Parents who want a Key Biscayne charter high school will have to wait until summer to find out if they will get one.

The village council last week put the project on hold until June.

That upset some supporters of the idea. But the council said it had no choice: Council members feared moving forward with the high school initiative would put Key Biscayne in a financially risky situation.

''How can you do something if you do not have the money to do it?'' Key Biscayne Mayor Robert Vernon asked. ``I cannot favor anything right now without knowing the situation we are in.''

The council members agreed to discuss -- once again -- the feasibility of the project after the Miami-Dade County Property Appraisal reveals this summer the impact the sour economy has had on the island's property values.

Claiming that a community high school would increase the island's revenues, some advocates think the council made a mistake.

''Not doing this is fiscally irresponsible,'' said Angel Martin, who chairs the Key Biscayne High School Initiative. ``The high school would increase property values and provide better services to our families.''

During Tuesday's meeting the council also decided not to form an advisory high school committee to gather more information about the project.

But the council's decisions did not deter advocates from continuing to pursue their much-wanted high school.

''We are going to continue and put together a business plan, and we are going to present it to the council because there just needs to be a high school here,'' Martin said.

Without a high school on the island, students have to attend schools on the mainland such as Coral Gables High, currently ranked a C school.

''Our children are more at risk the farther they go away from home,'' said advocate Gwen Wurm. ``When children are connected to their communities they are less likely to have teenage pregnancies and drug abuse, and drug abuse is an issue in Key Biscayne.''

The ''A'' magnet high school, MAST Academy on Virginia Key, is closest to Key Biscayne families. But it is hard to get into; students have about a 10 percent chance of acceptance through the lottery system.