The Miami-Dade school board members like to thoroughly review materials before voting on a matter that will have widespread consequences for the district. They said as much at Wednesday's school board meeting, where they spent hours reproaching how little time they were given to review the item before them: giving dedicated space in five high schools to a major charter school network, while the district largely foots the bill of the entire operation.
But despite firm remarks about how blindsided they felt, after a contentious debate they approved the item — and with a supermajority.
Success Academy, a charter network from New York which last year announced its expansion to Miami-Dade County, is making an entrance through the Schools of Hope program. Created by state lawmakers in 2017, the program encourages more publicly funded, privately run schools to open in areas where traditional public schools have been failing for years, giving students and families in those neighborhoods a way out of a struggling school.
A law last year gave more leeway on where Schools of Hope can operate, allowing them to set up operations within the walls of a public school if the campus has underused or vacant space.
READ MORE: 'A parallel system': Miami-Dade school district to be cut out of decisions about charter schools
Republicans favor the approach, saying it promotes school choice and parental rights, while Democrats warn it defunds school districts and weakens public education.
All board members, conservatives and progressives alike, agreed they didn't have enough time to go through the proposal, saying they received it just the day before. But, due to how long the superintendent had been negotiating with the academy, if the board didn't make a decision the matter could have gone before a special magistrate who would make the decision for them. They were in a bind.
"We're required to make a vote with a gun to our head," said board member Danny Espino. " I don't like feeling like that... and I don't think that it's lost on us that we are negotiating from a weakened position."
Five locations
Influential billionaire Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, is backing Success Academy's move into Florida with a $50 million gift.
The charter network's venture into the Miami-Dade landscape will begin at five school locations: Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High, Homestead Senior High, Miami Jackson Senior High, North Miami Senior High and Westland Hialeah Senior High schools.
The one-year renewable contract aims to open classroom doors for kindergartners and first graders starting in August 2027. Success Academy will have access to the buildings starting June of this year for renovations.
Board members seemed appeased that it's a short-term contract, feeling it gave the opportunity to go back to the drawing board when the matter comes before them again.
Although the district is being compensated on a per student basis annually, $700 per student, there are various financial implications to the move.
The state funds districts based on enrollment in public schools — the more students a district has, the more money it receives. These five Success Academy schools have a projected enrollment of 4,200 students; some may come from the district, others may be coming from other charter schools or even a private one. And the district is already being impacted by huge enrollment drops.
Not only does the district lose funds based on enrollment, but it's responsible for paying maintenance, utilities, custodial services, transportation and security.
To help compensate for some of those costs, Success Academy agreed to an annual $700 per student annual fee. But it's "insufficient to cover all proportional costs the District will incur," the agenda item read.
'A complex journey'
"This is our first time dealing with co-location," said superintendent Jose Dotres. "We had never entered into this world and so it's been a complex and difficult journey."
Dotres took a lot of heat from the nine-member board, especially after he said he and the administration had been negotiating with Success Academy for six months to arrive at this point. He explained the charter's initial desire was to open in seven schools, but this was negotiated down as the district's goal was to retain "as much control as possible."
Espino voted in favor of the item, reasoning he didn't want a decision to be made for them by a special magistrate — who would likely also have green lit the action. But the board member remained steadfast in his disapproval on how they got here.
By foregoing a more detailed conversation and now having to vote in front of constituents, many who disapprove of Schools of Hope, "everyone [will think] that we're the ones ushering in a hostile takeover of our district. It's a difficult position to be in and I don't appreciate it."
Board member Luisa Santos, who represents the district Homestead Senior High is in, expressed concern for what the co-location would mean for students with disabilities.
" On paper it may look like we have the seats, but in reality, once I started looking at how you implement this year one and year two, at the specific school in my district, the reality would be that you're doubling and tripling up some of those highest need students into environments that frankly will become very chaotic," Santos said.
Founded in 2006, Success Academy has nearly 60 schools and has educated 22,000 students in New York City, mostly from low-income households in neighborhoods. It notes that 100% of its graduates have been accepted to four-year colleges and universities, and that most are the first in their families to have the opportunity for higher education.
CEO of Success Academy Eva Moskowitz last September said she hopes to enroll between 8,000 and 10,000 students in Miami-Dade within five years, and expand further into Florida.
“We are honored to partner with Miami-Dade to ensure that every child — especially those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds — has access to an exceptional public education," Moskowitz said in a statement to WLRN. "We look forward to continued engagement with Board members and the District as we work together to deliver for Miami's very deserving communities.”
Student Sebastian Santiago, president of the Student Government Association at Westland Senior High, told board members he opposed the move. He said it's "unrealistic" and fears high schoolers will be running into first graders in hallways and cafeterias.
"I'm a registered republican, I 100% believe charter schools have the right to exist. However, as a student of Miami Dade County Public Schools, I believe, like my fellow Wildcats here, [Success Academy] is in no place to take our classrooms and spaces," he said.
