The Miami-Dade School Board on Wednesday delayed a vote on whether to approve 14 new charter schools in the county, amid frustration over the school district’s limited authority over charter schools and worries over conflicts of interest.

In a 5-4 vote, the board decided to address the 14 charter school applications next month, so board members can have more time to review the merits of each application. School district staffers have also asked the board to reject two other charter school applications.

Board member Marta Pérez said the delay was warranted in light of a recent series of Miami Herald stories raising questions about potential conflicts of interest at some South Florida charter schools.

“We need to take a look at those conflicts of interest and see how they impact us,” Pérez said.

But board member Raquel Regalado, who sought the delay, said the district ultimately has little authority to reject any charter schools if the applications meet the guidelines of state law.

“We’re very limited in what we can say about these applications,” Regalado said. “I don’t think the public understands this is completely ministerial.”

The 16 applications were among more than 90 charter requests Miami-Dade administrators received this summer. Helen Blanch, the district’s assistant superintendent for school choice, said the district has already broken a state-mandated deadline of Oct. 31 to approve the charters.

While the further delay could prompt the applicants to appeal the board’s decision to the state Department of Education, the school district’s attorney, Walter Harvey, said the potential for litigation over the delayed applications was “minimal.”

Of the 14 applications up for approval, four are from the Somerset Academy network of schools — the largest school network in the region, with 22 schools in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. The Somerset schools are managed by Academica, the state’s largest charter-school management company.

“We have a proven track record of positive results,” said David Concepcion, a Somerset Academy board member and the city clerk of Hialeah.