wade Clark Mulcahy LLP

In a case of first impression, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal recently held, in Soto v. Franklin Academy Foundation, Inc., Case Number 4D2023-2108 (Fla. 4th DCA May 8, 2024), that a private school chartered by the local school board was a state agency entitled to the pre-suit protections afforded by Florida Statute § 768.28(6)(a), Florida’s sovereign immunity statute. 

In Soto, a charter school student was injured in a playground accident and sued.  The student did not provide the school the statutory pre-suit notice required by Florida Statute § 762.28 and the trial court dismissed. 

On appeal, the student argued that because the school was chartered by the local school board, which in turn was chartered by the local county, and not the state, the school was not a “state agency” and, thus, was not entitled to sovereign immunity under Florida Statute § 768.28(6)(a).  The appellate court disagreed, finding that under Florida law “[a]ll charter schools in Florida are public schools and shall be part of the state’s program of [public] education.” Fla. Sat. § 1002.33(1) (2018).  The court also found that because schools operated by a local school board are entitled to sovereign immunity under Florida Statute § 768.28(6)(a), there is no reason to treat schools chartered by the same local school board differently.  Applying this reasoning to the case at hand, the appellate court affirmed, holding that private schools chartered by a local school board were entitled to sovereign immunity under § 768.28 of the Florida Statutes.

The Takeaway.

In defending a claim against a private school, claim’s handlers and attorneys alike must be cognizant of the jurisdiction’s sovereign immunity laws and the application of that law to privately operated but publicly chartered schools.