Florida suspends four schools with ‘ties’ to CCP from school choice program
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration suspended four Florida schools from the state’s school choice scholarship program, which was drastically expanded this year.
The enforcement comes under a new law signed by DeSantis in May, which blocks schools from a country of concern from participating in the programs.
DeSantis’ office said the Florida Department of Education took the action due to purported “ties to the Chinese Communist Party.”
The listed schools are Lower and Upper Sagemont Preparatory Schools, located in Weston; and Parke House Academy and Park Maitland School, both based in Winter Park.
Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said the Chinese Communist Party “has no place in our schools,” and thanked DeSantis and state lawmakers for their efforts against the party.
The governor’s office said the schools’ links have resulted in an “imminent threat” to the welfare of students and the surrounding public.
“The Chinese Communist Party is not welcome in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said. “We will not put up with any attempt to influence students with a communist ideology or allow Floridians’ tax dollars to go to schools that are connected to our foreign adversaries.”
The school choice program expansion, signed into law this year, was sponsored by Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee. It was co-sponsored by Rep. Kaylee Tuck, R-Lake Placid, and Rep. Susan Plasencia, R-Orlando in the House.
DeSantis’ reforms that target the Chinese Communist Party date back several years, with the governor in 2021 signing legislation that aimed to crack down on and expose foreign efforts to influence Florida’s higher education.
This year, the governor signed into law more legislation that prohibits Chinese Communist Party-linked land buys in Florida, primely on farmland or near military installations and critical infrastructure.
Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa, and Rep. David Borrero, R-Sweetwater, carried the legislation, which was spearheaded by Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson.
Another bill signed this year prohibits state universities and state colleges from accepting grants from, or participating in partnerships or agreements with, a college or university based in a foreign country of concern in most cased.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Jennifer Canady, R-Lakeland, and Sen. Bryan Avila, R-Hialeah Gardens.
Other measures taken include blocking state universities and their employees from accepting gifts in their official capacities from a “country of concern”-based university or foreign principal, along with outlawing “Confucius Institutes,” which the governor’s office has said are “propaganda centers” for the Chinese Communist Party.
