Danny Aqua: Jewish schools in Florida are booming; regulatory barriers may throttle future growth.

Thirteen years ago, Katy Horowitz opened a Jewish daycare for five children in Miami Beach. From that humble beginning, her little operation grew into the Gan Katan Preschool and then the Pardes Day School.

This month, the latter is welcoming its inaugural seventh grade class – and between the two campuses, the schools will serve 220 students.

As impressive as that is, Horowitz could serve twice as many students – if only she could find an adequate facility.

Her story offers a telling split-screen of what’s happening with Jewish schools in Florida – and for the private school sector.

On the one hand, there’s unprecedented growth, fueled by the expansion of school choice scholarships and the in-migration of Jewish families, especially from New York.

At the same time, the boom is about to hit a wall because of regulatory barriers, including mounting challenges in finding usable, affordable building space.

This merits the attention of policymakers. As Florida continues to lead America in choice and innovation, new challenges are emerging on the supply side. In a nutshell, zoning and building codes in the Sunshine State are stuck in the past.

This wouldn’t be a problem if school choice wasn’t so popular. However, Florida is showing the rest of the country that the expansion of learning options is benefiting families and communities of every variety.

According to a new report by Teach Coalition and Step Up For Students, the number of Jewish schools in Florida nearly doubled between 2007-08 and 2022-23, from 40 to 74. Over that same span, the number of students enrolled in them rose from 8,492 to 13,379 – an increase of 58 percent.

But as our report also notes, warning signs are flashing.

Most of the newer Jewish schools have stayed small, at under 250 students. Again, that’s not due to demand. In South Florida, restrictive zoning, increased competition from other schools looking for space – and, frankly, opposition from misguided local officials – are all causing complications.

Recent changes in state law will help. HB 1285, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed this year, allows schools to open more easily in churches, synagogues, community centers, and a subset of other facilities. But that pre-emption isn’t across the board like it is for public schools.

However, new schools often still struggle with outdated fire code regulations. Whether they plan to service six, sixty, or six hundred children, new schools are still subject to the same fire code. This means that they must spend significant funds to retrofit a building that might only be used for twenty children. This has left many schools unable to open because of financial barriers.

I know because I’ve seen it happen at school after school. Utah became the first state last year to regulate fire codes for small schools differently than large ones, allowing them to open much more easily while keeping children safe.

It’s also important to note that private schools don’t have access to more than $4 billion in locally levied capital facilities funding – and receive less per scholarship than districts receive per pupil. This inequity makes the hunt for facilities even more difficult in the face of rising real estate costs.

Florida’s choice policies will only be as successful as the educational marketplace permits. Without the ability to create new schools and expand existing schools, parents will be limited in where they use their scholarships.

Every child deserves to find the best school for them. Let’s make sure those schools can exist.

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Danny Aqua is the director of special projects at Teach Coalition, an Orthodox Union project that advocates for equitable government funding for nonpublic schools.