Village Council hires school, capital plan consultants
Published in The Islander News May 29, 2008
kjosephsen@islanderews.com
The Village Council hired consultants earlier this month to oversee infrastructure planning and to study the idea of a municipal charter high school.
Keith and Schnars will create a five-year Capital Improvements Plan, while Fielding Nair International will help local leaders learn about school options. Both projects should take two or three months.
A vote on a third contract, to help solve an open space shortage, was tabled at the request of Council member Pat Weinman, who missed the Tuesday, May 13 meeting at which all three contracts came up.
School study
Fielding Nair's contract generated the majority of the discussion May 13, before Council members approved the $124,000 agreement for the fine to study a municipal charter high school for the Village. Such schools are linked to and often financially supported by the municipality in which they are located.
The contract breaks down like this: $72,000 to Fielding Nair for visioning and planning services specific to Key Biscayne, $32,000 to EdVisions for general information on municipal charter schools and possibly $20,000 to In Rem Solutions for the preparation of a municipal charter high school application.
Fielding Nair officials expect the project to take about 10 weeks, or until late July.
The task will include multiple public workshops; talks about curriculum, staff development, desired student outcomes, etc.; and a "site walk" to help stakeholders learn about available options. Ultimately, Fielding Nair will create a list of possible sites and provide sketches that illustrate stakeholders' vision.
Meanwhile, EdVisions will provide "nuts and bolts" information about municipal charter school models, including organizational structure, start up costs and funding sources.
Finally, In Rem would be available to handle the actual application with the State of Florida for creating a charter school. That point was key to the Council's discussions last week.
Council member Steve Liedman voiced concern after Village Manager Chip Iglesias noted the Village would have to submit a letter of interest in July and a formal application at the start of August. Liedman said Fielding Nair doesn't anticipate finishing its study until late July, which means the application would be filed without Council members having much time to digest all the information.
Fielding Nair's Prakash Nair noted the application could be pretty generic, giving local leaders flexibility as to how the school would ultimately turn out. He added the application doesn't compel the Village to act, and warned the community will have to wait a full year to apply if it doesn't file by this August.
Local leaders indicated they're willing to do so if it means a better decision-making process.
Council member Enrique Garcia noted, "This is a decision that will change the way we live, and I don't feel comfortable making any decision right now. I'd rather take an extra year and do it right."
Council member Michael Davey; a leading advocate of the school, added, "I can't expect everybody up here to make a decision based on no information. I don't think that's fair. We have to rein in the idea of going forward with an application until we have the information in front of everybody."
Iglesias and Village Attorney Steve Helfman said that's been the plan all along. "That component of the work is only authorized if the Village decides to move forward," Helfman said; and Iglesias added, "The intention wasn't to say you have to move forward. It's upon our direction to engage that portion of the contract."
Along with questioning the application, Council members sought to make sure Fielding Nair will provide all the answers they're after. Liedman and Vice Mayor Jorge Mendia noted the. firm's proposal focuses heavily on visioning, but they want to make sure they get basic information on costs and operation.
Mendia said the question of what kind of school the community envisions is, to him, secondary.
"The first question is what can we have, before what do we want to have," he said. "We need to know what is expected of us, what it's going to cost, what are the risks of having a charter school. There's a lot of information we as a governing body need to know before we go into the visioning part. "We're trying to be as diligent as we can, because we're going to be dealing with people's tax money."
Nair assured him basic information will come alongside the visioning process.
Despite all the questions, Council members expressed overall enthusiasm about the school study.
"Knowledge is power," Mayor Robert Vernon said. "This is about giving our kids the opportunity to get a first class education. What we're doing is committing to a process to find out all this information. If the people up here think it's worth pursuing, it will be pursued. If we don't, it won't"
Meanwhile, two residents who addressed the Council gave the initiative mixed reviews.
Kathy King was thrilled with the contract, and urged the Council to form a citizen's committee to work alongside Fielding Nair. "I think they're outstanding, and they're going to bring so much to the table," she said. "We'll really get a great idea of what's possible here as far as a charter school."
However, former Council member Mort Fried lashed out against the project in general, arguing Village taxpayers would still send millions of dollars to the Miami-Dade County Public School District — while at the same time paying for the community's own municipal charter school.
Citing examples from his own family, Fried said the Village's feeder pattern public high school -- Coral Gables High — is a good school that the community is already paying for.
"I don't know what people are looking for. To keep their kids from being involved in humanity, in the real world? Keep them limited to Key Biscayne, so they don't know what's going on in the real world, and don't meet people other than the people they grew up with on Key Biscayne?" he wondered.
CIP
Elsewhere, Fort Lauderdale-based Keith and Schnars will be paid $63,395 to help draft a five-year CIP.
Iglesias suggested the CIP to improve infrastructure planning by prioritizing projects and setting time-lines, costs and funding sources. The plan can be updated each year during the Village's budget process.
Keith and Schnars personnel will hold public workshops and meet with Village staff to learn about the community's needs and priorities. From there, the consultants will create a document that lists priorities, recommends viable time-lines and identifies budgets and funding sources for specific projects.
That way, Village officials will have a clear idea of which infrastructure projects can be done right away and which should be listed as long-term goals.
The firm will start its work shortly, as Iglesias wants the CIP to be part of the Village's budget hearings in September. Council members are also enthused to see the work get underway. "I think it's long overdue," noted Mendia; and Vernon added, "It's definitely the right way to budget our funds."
Open space
Finally, Weinman had asked that a contract for a park and open space consultant be tabled until she can be present, as the issue is near and dear to her heart.
The Council was expected to act on the contract at its meeting earlier this week on Tuesday, May 27.
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