The School Board of Miami-Dade County, the licensee of Public News/Talk 91.3 WLRN-FM Miami, 91.5 WKWM Marathon/Key West, and 101.9 W270AD West Palm Beach as well as their Classical service on WLRN-HD2 and WKWM-HD2 and WLRN-TV has filed a petition to deny with the FCC against South Florida Public Media Group’s $6.45 million purchase of Hip Hop “104.7 The Flame” WFLM Palm Beach Shores to bring a full-powered Public News/Talk station back to the West Palm Beach market.

South Florida Public Media Group is the former Friends of WLRN Inc., which has an operating agreement to manage the stations. It has served as the fundraising arm of WLRN since 1974 and took over full management of the stations in 2022 following a dispute after Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and a committee recommended South Florida PBS take over the stations.

In its petition, the school board alleges that because SFPMG’s funds raised by donors are for the exclusive benefit of WLRN and there is no other source of income that the buyer has falsely certified it has the funding to make the purchase. They also allege the acquisition as a breach of contract and fiduciary obligations as manager and fundraiser of the stations as any use of the WLRN endowment or donor-raised funds would constitute a misappropriation of funds. The board states it will issue a cease or desist to SFPMG demanding reimbursement of any funds already used for the acquisition and will be seeking a full audit of WLRN funds used in anticipation of a lawsuit.