High school supporters accuse Council of dragging its feet
By: KELLY JOSEPHSEN kjosephsen@islandernews.com
Published in The Islander News February 12, 2009
Local parents are taking new steps in their push for a Key Biscayne municipal charter high school, but say they're increasingly frustrated with what they feel is the Village Council's pokey decision-making process.
Mayor Robert Vernon, however, said he expects decisions to follow shortly after a Council workshop with school consultant Fielding Nair International at 6 p.m. Thursday, February 26, in the Council Chambers. Vernon defended the Council, saying it is moving forward as quickly as possible.
Parents Angel Martin and Charles Viscito beg to differ — they told The Islander News they are concerned and frustrated by some local leaders' recent remarks that the process is moving too fast. They say a lot of research and study have already been done, and the Council should have all the information it needs to make a decision in time to file a charter school application this summer.
To keep things moving, they held several meetings to review FNI's recently-released feasibility study and formed a task force to study a model and curriculum for the school.
"People don't understand what's behind the delay," Martin noted. "What I hear from the community is, 'Why aren't we moving forward? This is a win-win situation.'"
He gets a different sense from the Council: "There's no sense of urgency. The leadership is not there."
Vernon disagrees. "Believe me, we aren't dragging our feet," he said. "Here's what they don't understand: the Council represents every single person in this community. In the public sector, this is a process that is absolutely mandatory. When you're using taxpayers' money, you have to make sure you do the right thing by everybody”.
Parents' new actions
In any case, parents have taken several steps in recent weeks in hopes of keeping the ball rolling.
Martin said the meetings on FNI's report gave parents a chance to digest the consultant's findings. He said those who attended are enthused by FNI's assessment that the Village has the chance to create an exceptional school, and are confident the study answers the two main areas of concern — cost and site.
On the cost front, he said, the school does not need to be subsidized, will actually bring money back to the community through higher property values and will boost local businesses.
As for location, Martin feels Village Hall has plenty of space to accommodate a school — he said offices there are way too large and underutilized, and the Key should not be wasting money in that manner in light of the poor economy.
"Anybody going to Village Hall knows it's a ghost town," Martin remarked.
Still, Martin said, while the feasibility study deals with cost and location, parents realize more detail is needed in other areas. He noted the study was never meant to be the end of the process — it was always the intent to do more research on model and curriculum if the study determined a school is possible.
To that end, parents have formed the Key Biscayne Community High School Education Task Force. Viscito, one of the task force's facilitators, said the group will take a closer look first at the model for the school, and then at the specific curriculum.
Meetings are usually Thursdays at 7 p.m. in the police/administration building's Community Room. If there is a scheduling conflict, times might be switched — Viscito advises anyone interested in attending a meeting to check www.hs4kb.com or the notice board at the police/administration building for updates.
While everyone is welcome to attend the task force meetings and public comment will be accepted, the real aim of the group at this point is for members to generate a product for a public workshop.
Viscito noted the task force is made up of current and former educators — "Other than me, all of the people have educational backgrounds" — so it has expertise in its favor. As Martin pointed out, "We have within the community a tremendous resource — people that can contribute to putting this together."
The task force will start by discussing a basic educational model — whether to go with a traditional style; more innovative, project-based learning; or a hybrid. After the group decides on its recommendation, likely in four-to-six weeks, it will hold two workshops — one with education experts, and one for the public.
Then, the group will review possible curriculums for the school. The conversation will focus on whether to include Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and dual enrollment options; and whether to split the school into academies, like an environmental school or technology school.
And once again, Viscito said, the task force will ask a panel of experts and then the wider community to weigh in on its proposals. Those workshops will take place four-to-six weeks after the first workshops.
A survey will also be used to generate public input. Finally, the group will draft a report detailing its recommendations, which it will present to the Council. Although the task force isn't an official Council committee — and there will, incidentally, be one of those also studying the school — Viscito hopes its work will be accepted as one more source of information.
"We're parents who are reviewing this on our own, but if we do it in the correct manner, we feel it will be valid input for how this moves forward," he said. "Whatever we do, we think it will have some sort of value — it will have some validity. I hope the Council doesn't look at it disparagingly."
Vernon is confident that won't happen. "I think with any project, the more community involvement, the better. I'm all for that," he said when asked what the Council would do with the task force's findings.
Indeed, Viscito said, one of the major goals of the task force is to determine what the community wants — something both he and Council members say is key.
The other main goal, added Martin, is to simply keep the school ball rolling: "Hopefully we'll continue to move things forward."
Parents' concerns
That said, Martin and Viscito are concerned the Council won't move the process along fast enough to open a school for the 2010-2011 academic year. "My frustration is with our Council," Martin admitted. "They keep saying it's going too fast; that they need to know more."
Viscito doesn't understand that sense. He noted the school discussion has been going on for three years, and specific talk about a municipal charter high school has been around for well over a year — so he can't see why the
Council feels the issue still requires so much study.
"We've done a feasibility study. I'm just frustrated at the view that this has to be further studied," he said "There's no doubt more work needs to be done, but there's ample information available for the community to make a decision on moving forward. To think we have to study this for another year or another 18 months is not the approach I think we need."
Indeed, another year of study would prevent the Village from opening a school in August 2010 — doing so requires filing an application by August 1 of this year.
"It looks like there's a lot of time, but in reality, we have to basically be doing these things now," Viscito said. "That's why we want to kick this off now — that's why we're not waiting. "I'm hopeful whatever process we define could conclude in three to four months."
Mayor's response
While Vernon didn't specify how quickly he foresees the process moving forward, he did explain why the Council sees the need for more study and review.
He noted curriculum and school model have never really been his primary concerns — he's confident if the Key decides to open a school, that school will be top-notch.
From the Mayor's perspective, site and cost are still the big question marks — despite the answers given in the feasibility report.
For one thing, he said, some cost numbers might have changed, especially in terms of how much money the Village could expect to receive from the state to pay for the school.
"Nobody's doing very well economically these days — first and foremost the school boards," he pointed out.
Also, Vernon wants FNI reps to explain how they reached their figures for their two leading school site options — an $8 million-plus new construction project at 530 Crandon Boulevard, or a $4 million-plus remodeling of the police/administration building. Vernon noted hard figures the Council has received for an addition to the Community Center indicate FNI's estimates might be low.
Questions about the general feasibility of both sites also linger, Vernon added — for example, there is a strong sentiment in the community to leave 530 Crandon as green space. In any case, a final decision on what to do with the Village-owned lot won't be made for a couple months, following a public process.
Finally — and most importantly — he noted, the Council needs to know how much, if any, the taxpayers would need to subsidize the school. Then, they need to find out if the community is willing — some local leaders have suggested a public referendum is in order.
"There's a lot of work that needs to be done," Vernon concluded. And even once the Council has answers to all those questions, he said, it will have to decide whether it can afford to build a school. He indicated school proponents aren't looking at the big picture when they criticize local leaders for not moving forward more quickly.
Vernon pointed out the Village is still on the line for almost $6 million for the ongo ing sewer and water installation project, and will have to pay Miami-Dade County more than $2 million to buy the land it uses as an employee parking lot — just to name a couple projects. A five-year Capital Improvements Plan is being drafted to set priorities Village-wide, and a school will have to compete with those projects for funding.
In general, "It's a huge commitment from everybody," he said. "I think we'll learn a lot in the upcoming workshop and hopefully we'll be able to move in one direction or another." No matter what, Vernon said, school proponents shouldn't feel the process is moving unusually slow.
"How long did we talk about a sewer project, and that was a mandatory project — we didn't have a choice. We talked about the Community Center for 10 years," he pointed out. "This isn't something we are being lax about at all. I just think there's still work to be done."
"Should the Village build a High School on Key Biscayne? Why? Why not? Do you think Key students will attend the school? Can the Village afford a high school? Where would it be built?"
Email your opinions to editor@islandernews.com before the end of Monday February 16. You can also call in your opinion to the Rant and Rave hotline, 305-361-3333, extension 20. The hotline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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