Daily Outtakes: UWF Getting Charter School, But Who Will Run It?

University of West Florida faculty and staff received an email from the administration on Friday stating, “The University of West Florida is exploring the possibility of establishing a tuition-free, K-3 elementary school on campus. At this stage, we would like to learn more about the level of interest within our UWF community.”

The email added, “If pursued, the school would be part of UWF’s School of Education, creating valuable hands-on experiences for our education students, while offering enrolled children access to innovative curriculum and instruction.”

• What’s unusual: The School of Education faculty had no knowledge of a charter school coming on campus and being set up in Building 86.

Survey

Interested faculty and staff were asked to complete a brief survey. The survey asked for names, phone numbers and email addresses. Parents were also asked about their students’ grade levels for the 2025-2026 school year and were required to answer: What factors are most important to you when considering a new school for your child?*

• Academic quality
• Safety and environment
• Teacher preparation and expertise
• Location/convenience
• Cost (no tuition)
• Other:

Whose School?

The survey indicates the school will be “supported by the University of West Florida’s School of Education,” but doesn’t state who will run the school. The School of Education faculty has not been asked to set up a school on campus.

Three independent sources have shared that Interim President Manny Diaz, earlier this month, toured a rather strange ground around the campus and Building 86, home to the College of Education and Professional Studies. The group was “women wearing dresses below their knees and men in black.”

One source added, “Right out of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale.’”

• Background: “The Handmaid’s Tale: is a dystopian novel published in 1985 by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, later adapted into a television series. It depicts a near-future New England where a totalitarian, theocratic regime known as the Republic of Gilead has overthrown the United States government and imposes extreme patriarchal control over women, especially fertile women who are forced into reproductive servitude as “Handmaids” for elite couples.

The school idea apparently started with a charter school company seeking to rent a UWF property across from the Argo Village, but the idea changed to putting the school on campus, with the goal of launching it in January 2026 with 50 students. It’s uncertain whether the school will be a classical education charter, which has been supported by Hillsdale College, the alma mater of Diaz’s chief of staff, Clifford Humphrey.

• Dig Deeper: Jennifer Diaz, the wife of Interim UWF President Manny Diaz, is the former vice-chair of the governing board of the Tallahassee Classical School.

Charter School Connection

A Tallahassee source shared that if Diaz wants to place a charter school on the UWF campus, it’s likely associated with Academica, Florida’s largest charter school management company. Diaz was the chief operating officer of the private Doral College, which is affiliated with Academica. Doral College was created in 2010 to offer advanced courses at charter schools, for which it receives over $100,000 from each school.

Diaz’s advancement to COO of Doral College (2013-2022) coincided with his election to the Florida Legislature (House, 2012-2018; Senate, 2018-2022), where he chaired key education committees and advocated for charter schools.

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