High School doesn't make five years list
Published in The Islander News December 11, 2008. kjosephsen@islanderews.com
It's arguably the biggest project being discussed in Key Biscayne these days, so many residents wonder why a local high school/community learning center doesn't appear on a draft of a five-year Village Capital Improvements Plan.
"In the last 12 months, it has had a lot more visibility in the community than even the sewer projects," said Angel Martin, a leader in the drive for the school. "What is it that it would take to have the project included in the five-year CIP — not only included, but included as a top priority?"
Village Council members say the omission doesn't mean they don't support the school, just that they don't have enough information to include it in a formal plan.
The Council met Tuesday, December 2, to discuss a consultant's first draft of the CIP, which won't be finalized until next year. The plan lists and ranks capital projects — defined as those that result in a fixed asset or extend the life of a fixed asset — to be accomplished between now and Fiscal Year 2014.
A first draft of the CIP covers many much-discussed initiatives — studying underground utilities, buying land for parks and open space, expanding the Community Center — but does not make mention of the high school/community learning center, for which a consultant is currently drafting a feasibility study.
School proponents say that's a glaring omission — indeed, almost all the public input at last Tuesday's workshop came from residents who support opening a high school on the Key, with several telling the Council they are distressed that the project does not show up on the ClP draft.
"I was a little bit disappointed not to see our project included in the projects going forward." Martin said. noting a high school was discussed in the 2020 Vision Plan and Evaluation and Appraisal Report, two documents that were used in drafting the CIP projects list.
Many speakers said the school would rank high using the CIP criteria, which include improving public safety and adding new services on the island.
School proponents said education is the biggest need on the Key, and the project is a public safety boon because it keeps teens from having to make the dangerous commute off the island for high school.
They also noted the project would create a true “community learning center" that can benefit all of Key Biscayne, not just students; and would increase property values.
For their part, Council members said the omission by no means suggests the school is off their radar — instead, they explained, there simply isn't enough information to put it on the CIP list.
As Council member Michael Kelly noted, there is no dollar figure attached to a building for the school, so it's difficult to include the project on a list designed around providing cost estimates for projects.
Vice Mayor Michael Davey agreed, but he understands school proponents' concern, and offered some reassurance: "We're not saying this isn't going to happen just because it's not on the list."
Mayor Robert Vernon added the Council is clearly committed to exploring the school, as evidenced by the consultant's ongoing study. However, "The items that are in the plan now have dollars attached to them because we know what they are. It's very difficult to throw a number at the school — because are we going to build a school, or are we going to lease space? All that is going to be answered sometime in the January/February (high school/community learning center) workshops," he said.
Council members stressed they can add the school to the list at any time, even bumping it to the top as a leading priority if that is what's best for the community.
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