Miami school board and WLRN management group settle lawsuit

The Miami-Dade County School Board and the South Florida Public Media Group have settled their legal dispute over a proposed radio expansion for WLRN in Miami, according to a Wednesday joint news release.

The parties, which entered mediation in February to resolve the litigation, agreed to proceed with the $6.45 million purchase of WFLM, a commercially licensed station in West Palm Beach. South Florida PBS, which manages WLRN-TV/FM in Miami under a contract with the school board and negotiated the purchase agreement, will transfer the WFLM license to the school board for $1, pending FCC approval.

MDCSB is the licensee of the WLRN public media stations. The school board approved the settlement during its Wednesday meeting, according to Andrew Ruiz, assistant superintendent, media and public relations.

The agreement goes beyond the scope of the litigation to extend SFPMG’s contract to manage the stations by seven years.

WLRN announced the purchase of WFLM last June after filing an asset purchase agreement with the FCC. The school board tried to block the deal at the FCC and later filed a lawsuit with the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County, seeking to block the transfer of funds needed to complete the purchase. Earlier this year the FCC rejected the school board’s petition to block the proposed deal and left it up to the local courts.

According to the joint statement, SFPMG agreed to “revise its corporate purpose, governance, and leadership. In furtherance of this goal, SFPMG has appointed Tom Hudson as interim CEO. In a shared commitment to the station’s future, Miami-Dade County Public Schools and SFPMG are working in close coordination to ensure a smooth leadership transition.”

Prior to his appointment as interim CEO, Hudson was WLRN’s senior economics editor and special correspondent.

The statement makes no mention of John LaBonia, who led WLRN as GM from 2000–2022 and then became CEO. LaBonia, who pursued the signal expansion plan with the approval of SFPMG’s board, told Current in an email that he is moving into an advisory role with the SFPMG board of directors.

“SFPMG is grateful to John and his years of leadership of WLRN,” said Giselle Reid, FPMG spokesperson, in an email to Current. “The stations have grown to become among the most prominent public media organizations in the country.”

“Both parties are dedicated to ensuring that the integrity, quality, and goodwill of WLRN remain strong for our community,” the school board and SFPMG said in their statement. “Our joint priority is to protect the employees and resources that support the high-quality journalism and programming that make WLRN a community treasure. As we move forward together, we remain focused on maintaining the excellence the public expects from WLRN.”