Palm Beach district to pay $54.9 million in charter schools settlement

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — We’re learning the Palm Beach County School District will be writing a multi-million dollar check to settle with local charter schools.

This all stems from a 2018 referendum where county voters approved a tax to pay for things like school safety equipment, more teachers, additional school police, and mental health resources.

Palm Beach County taxpayers can almost always be counted on to approve tax increases that support local schools. But when they approved an additional tax to support a handful of school needs in 2018, the district got the money, but the county’s charter schools didn’t get a dime. So they went to court.