The Miami Herald, December 31, 2008. By Rocio Blanco Garcia. rblanco-garcia@MiamiHerald.com

Key Biscayne Manager Genaro ''Chip'' Iglesias is reviewing the village's capital improvement plan and might include funding for a possible Key Biscayne charter high school.

At a December meeting, Iglesias presented to the council his five-year plan that did not include funding for the next phase of planning for the high school. Some at the meeting spoke out against the exclusion.

''I was a little disappointed to not see the project in the plan,'' said Angel Martín, who chairs the High School Initiative.

But Iglesias said he is waiting for a consultants' report on the high school that will be presented to the council this month. That will determine how much money will be needed for the next phase of planning, he said.

High school advocates such as Charles Viscito said the manager should have still included funding for the school in the plan.

''It's surprising to see some of these components in the plan and not the school,'' Viscito said. ``The figures that we see in these plans have very low validity.''

When the consultants submit their report, the council will discuss the feasibility of starting the charter high school that many parents have been advocating. There are no public high schools in the village, forcing kids to travel off the island to attend private or public high schools.

If the council decides to move forward with the project, money will be allocated to study the school's design, curriculum and location.

Last summer, council members postponed sending in an charter high school application to the Miami-Dade School Board because they didn't have a cost for the project -- or a location for the school.

Some Key Biscayne residents, however, think they may have found a location for the school: the village hall.

''I think there are some good resources in the center of town that we can leverage and the village hall is one of them,'' Viscito said.

Iglesias did not agree.

''I do not think it [the village hall] is a good long-term solution,'' he said. ``It would displace a number of functions we have there.''

The island's police department and the offices of the manager and the clerk are currently located in the village hall.

An open space at 530 Crandon Blvd. is another possible location for the school, Iglesias said. But to build a school there would involve the island taking out loans.

''The construction cost would be such that we would have to borrow money,'' Iglesias said. ``But we would pursue any capital dollars that are available.''