Charter School Feasibility Study in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metro Area

South Florida: fourth nationally for school loans

The South Florida record for school spans FY2017 to FY2026: 41 loans, $44.2 million. For school, South Florida comes in at 4 of 154 nationwide; at home the class places 19 of 39. South Florida leans hard on school: the location quotient of 1.62x dwarfs a national-level share. Miami-Dade County, FL leads the county detail. Project counties: Miami-Dade County, FL (24), Palm Beach County, FL (9), and Broward County, FL (8).

Half of South Florida's loans land between $264,000 and $1.3 million, around $908,000 at the median. At 1.33x of the national figure, school projects in South Florida cost more to finance. In South Florida, 7(a) covers 27 loans and 504 covers 14. No franchise share appears for South Florida, because SBA holds it back.

A single development company

Florida Business Development Corporation is the lone name on the list, under 504, and its dollar total is large for the count. For 504, the page names Florida Business Development Corporation (8 loans, $10.4 million). The South Florida holder list reflects SBA records, files only, never practices.

Cancellation and loss rates are absent for South Florida, and blanks are not zeros. FY2018, 9 loans and $4.7 million, FY2023, 5 loans and $8.0 million, FY2025, 6 loans and $4.0 million, and FY2026, 5 loans and $3.6 million appear in the yearly record. In South Florida, thin counts hide the missing years. Charter loans cannot be told from private-school loans in this code, and nonprofit charters, the majority, sit outside SBA's lending, so the totals understate the sector. A county match sits behind each South Florida figure, leaving unplaceable projects out.

South Florida study: the key tests

Enrollment drives everything: the study should set seats by grade against the approved cap, then test the district and charter seats in Miami-Dade County, Palm Beach County and Broward County that compete for families. Per-pupil funding arrives on a state schedule, and payroll, special education and facility cost use it before rent or debt service does. A 504 loan funds the building, so the plan should show how the lease or ownership structure ties to the charter term, and what happens if a renewal is refused. Hurricane exposure and insurance belong in the facility budget. Valuation should address re-use cost, since a school building has few alternative users. The school should also show how it plans to retain teachers, since turnover affects performance reviews and, over time, renewal.