Village will explore creating charter school

Islander News. February 7, 2008. kjosephsen@islandemews.com

The Village Council voted last week to explore the idea of open­ing a municipal charter school —one the community might help sponsor and operate — in Key Biscayne.

Two camps of residents, both of which say they ardently support a nearby public high school for Key Biscayne teens, had different reactions to Council's January 29 decision.

At a Tuesday, January 29 meeting, the Council directed Village Manager Chip Iglesias to work with the High School for Key Biscayne Stakeholders Group, a group of local parents, to hire a consultant to help explore the possibility of bringing charter a municipal charter school – a State funded public school organized and/or sponsored by the municipality in which it is located — to Key Biscayne.

The Village will pay the consultant using funds set aside in its 2007-2008 Capital Outlay for educational initiatives. "At this point, there's a partnership between the High School Stakeholders Group and the Village," Iglesias said. "This does shift some of the re­sponsibility to the Village to do our due diligence."

Council member Michael Davey put the issue on last week's agenda and was pleased by the outcome.

"I think we did a good thing After talking with people about municipal charter schools, I like the idea," he said. "I was shocked to learn parents, teachers and administrators have to bring in supplies to the (Key Biscayne) K-8 Center. We pay so much into the public school system, and I understand there are other needs, but the com­munity is entitled to sufficient money to run a school.

"With a municipal charter school, we'll have the ability to do and I like that."

Davey stressed there’s a lot of research that needs to be done before any decisions are made — part of which is whether there truly is a need for a local high school — but he's happy that the ball is rolling.

Mayor Robert Vernon pointed out the high school campaign has been around since his predecessor, Robert Oldakowski, put it in the public eye several years ago; but the idea of a municipal charter school is a new one that Council members have little experience with. "We've got to do all our homework and see if it's feasible, but we're going to pursue it. We'll get all the facts and see where it goes from there."

The Council's decision followed a January 29 presentation by Angel Martin, head of the Stakeholders Group. Martin was pleased by the Council's reaction: "From our perspective, the presentation went very well," he said. "We think the Council came to a better understanding of the issue at hand."

Council member Pat Weinman said Martin is right-on in that assessment.

"Angel Martin and the group of parents who have been working together for two-and-a-half years or more or more toward a high school have done a great job as citizens. The level of research they've done gives us a very firm platform from which to do our further due dili­gence," she said.

With that in mind, Martin and Iglesias are working on a list of assets they want in a consultant, one of which will be prior success and experience with municipal charter schools.

Iglesias hopes to have more detail to bring the Council at its meeting Tuesday, February 12 at 7 p.m. in Village Hall. Along with working with Martin to hire a consultant, he's talking to officials in places like Coral Springs, Cape Coral and Aventura: "Those are communities that have gone down this road," he said. "I want to garner whatever I can from those who have already learned from this process."

While all that moves forward and will like­ly ultimately result in a formal bid process to hire a consultant, a second group of residents is questioning last week's developments.

Raul De la Heria is spearheading a group of residents who say they're 100 percent behind building a nearby public high school —but favor Virginia Key as its location. De la Heria said he was troubled by the Council's action, and the fact that they took comment from no one but the Stakeholders Group.

"Obviously, that was of great concern to us," he said. "When somebody presents something, I think it is wrong of the Council not to allow comment and to simply accept their facts as a given. This was the first time anyone heard it, so it should have been tabled in order to hear from other groups."

De la Heria's group formed over concerns about the Stakeholders Group's original con­cept of pushing for a public high school on the campus of the Key Biscayne K-8 Center.

Even though the K-8 Center site isn't a focal point of the talks about a municipal high school, with most eyes still looking inside the Village boundaries for a location, De la Heria said his group wants a commitment to instead exploring a school on nearby Virginia Key.

"I want to make it very clear — we are not, in any way, shape or form, against the high school — we are for the high school," De la Heria said. "We want a high school for Key Biscayne students, but we think Virginia Key is the best site, and we think the Village Manager and every resident has to work for that."

Virginia Key has been mentioned in the past as a possible site, and local officials continue to play a role in the City of Miami-led Virginia Key Master Plan process, which will guide Virginia Key's future.

Weinman, for one, wants the neighboring island to remain on the table as the Village does its feasibility study.

"Personally, I am advocating for the feasibility study to also look at Virginia Key. A municipal charter is a very interesting idea with potentially enormous benefits, but also extremely difficult to accomplish," she said. "I don't see that it's any easier than what we were trying to achieve on Virginia Key. I think it's very important, that we take an honest look at what ultimately would be the best for our kids."

Martin, however, said his group feels it's more appropriate to locate the school within the Village. "A school for a community needs to be in the community — not a place where your drop kids off," he said.

The Stakeholders explored Virginia Key in the past, but stepped away from the concept because the island is owned by the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County, and they don't want to rely on outside entities. "I think ..this is a decision the community needs to make," Martin explained. "This is the way many municipalities are doing it, because of the efficiencies of a smaller government managing resources rather than a large government that has so many different chal­lenges and needs to address."

Martin said the Stakeholders would be thrilled if the Miami-Dade School District, which owes the K-8 campus, agreed to put the charter school there — but he doubts that will happen. He noted the school district sees char­ter schools as competition to its public schools, so a land- sharing agreement is unlikely.

Therefore, Martin said, the Stakeholders Group is "looking at different sites" in the Village, but can't go into detail right now. One thing he did make clear, however, is the group would never promote eminent domain to buy houses to get land for a school: "That," Martin stressed, "is definitely off the table."

For their part, Iglesias and Vernon said a lot of work must be done before even discussing sites.

Iglesias said the consultant will be able to tell the Village more about the square footage and number of classrooms needed for a quality school. He expects a wide range of options.

Therefore, "My focus is, let's find out what the requirements and the options are to have a quality municipal charter school. I want to un­derstand what is needed, and then once we understand that, we'll be able to identify some locations. But I prefer to do the analysis first."

No matter what, Vernon noted, finding a location will be the toughest part of the process.

"If it's something the Council moves for­ward on, the biggest task is where to put it," he acknowledged. "Finding places to put things is very difficult out here."

De la Heria said he'll continue to push for Virginia Key and against the K-8 Center campus. He noted a high school needs a certain amount and variety of curricula to succeed, and he doesn't think the K-8 Center site can accommodate that. He noted the K-8 Center itself is already at capacity, and there's simply not enough space to also provide adequate high school facilities.

For one, De la Heria said, high schools differ from elementary and middle schools in that they create a need for parking not only for teachers, but students. School sports are another concern — he said the K-8 Center has lit­tle space for ballfields, meaning students who want to compete in athletics would turn to the Key Biscayne Athletic Club programs, taxing the Village's already limited field space.

On the flip side, he said, a Virginia Key high school would offer ample space for parking and fields. He pointed to a playing field component that already is part of the Virginia Key Master Plan discussions.

Weinman said she understands De la Heria's position, noting if the Village does look to the K-8 Center site, input from the neighborhood would be "intrinsic." "It's a very congested area right in the middle of a residential neighborhood," she said. " I think we'd have to be very creative to solve those problems."

In any case, Martin won't abandon plans to improve the K-8 Center, with or without a high school.

He said the logic behind the Stakeholders' original idea — that the K-8 Center's two elementary school buildings be replaced with new elementary classrooms and a high school — is still relevant, as the buildings are old and in "deplorable" shape. Even if the Village moves toward a charter school, Martin said it's important not to abandon the idea of improvements for local elementary school kids.

"We're very encouraged the Council agreed with moving ahead in trying to work with Miami-Dade County to solve some of the teaching and learning conditions at the elementary buildings," Martin said.

In the meantime, De la Heria said his group will continue its efforts as well. They're setting up a website and inviting other residents to provide input and ideas, and talking with experts on charter schools as to "how we can do this right, and not just throw a band-aid on the problem."

Also, they'd like a chance to address the Council in the future. "This is just the beginning," De la Heria said "We're getting Our campaign ready to address the issues that we feel need to be addressed."

Vernon is confident many questions will be answered in the future, as he foresees a long process. "It's something that, unfortunately for some, may not happen overnight," he remarked. "But it's certainly another option. It would be our baby, so to speak. We have to look at all the pros and cons."

Weinman agrees, adding that as the mother of a high-schooler and a fifth-grader, she knows first- hand how time-consuming and stressful it is to find the right school.

"It's horrendous that we're in this situation where residents truly don't have acceptable options for a high school," she said. "We can't take our time in addressing this —this is an urgent need. If we could figure out how to have an A-level high school here next September, it wouldn't be too soon."

Back to news