Village suspends application for Charter school for 2009-2010
Published in The Islander News September 18, 2008
By: KELLY JOSEPHSEN kkjosephsen@islandernews.com
The Village Council has suspended its application to open a municipal charter high school on the island for the 2009 - 2010 school year.
In doing so. Council members did set specific dates for a public process to further study the school idea. and promised that before they break for their summer recess next year, they will consider submitting an application to open a school for 2010-2011.
The action came during a well-attended Tuesday, September 9 meeting.
School advocates pleaded with the Council to go ahead with an application. Jameela Blumberg said the application can be amended later, so it's best to keep it in the pipeline and preserve the chance of starting a freshman class next year: "To give up on that hope and that dream by deferring the application is to give up on our potential; to give up on the greatness we have in our hands," she argued.
However, for local leaders, the decision came down to a desire to be careful.
"Everybody up here is trying to balance everything — it all comes down to doing it the right way," noted Council member Michael Davey. "My personal feeling is, let's be conservative on this."
Fellow Council members agreed — the decision to suspend the application was unanimous.
Application
It was Council member Pat Weinman, an advocate for the school, who put the suspension proposal on the agenda. Her motion also included tenets to establish a schedule for a public input process and create a High School Citizen Advisory Board to help with that process.
Village Manager Chip Iglesias placed nearly identical motions on the agenda.
In their proposals, Iglesias and Weinman gave similar rationale for suspending the application: that the Village needs more time to go through what Weinman called a "structured, meaningful" public process.
Iglesias also noted the Miami-Dade County School District has reached the point in its review of the application where it is requiring specific information on the school's proposed budget, site, governance, curriculum and operational plan. It's information the community simply isn't ready to provide, he said.
School proponent Michele Manjarrez, however, said the Village can get an extension from the School District, allowing the Village's expert consultant and devoted volunteers to work on the needed answers: "We have a lot of competent people in the community that would like to continue the work," she noted.
Iglesias responded he has no doubt local parents would put in the time, however, "The problem is some of those issues are not sweat equity. They're decisions that have to be made by this community. There are some that will require a series of workshops to come up with a decision.
"I can unequivocally tell you there is no way that information can be provided at this point," he stressed, adding the Village would have to ask the School District for an extension. Even with an extension, Building, Zoning and Planning Director Jud Kurlancheek said, the School District's ability to be flexible amounts to weeks, not months. "It certainly is not going to move into the springtime" when the Village would be done with its public process, he said.
Kurlancheek added strong words in urging the Council to defer the application: "I know of parents who have this expectation that it may, it could, it might. Faith and hope are wonderful things, but at a certain point, and I hope it's tonight, there has to be a decision made that it cannot go forward in '09. because certain parents will rely on this faith and hope expectation," he said.
Vice Mayor Jorge Mendia and Council member Thomas Thornton voiced similar concerns.
Manjarrez, however, said it's "patronizing" to suggest parents are blindly counting on the local school. "What's not OK is to withdraw an application that has already been posted. that has been worked on for hundreds of hours by many, many people," she said, adding the application still doesn't commit the Key to anything if, following the public process, it turns out the school won't be ready next year.
Added school supporter Rhonda Fuchs, "I think we have to get started. Let's not have fear, because fear only keeps us from moving forward. It paralyzes us."
Kathy King, co-chair of the committee that produced the application, made a similar push: It's imperative we move forward with these workshops, that we keep the ball rolling. I urge you. don't take this as a way to step back. Keep moving forward," she said to applause from the largely pro-school audience.
Village officials, however, said they don't want a "haste makes waste" situation.
Davey worried the Village could jeopardize a future application by pushing too fast. "If we go forward with the application and then pull it later, what damage would that do to our potential application for 2010? I'd rather be safe than find out the School District is going to come down heavy on us later on."
Council member Enrique Garcia said the Village has to do things right, and that means answering the School District's questions clearly. "That answer we got from the School Board was an absolute reality check," he said.
Added Mendia, "I think we weren't doing the community a favor by pushing that piece first. When you look at the responses from the School Board, we're nowhere near ready. It's an incomplete application with too many holes that we won't be able to answer for months."
Mayor Robert Vernon noted the Council's current stance shouldn't come as a surprise, and Weinman added local leaders said all along they would pull the application if they weren't ready for the school.
Vernon said the application was filed "to have our foot in the door." with the understanding the Village needed to study the issue to find out if a school is feasible. "It's in our best interest to go through this process and get the answers we've been asking for and we're now being asked for by the School Board," the Mayor said. "After that, if it's in the best interest of the community. we move forward."
Public Process
Indeed, the Council set a specific process to study the issue, as per Weinman's and Iglesias's motions.
Informational workshops will start this fall, followed by decision-making sessions early next year. The process kicks off Wednesday. October 29 with a Visioning session from 8:30 - 11 a.m. and an Educational Models workshop from 7 - 9:30 p.m. On Thursday, October 30, the Educational Models discussion is from 8:30 - 11 a.m. and the Visioning event is from 7 - 9:30 p.m.
A Wednesday, November 19 "Charter High School" meeting will be held from 8:30-11 a.m. and 7-9:30 p.m. All sessions will be on the second floor of the Community Center.
In his report to the Council, Iglesias noted that by starting some sessions this fall, the community won't lose enthusiasm for the project, something school advocates have feared.
Thornton said the new schedule makes sense. "By having these workshops we'll have a better vision and understanding of what we want," he noted.
And the Council's vote does require it to at least consider submitting a new application to open a school in 2010. Weinman's motion states the Council must do so before its summer hiatus in 2009, which would allow the document to be filed with the School District before the August 1, 2009 deadline.
Committee involvement
Council members indicated they will rely on a citizen committee to help reach that decision, another suggestion voiced by Weinman, Iglesias and school consultant Fielding Nair International.
A High School Citizen Advisory Board would include residents with expertise and interest in the school initiative. Fielding Nair's Prakash Nair suggested up to a 15-member board — a number that raised the eyebrows of some Council members — that would be representative of all viewpoints.
Village Attorney Steve Helfman said he'll work with Nair on the composition and role of the board and will bring an ordinance to form the group to the Council's next regular meeting October 14.
Public comments
Although school proponents had pushed hard for a faster process, several indicated they simply want to work with the Council to build consensus in the community.
Fuchs had feared the issue was becoming divisive, but on September 9 finally local leaders and residents were having a healthy dialog. "I'm hoping we can be on the same page and have the same passion and the same enthusiasm and the same desire for better education in Key Biscayne," she said.
Blumberg added she hopes the Village can create a school that benefits all segments of society. "Our intention was always to place a center that could build bridges within the community," she remarked.
Finally, a pair of students indicated there is still plenty of interest in a local high school.
Despite having to stay at the Council meeting late on a school night — the school portion of the agenda was interrupted by a lengthy budget hearing that had to take place at 7 p.m. due to state notice laws —some Key Biscayne teens who attend Coral Gables High School said a local facility is much-needed.
The students described being picked up at 6:20 a.m. by a bus so full that kids sit four-to-a-seat or even on the floor, only to go to an equally packed school — one psychology class had 50 students — that looks more like a jail. The teens also said they're excited by school proponents' idea of project-based learning, which gets kids out of a classroom and into the real world for hands-on education.
School consultant Nair said those comments, and remarks from parents, suggest the Village is ready for a school. "A key to success of these schools is that enthusiasm comes from the community. The Key has that. The factors for success are already here," he assured Village officials.
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