Byron Donalds's wife's firm gets most of a charter school's tax money

Nearly all of one school's money is listed as due to her company

Erika Donalds's company, OptimaEd, is in line for nearly all of one online charter school's public money this school year, about $15.7 million. Her husband, Byron Donalds, is the Republican candidate for governor, and the governor signs the state budget that supplies part of that money. The school, Optima Classical Academy, is a public school whose classes are online. A nonprofit board, not the school district, oversees it. The school pays OptimaEd, a private company, to manage it and to supply its online teaching. Erika Donalds, a former Collier County School Board member, runs private companies that charter schools hire to manage them. That board approved the charter that lets the school operate. The school's budget for this year sets aside only a small share for its own costs and lists the rest as due to OptimaEd. That is the year's plan, not a record of payments.

The story so far: Byron Donalds, a congressman from Southwest Florida, faces Democrat David Jolly for governor on Nov. 3. His political committee, Friends of Byron Donalds PAC, raises money for that race. Ken Griffin, the Citadel hedge fund executive, wrote the committee's biggest check. GEO Group, a Boca Raton company that runs for-profit prisons and immigration detention centers, gave the committee $1 million on Oct. 8, state records show. No record ties any donor's money to the school money in this story.

Why it matters: The state budget supplies about $9.7 million of the money, and Collier County taxpayers supply part of the rest. Local property taxes add about $4.1 million, and a school tax Collier County voters approved adds about $2.1 million. Ethics experts told the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald that the family's reliance on that state money could pose a conflict if he wins. Byron Donalds told the papers that if elected, he would follow legal guidance and all ethics rules, including recusal. The school is paid by the student under the state's school funding formula: the more children it teaches, the more it gets. The school's audit for last year, filed with the state, says OptimaEd manages the school.

What's new: On Oct. 22, the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald published an analysis of tax filings and state audits. It found five state-funded charter schools have paid more than $30 million over four years to two companies run by Erika Donalds. Both Donaldses answered the papers in statements, printed below under Their side.

Who's who

Byron Donalds is a congressman from Southwest Florida whose district covers Naples, Fort Myers and Cape Coral, and he is the Republican candidate for governor (WUSF). Erika Donalds, his wife, is a former Collier County School Board member who runs private charter school management companies. Her company OptimaEd is a Naples curriculum company that the Times calls a virtual reality curriculum company. Optima Classical Academy is an online charter school; its state audit calls it a component unit of the Collier County School Board. David Jolly is the Democratic candidate for governor.

The school's own budget lists the money line by line

The school's 2026-27 budget, marked "Amendment 1 9/8/26," lists $15,719,881 as "Due to Virtual Instruction Provider (OptimaEd)" out of total income of $16,095,715. It plans for 1,733 students. The budget prints its figures without dollar signs; we read them as dollars.

Most of that income comes from the state's school funding formula, $15,991,182 in all. It has three main parts: $9,733,422 in base funding from the state budget, $4,059,891 in local discretionary property tax money and $2,085,648 from a Collier County school referendum. Federal grants add $104,533.

The school's own expenses come to $375,833: $99,533 for student software paid by a federal grant, a $160,957 line labeled "PEN Fee (prior board)" and a $115,343 fee to Collier County Public Schools. The rest, the school's net income, is the line listed as due to OptimaEd.

By our arithmetic, OptimaEd's line is 97.7% of the school's total income and 98.3% of its state formula money. That is about $9,100 for each projected student. This is why we write "nearly all" where the Times and Herald write that all of the taxpayer money goes to her company.

The school's board met by video on Sept. 8, with the budget amendment on its consent agenda for a vote. The amended budget lists the sum; we have not seen a record that the board approved it.

The year before, the school's 2025-26 budget listed $8,299,347 due to OptimaEd out of $8,496,099, for 1,000 projected students. By our arithmetic, this year's sum is about 1.9 times that. The Times and Herald report the school paid OptimaEd $10 million in service fees last year, a figure for money paid, not the budget line.

Earlier years show the same pattern. The news site Florida Bulldog reported in June 2025 that the school's audits showed service fees to OptimaEd of $1,085,266 in 2023 and $2.1 million in 2024. That was nearly 89 percent of the government money the school received in those two years, the site reported.

Her company's contract passes the public money through

The school's audited statements for the year ended June 30, 2025, filed with the Florida Auditor General, describe the deal. The school "entered into a contractual agreement on October 11, 2022 with OptimaEd, LLC," for one year that renews unless either side gives 180 days' notice.

Under it, "the School shall pay a monthly service fee to the Service provider equal to the total sum of federal, state and local funds, less the Administration Fee." That year the school "incurred service fees of approximately $4.4 million" on total revenue of $5,015,232. The audit says the school is in its third year and "is managed by OptimaEd, LLC."

Revenue is not profit. The Times and Herald say the roughly $30 million paid already, and the expected $16 million this school year, "represents overall revenue to Erika Donalds' organizations," and not her personal profit margins. No record we read shows her profit or pay, and no wrongdoing is alleged.

His own disclosures show the family's stake

Byron Donalds's 2025 House financial disclosure, filed Aug. 13, 2026, lists his wife's holdings through Onesto, LLC, a holding company of which she is the sole member. It values her stake in OptimaEd, Inc. at $500,001 to $1,000,000 and her stake in Optima Management Services, LLC at $250,001 to $500,000. It lists OptimaEd, Inc. as a source of spouse salary.

The same filing says OptimaEd converted to a C corporation in November 2025, which is why we call it her company, OptimaEd, rather than an LLC today. His amended 2023 disclosure valued the two stakes at $1,000,001 to $5,000,000 each. By our sum that is $2 million to $10 million, the same range the Times reports for 2023.

The Times and Herald, reading his disclosures, report that he valued his own assets at $141,000 to $805,000 in 2020 and at $510,000 or less ever since. They report the couple's total reported wealth peaked at $2.1 million to $11 million in 2023, and that most of it is tied to her charter school companies. These are ranges of reported ownership value, not income or profit.

Donalds disputes that reading: "Erika built her own career, and her businesses' reported ownership values shouldn't be confused with personal income."

Five schools have paid her companies more than $30 million

The Times and Herald analysis covers five state-funded charter schools and two companies Erika Donalds runs. It reports she was a Collier County School Board member when her husband entered the Legislature in 2016, and that she founded the nonprofit Optima Foundation in 2019.

The papers report that Treasure Coast Classical Academy cut ties with her nonprofit foundation and is suing it, alleging breach of contract; the case is ongoing. Two Jacksonville schools switched management in mid-2023, and two of the schools' annual financial statements blamed her foundation for past auditing problems. Erika Donalds disputed that her nonprofit mismanaged an audit at the Jacksonville schools.

Naples Classical Academy paid her two companies $9.1 million from 2022 to 2025, the papers report. It has cut the fee it pays Optima Management Services from 12% of its revenue in 2024 to 1% this year as it moves to manage itself.

Florida's ethics code applies to the governor and not to the governor's spouse, the papers report. Ethics experts told them the family's reliance on state per-student money, approved in a budget that needs the governor's signature, "could present an ethical conflict" if he wins Nov. 3.

Who is paying for his race

The biggest single check in state records through Oct. 9 is from Ken Griffin of Miami, the Citadel hedge fund executive. State records show he gave Friends of Byron Donalds PAC $10 million on July 17, 2026, and The Real Deal calls him Donalds's top donor.

GEO Group, the Boca Raton company that runs for-profit prisons and immigration detention centers, has given the committee $3.5 million in four checks, state records show. They are $500,000 on Dec. 30, 2025 and $1 million each on May 7, Sept. 2 and Oct. 8, 2026. WUSF reported Sept. 30 that GEO had given Donalds $2.5 million, which matches the three checks before Oct. 8.

Dream Finders Homes, the Jacksonville home builder founded and run by Patrick Zalupski, gave the committee $150,000 on July 6 and $50,000 on Sept. 15, $200,000 in all, state records show.

The committee has also paid the Republican Party of Florida $35 million in 10 payments from Nov. 5, 2025 to Oct. 5, 2026, by our sum of state records. The largest was $8 million on Sept. 28, and the latest was $4 million on Oct. 5. The Real Deal counted more than $22 million to the party through Sept. 25.

The Real Deal put Donalds's fundraising at $120.5 million through Sept. 25, with $82.5 million spent. WUSF reported Sept. 30 that Jolly had raised about $7 million for his committee, against more than $115 million for Donalds's.

No record ties any of this donor money to the school money, a vote or a contract. A check's date shows when it was written, not why.

Their side

Byron Donalds told the Times and Herald: "If elected, I will follow legal guidance and comply with all ethics requirements, including recusal." He added: "My decisions will prioritize the law and Floridians' best interests, with an education agenda focused on academic excellence and expanding opportunities."

He also said: "Erika is a successful entrepreneur with deep experience in education policy and school operations. I value her perspective, which she has earned through her own work." And: "There is only one governor."

Erika Donalds told the papers: "I plan to continue my business and foundation leadership roles. My businesses do not contract with the State of Florida, and that will not change if Byron is elected governor." She added: "Families need more educational options, and I intend to keep building, helping schools succeed, and expanding opportunities for students."

The Times says she noted that her companies are paid by the charter schools through management contracts, not by the state directly. The campaign declined to make her available for an interview.

What's next

What's next: Early voting is open in many counties and runs statewide Oct. 24 to 31, and Election Day is Nov. 3, 11 days after this edition. The state's calendar for statewide candidates sets a report covering Oct. 10 to 16 due Oct. 23, daily reports due Oct. 24 to 29 and a report covering Oct. 17 to 29 due Oct. 30. A state query of the PAC's receipts run Oct. 22 shows the newest posted contributions dated Oct. 9.

Sources we read

Optima Education Network, doing business as Optima Classical Academy: its 2026-27 budget, Amendment 1 dated Sept. 8, 2026; its 2025-26 budget; its Sept. 8 board agenda. Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald, Oct. 22, by Claire Heddles. Florida Auditor General charter school audit filing for the year ended June 30, 2025. Clerk of the U.S. House: Byron Donalds's 2025, 2024 and amended 2023 financial disclosures. Florida Division of Elections contribution and expenditure records. Florida Department of State election dates and the 2026 statewide reporting calendar. WPTV and Sarasota Magazine on county early voting dates, Oct. 19. WUSF, Sept. 30. The Real Deal, Oct. 8. Florida Bulldog, June 29, 2025, by Will Bredderman. Dream Finders Homes management page.