Contract Details
The four-year agreement, effective Nov. 3, 2025, grants the Miami-based charter school operator use of approximately 6,464 square feet in Building 86, including six classrooms, bathrooms, administrative space, and a playground area. FE – Somerset Academy – License Agreement 11.03.2025_001
Under the financial terms, Somerset will pay UWF $500 per enrolled student annually, with enrollment calculated each October 1st. Payment is due by December 31st or within 30 days of invoicing. This performance-based fee structure means UWF’s revenue will fluctuate with student enrollment rather than receiving fixed rent payments.
- Is it valid? Check out the signatures. UWF Vice President of Finance and Administration Daniel Lucas signed the agreement on behalf of the UWF Board of Trustees, but the board never voted on the agreement.
Manny Explains
The license agreement was mentioned publicly for the first time during the UWF Board of Trustees meeting on Jan. 8, when trustees interviewed Interim President Manny Diaz before the board voted to forward his name to the Board of Governors to become the university’s next president. However, he did not give the trustees copies of the license agreement.
Diaz said he had been approached “for sort of a pilot school in some space we have with our School of Education,” and he later confirmed that the company that approached him was Somerset Academy.
- “We had conversations with those folks and reached an understanding of a shared use agreement for a private non-tuition school to start as a pilot on the campus,” he said. “And originally they had a sense of urgency. They wanted to come in in January, and obviously, that timing didn’t work. But I think what we’re looking at is possibly for the fall.”
As we pointed out last month, Somerset has advertised for students on its website for Somerset University Preparatory Academy, whose address is in Building 85 on the UWF campus. The semester tuition was listed as $3,750, with a $100 registration fee.
- However, the page has since been scrubbed. Gone are the header “A Private Elementary School location on the beautiful University of West Florida Campus,” “Opening January 2026,” and a message for the principal.
Though the Somerset website makes no mention that the school is only for UWF and appears to be recruiting students, Diaz insisted it would not operate as a charter school on the campus.
- “Now to be clear, that is not a charter school,” said Diaz. “That’s a private, philanthropically funded small school. You probably have space for about 40, 45 students that would be filled by the kids of our faculty, staff, and students, because the demand is there.”
When asked about the Somerset web page, he said, “So just because there’s a link for a school, which we talked about opening that pilot school for applications, doesn’t mean it’s a charter school. It’s not. We can’t authorize a charter. From my knowledge, the district hasn’t authorized to receive an application for a charter to put a school here.”
Whose Truth?
Diaz continued, “Let’s talk about truths, right? Let’s not make things up. The facts are that this organization has both private, virtual, and brick and mortar schools that are both charter and private. And in this case, what they approached us with is we know we can’t do a charter, but we have philanthropic funding that would be no tuition for your faculty, students, and staff, kids, and that’s how it’s been approached.”
- He wrapped up the discussion with: “At the end of the day, what I want to clear up here is some people are trying to make this out as if the institution is granting something to somebody. It’s the other way around. This is a benefit to the institution. We’re not spending money. We’re going to take in revenue and benefits for faculty, students, and staff, and I’m never going to apologize for that.”
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