THE DISTRICT IS 100% FALSE ON THE LAW

Dear PARENTS AND TEACHERS OF K8 CENTER,

I am very disturbed to know that individuals continue to forward information that is simply not true. Everyone has a responsibility to learn the facts and share them in an intelligent manner.

The attached highlighted quotes are scare tactics by the District similar to the tactics previously used by them to intimidate any parents or teachers who simply request the right to choose as free Americans!

People have been falsely claiming that Mr. Cambo will profit from the rebuilding of the school.  This is a lie.  Mr. Cambo cares deeply about this community and the educational well being of the Village children.  It is a shame that people must resort to personal attacks to avoid discussing the issues.

We should all stand up and support Mr Cambo who is solely driven by providing your children with a new building for your currently unsafe and dilapidated school which is not up to code!

We have proposed a 7 member finance committee made up of Village residents.  These persons will make sure that no one profits from our children.  Additionally, it is the School District that will be in charge of choosing the contractor and issuing the payments to the contractor.  Once again there is no way that Mr. Cambo or anyone in his family can profit.  It is silly and irresponsible that people continue to repeat the lie that Mr. Cambo will profit.  He will not.  All of the below information has been covered by the Islander in several articles.  Yet no one seems to read these articles and that is unfortunate. They should.  

If the parents and teachers vote yes to convert the school to charter, there is no law in Florida that will require the School District to prevent 350 children from attending the K-8 Center.  This information that District is putting out is 100% false.  There will be no lottery.  The charter will provide that any resident of the Village will be entitled to attend the K-8 Center - the same as it is now.  There is no application process.  There is a registration the first time a child is enrolled - the same as it is now.  

The law in Florida requires the School Board to treat a charter conversion the same as a District operated school.  

Fla. Stat. s. 1002.33(18)(a) states that any “local governing authority must treat charter schools equitably in comparison to similar requirements, restrictions, and processes imposed upon public schools that are not charter schools.” The phrase local governing authority includes the School Board.  In other words, if the School District can operate the school beyond its capacity, then the non-profit charter conversion can also operate it beyond its capacity. This is the law.  

The entire purpose for calling for a “yes” vote is to rebuild a new school that can accommodate 1800 students.  

At the present time, the District operates the K-8 Center with 1330 students – and has been operating the K-8 Center in its overcrowded capacity for a number of years.  It is the District’s position that so long as they are operating the school that the District is allowed to operate it beyond it capacity. However, once it is converted then the law (the District of course refuses to cite to any laws)  compels them to remove 350 students. How convenient and, quite frankly, absurd.  There is no law that will prevent 350 students from attending the new non-profit charter school.  That is a fact.

We have conferred with regulatory officials in Tallahassee.  If the parents and teachers vote “yes” for conversion, there is no specific law that would prevent the current 1330 students from continuing to attend the K-8 Center while the school is rebuilt.  If, after a “yes” vote, the District begins to take steps to stop 350 students from attending the K-8 Center, then that is something that they are doing “on their own” and is not something that is being required by any regulatory officials.  This is simply a scare tactic - like the one the District employed at Neva King Cooper last year.  

In February 2012, the Principal and Assistant Principal of Neva King Cooper, a special needs school in Homestead sent a letter to District asking for a vote to convert their school to charter. Four months later, the Principal was demoted to the mailroom and the Assistant Principal was demoted to the motor pool. It was alleged by District administrators that they were intimidating and coercing the teachers to vote yes. Both the Principal and Assistant Principal filed complaints with the Florida Department of Education for unlawful retaliation. 

The Inspector General’s Office of the Department conducted an investigation that was completed in November 2012. The Report was sent to the District to provide them with 60 days to comment on the findings of the Report. The Report has 2 main findings, or what it calls “summaries:” (1) “all employees interviewed stated that neither Fernandez (Principal) nor Cristobol (Assistant Principal) threatened or intimidated them regarding the charter conversion issue,” and (2) “when each of the employees were asked if they felt threatened or intimidated by District administrators being assigned to (Neva King Cooper) daily, many of the employees stated that the District presence made daily operations uncomfortable.” The Report recounts how numerous District employees had descended on the school in order “to help” teachers during the run up to the vote.

The District never held the vote after the demotions. 
How interesting and convenient.

What is important for parents and teachers at our K-8 Center to know is that the District is wrong on the law - and that all of the children currently enrolled at the K-8 Center will continue to attend the school.  

Now is the time. Get the facts. Vote yes on charter for the future of our children!!

Hector Ceballos

How Charter School Developers saved New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina

Teachers and parents who may be in the opposition claim how those greedy Charter School Developers are, well read the attached article ‘The Economist’ Magazine titled 'Katrina  Awakening' how charter saved the City of New Orleans District schools after Hurricane Katrina destroyed, eliminated and blew away 80 schools in 4 hours. Then contrast that reality to Missisippi right next door affect by the same storm

K8 Center IS NOT A FOR PROFIT CHARTER SCHOOL

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K8 CENTER IS A CONVERSION SCHOOL: 

NOT A FOR PROFIT CHARTER SCHOOL 

NO LOTTERIES NO WAITING LISTS 

IT IS AGAINST THE LAW TO BUS 350 STUDENTS OFF THE KEY ALL KEY BISCAYNE STUDENTS STAY and more will be welcomed.

Fla. Stat. s. 1002.33(18)(a) states that any “local governing authority must treat charter schools equitably in comparison to similar requirements, restrictions, and processes imposed upon public schools that are not charter schools.” The phrase local governing authority includes the School Board.  In other words, if the School District can operate the school beyond its capacity, then the non-profit charter conversion can also operate it beyond its capacity. This is the law.  

Especially if the new Charter intends to expand the school to 1800 students to eliminate overcrowding.

FLA DEPT. OF EDUCATION HAS ULTIMATE AUTHORITY OF THE CHARTER APPLICATION FOR A NEW SCHOOL FOR 1800 STUDENTS.

Note: After Reading THIS LETTER entirely, PLEASE [cut and paste] to Parents and Teachers email and forward to your KID'S classroom E-lists so they may read our proposal in the manner you have in context.

Dear K8 Parents and K8 Teachers, 

The charter conversion school we are proposing AS PARENTS is the first conversion school of a Miami-Dade District School, not a traditional 'For Profit' Charter school with limited capacity and random lotteries and waiting lists. Our proposal is much more forward thinking and modeled after McKeel Academies schools converted to charter by the Polk County School Board, not by parents, in Polk County Florida. We have proposed a very different 'pro-forma' than a “for profit charter school”. For Profit Charter model where a developer builds on speculation and TAKES THE FINANCIAL risks leasing to a group of parents who care enough for their children's future, to apply for a Charter, get approved by Miami-Dade School Board, and suffer POLITICAL FUNDING consequences all of which the new KBK8 Tequesta School will not have. INCLUDING: NO Tuition -NO Entrance exam -No Lottery -No waiting lists 100% 33149 zip code. The administration of the school is funded directly by 97% of the FEFP Funds or sometimes called FTE Funds directly from the FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION but IN THE CONTROL OF THE KB PARENTS, as guardians not MDPS as stated correctly in The Principal's letter dated January 22nd. 

Our K8 is a conversion charter does not seek profit. It seeks to reinvest every dollar back into the school every year, forever. It does not need to because there are no inherent market pressures mentioned above. 1) No land to purchase it continues to be MDPS owned. 2) The construction is funded by donations and philanthropy and 3) the budget generates surpluses because the building itself is new and more efficient to operate at lower maintenance cost per square foot of building. 4) No District administration economies of scale. They overpay for everything!

Today the District claims it is underfunded by Governor Scott and in deficit while ignoring their bloated economy of scale written in policy manual of MDPS procurement office and overwhelming bureaucracy that wastes and never maintains. Instead our New School with a leaner budget with one employee as school administrator together with The Principal reporting to a finance committee of (7) KB Parents will efficiently use the present funds from the State (based on FTE student enrollment) , which leaves a surplus from $750,000.00 to $1,000,000.00 to reinvest back into our school every year forever. As opposed to what occurs today at the K8 Center: those same dollars are hidden from the taxpayer legally and even from the Principal’s discretion and spent on other schools within the South Florida district on the Mainland. MDPS loses that money if you VOTE YES!! That is the motive the District has to misinform, scare you with the threat to bus 350 kids off the key. No law exists that gives them authority. It is contrary to Village of KB ordinance to that effect passed in Dec 2009 that is reflects the ILA agreed upon by 30 municipalities and the School District.  These surpluses in today’s K8 budget will never be made public. Our Attorney will request the public information request via courts in the meantime. 

Since the passage of School choice initiatives by Gov. Lawton Childs in 1997, Florida was 38^th in the nation as a public schools system back then. Today as a direct result of Gov. Jeb Bush's charter school choice accelerated competition initiatives, all Superintendents in every county in Florida had to stay competitive created more magnet schools, more Cambridge Programs, more STEM curriculums, more International Baccalaureate^® (IB) and today Florida it is presently number (6) sixth in the nation.

In contrast, to the Teachers opposition claims how those greedy Charter School Developers are, read the attached article on our blog from ‘The Economist’ Magazine titled 'The New Orleans Miracle' how charter saved the City of New Orleans District schools after Hurricane Katrina destroyed, eliminated and blew away 80 schools in 4 hours. Then contrast that reality to Mississippi right next-door affected by the same storm and approved 1 (one) Charter School.

What makes our proposal perfect for our times, is that in the process of taking back our school that has been neglected even after exceeded all expectation countywide, we can have a direct hand at making sure we have a great school for the future kids even if they are not own. Today our unsafe school presently sits below flood grade for a barrier island and under downpours it has reported by parents in testimony before in the Village Council chamber of feces returning back into the classrooms. This is not a laughing matter; most parents for last twenty-five years, just leave to private schools. These proponents will not. Instead we will propose the alternative. Please read all the materials we have prepared and our public statements in the Islander News we have posted for your review in our blog: www.kbk8conversiontocharter.blogspot.com  

The present student body of 1330 remain as well as their siblings at the K8 Center uninhabited and unaffected while construction occurs on the baseball field for 1800 students. No bussing of 350 students off the Key because it is against the law, No random lotteries, no waiting list no exclusion ;100% Key Biscayne. Instead the opposite occurs more students will be enrolled and welcomed from 33149 Zip code after the new school is built. Upon completion, those attending classes in the old building on McIntyre Street to the campus on West Enid Drive on the South side of the property. What can possibly be wrong with that? Ask yourself; does a new facility jeopardize our ‘A’ School? Or will it likely create an A+++++ plus school. What great teacher will not want to teach here if some of present teachers choose to leave after the YES vote?

With No vote our K8 School if renovated completely, will still not reduce overcrowding and will not bring the old building up to building code or above flood criteria. A 2008 Castaldi study commissioned by the MD District validates this conclusion; it states: K8 Center “has exceeded its useful life" and as such, is waste of Taxpayer money to refurbish. Yet the Village and The MDPS agreed to ignore the engineers. It makes sense if you seek to reduce the K8 to a K-5. By 2016 with a K8 student population exceeding approximately 1560 students the District will have no choice but to reduce the K8 to K5. The Mayor of Key Biscayne hints of that scenario ambiguously, in the January 17^th Islander News article (we posted it on our blog). Hon. Caplan is quoted, that a K5 reality will not be “intrinsically a negative”. We beg to differ. But by the time it was obvious to all of parents today that the proponents were correct in our assertions, it is too late to fix and our Village is lesser as a city forever.

Recently it was announced 350 students will have to be bussed off the key and if YES vote succeeds we cannot change alter or demolish the existing school. Well not true. We are in constant contact with the Governors office. Since we are the first parents to use the present trigger letter law passed in 2004, they are watching with interest. If the School Board rejects our Charter Application with $10 million in funding for 1800 students with the promise to build state-of the art school, the Florida Appeal Board will approve it with their veto power. It has 95% record of overturning disapprovals at the County level for charters. Instead the District is announcing to fast track the $2M renovation the Village already wired to the District, to sidetrack our efforts. So prepare for chaos dust and noisy old classrooms, this year.   

Parent Governing Board, with more authority as Guardians of the schools budget. Nothing more nothing less. With one big caveat a NEW SCHOOL WITH ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES AND NO OVERCROWDING.

HOW is NOW turn your mirrors to windows and remove yourself from your prejudices for a moment.

MDPS school will never alter itself with lets take the Parents .... "Kindness for Weakness" role-play. They cry deficit, we run to buy paper and pencils, water dispensers and paraprofessional salaries, Smart Boards, video cameras etc. How long with this go on? 

Think of all the South Florida parents with dilapidated district schools in their neighborhoods looking for answer and find out that Key Biscayne Parents took the lead to be bold and shared their personal resources on behalf of your kids. They came out of the discord with the finest K8 educational campus in the Miami-Dade County with a Lit up Library on the roof looking like beacon on the bay. 

On the other hand if opposition is right, we fail and we lied and we were greedy after all, Superintendent Carvalho gets a brand new expanded school for 1800 students for free.  What can possibly wrong with that? 

Vote Yes to convert to charter and tell everyone you did. ó

Benefits YouTube video vote Yes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lUzMsVduWw&feature=youtu.be


Look at your life through your child's eyes. Make this video go viral in our Village.. This does not require IQ, but rather the  I-Can in you.. pass it on!.. ó

convertir a charter video en YouTube (espanol)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pte7OR6YKGM&feature=youtu.be

En Español : Aplica tus principios a tu circunstancias.. Mira tu vida por los ojos de tu hijos. COMPÁRTELO Y Vote Si'

K8 CENTER WILL BE REDUCED TO K5

THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE SAME ISSUE AS MY GUEST COMMENTARY IN THE ISLANDER NEWS OF JANUARY 17TH. OUR VILLAGE MAYOR VALDIDATES MY ASSERTION THAT THE UNDERFUNDED RENOVATION WAS INTENDED TO BE AN INADEQUATE FIX TO THE POOR AND OVERCROWDED CONDITION OF THE K8 CENTER. BECAUSE BOTH MDPS AND THE VILLAGE OF KEY BISCAYNE SEEK A 'RIGHTSIZE' SCHOOL ON OUR ISLAND. THIS CLEARLY MEANS REDUCTION TO K5 ELEMENTARY; SIMPLY PUT CLASSIC POLITICAL AMBIGUITY. BY THE TIME THE    COMMUNITY REALIZES HOW RIGHT WE PROPONENTS WERE,  IT TOO LATE TO CORRECT AND 25% OF THE PRESENT TEACHERS LOSE THEIR JOBS. CONVERSION CHARTERS ARE NOT LIKE FOR PROFIT CHARTERS. IN A CONVERSION SCHOOL ALL PRESENT STUDENTS AND THIER SIBLINGS ARE GRANDFATHERED IN AND THERE IS NO LOTTERY. NOTHING CHANGES IN YOUR PROPERTY TAXES. THE MONEY COMES DIRECTLY FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA. A NEW SCHOOL ELIMINATE OVERCROWDING FOR THE NEXT 60 YEARS. 

VOTE YES AT THE MEDIA CENTER FEB 21-22 25-26-27-28

READ BETWEEN THE UNDERLINES..Ó

ISLANDER NEWS GUEST COMMENTARY JAN 17th

Please read my guest commentary published on January 17th 2013. I make a plege to all parties voting in this ballot, I explain the ramifications if the parents and teachers fail realize that our Village and Miami-Dade County Public schools are in agreement that to reduce overcrowding at K8, expected to be over 1560 students by the time MAST is complete in 2016, our school will be reduced to a K5 elementary as it was before incorporation. An overcrowded K5 that is unsafe and below flood citeria for a barrier island. It has "exceeded its useful life" as 2008 Castaldi Engineering study hired by the District showed and concluded renovation is a total waste of taxpayer money. In 2009, I began my advocacy for a new school before the Village Council. 

My Regards . Ó

VOTE YES!! TO CONVERT-FEB 21-22 25-26-27-28

VOTE YES!!   on Conversion to K8 Charter School       

ON FEBRUARY 21 and 22 also 25, 26, 27, 28 
from 8 am to 6:00pm ballot box at the Media Center .

LOOK OUT FOR YOUR BALLOT  ARRIVING IN THE MAIL






Look into your child's future

see greener pastures .........

VOTE YES TO REBUILD A STATE-OF-ART K8 CENTER FOR 1800 STUDENTS TO END OVERCROWDING for 60 years..........

Vote YES to put Parents in charge of the schools budget and create $1 million in budget surplus instead of decades of deficits.


VOTE YES TO PAY TEACHERS  MORE DIRECTLY!!

VOTE YES TO A New multi-sport recreation facilities where the old buildings are on the north side and Penthouse Library on the roof  looking at Downtown Skyline!!

(EN ESPAÑOL) BENEFICIOS DE CONVERTIR KB K-8 CENTER A CHARTER

 TODOS LOS ESTUDIANTES DE KEY BISCAYNE SE QUEDAN !!!
NO HAY LOTERIAS  NO HAY LISTA DE ESPERAS. LO OPUESTO  OCURRE 500 ESTUDIANTES MAS EN EL NUEVO COLEGIO!

Esta es la votación más importante desde la votación para  incorporación de Key Biscayne en 1991. 

Como graduado de KBCS de la clase 1977, estoy compartiendo con ustedes esta idea cuyo tiempo está alineado con el apoyo de las directivas de la política en el Departamento de Educación de la Florida. Hector Ceballos y yo, comos padres, presentamos la "Trigger Letter" formal a la directora del Centro K-8 el 8 de Enero 2013. Esto significa que la ley estatal exige al distrito de escuelas públicas de Miami-Dade ("Distrito Escolar") a celebrar una votación dentro de los próximos 60 días entre padres y maestros para decidir si el Centro de K-8 debe convertirse en una escuela de "Charter" , sin fines de lucro, con una junta directiva de Padres quienes serian los guardianes del presupuesto del colegio.  

Beneficios en votar in favor de convertir el colegio KB K-8 a "Charter School" :

No.1 A sin fines de lucro escuela permitirá a los donantes de la comunidad la plataforma filantrópica dar grandes legados subvenciones para rehabilitar y ampliar los edificios escolares en 150 McIntyre Street. Esto eliminará hacinamiento, levantar el nuevo edificio por encima de los criterios de la inundación y elimine los problemas de seguridad para nuestros estudiantes.

No.2 El Consejo Directivo de Padres van a contratar un administrador de la escuela para ayudar a la Comisión de Finanzas de (7) miembros de los residentes de la aldea, para supervisar las finanzas y administrar el presupuesto de la escuela. Todos los fondos excedentes se reinvierten en la escuela cada año académico para siempre. 

No.3 La Principal , profesores y su personal permanecerá en nuestra escuela inequívocamente y sin excepción si los maestros desean quedarse. La Principal tendrá la autoridad final única para evaluar y premio aumentos a los maestros directamente en una línea de tiempo más ventajoso que actualmente se ofrece bajo salario inflexibles y estándar del distrito escolar de MD pagan horarios.

No.4 Para los Profesores votar "No" no es una opción: Cuando nuestra escuela se reduce a K-5 despues de la terminacion del la clave de MAST@Virginia Key de grados 6-12; 25% del profesesorado del nuestro centro actual de K-8 sera despedido o trasladado a diferentes escuelas del districto de Miami-Dade.

Finalmente, en el gran esquema de las cosas, una escuela nueva Key Biscayne siempre trae una comunidad nuevamente. Maestros más felices que estudiantes más felices y esto se traduce en aumento de prueba puntuaciones y el empoderamiento para sobresalir en la escuela secundaria. Sigueremos Siempre Adelante! ó

BENEFITS TO CONVERT KB K-8 CENTER TO CHARTER

       This is the most important vote since the vote for Incorporation in 1991. 

As a concerned parent and KBCS alumni class of 1977, I am sharing with you this well thought out idea whose timing is aligned with the support of policy directives in Florida Department of Education in Tallahassee. I along with Hector Ceballos, we will be submitting  the formal trigger letter to the K-8 Center principal on January 08th 2013. This means that state law mandates that the Miami-Dade Public School District (“District”) must call a vote  within the next 60 days amongst parents and teachers to decide whether the K-8 Center should be converted to a non-profit charter operated school. This is mandated by State statute 1002.33 3(b). The present student body stays and their siblings are grandfathered in while be expanded a new facility for 1800 students on the baseball field.THE LAW DOES NOT GIVE MDPS SCHOOL AUTHORITY TO BUS 350 STUDENTS OFF THE KEY! A VILLAGE ORDINANCE PASSED IN DECEMBER 2009 ALSO SAYS THE SAME. 

The following are the Benefits to consider when voting "Yes" to convert-to- charter and allow the community of parents and patrons to demolish the (3) 57-year old dilapidated school buildings to rebuild a new Charter School on the baseball field that will convert our school into an educational campus as exemplary as our Village is. Upon completion of the new facility for 1800 student capacity the primary school children will move into the new facility. The new multi-sport fields will be developed on the north side were the old schools building once stood. 

No. 1 A Non-Profit Charter School will allow the community's donors the philanthropic platform to give large legacy grants to redevelop and expand the school buildings at 150 McIntyre Street. This will eliminate overcrowding, raise the new building above the flood criteria for a barrier island and eliminate safety concerns for our students.

No. 2 The Governing Board of (5) parents will hire a school administrator to assist the (7) member finance committee of Village residents, to oversee the school's finances and manage the school's budget. All surplus funds (estimated at $750,000.00) will be reinvested into the school every academic year forever. The Principal will have the sole ultimate authority to evaluate tenure and award pay increases to teachers directly on a more advantageous timeline than is presently offered under MD-School district's inflexible and standard salary pay schedules.

No. 3 The Principal, teachers and her staff shall remain at our school unequivocally and without exception if they choose to stay. I can state categorically that The Principal , teachers and her staff shall remain in the Florida Retirement System and shall maintain all of their benefits.

No. 4 Teachers voting "no" is not an option:

When our school is reduced to a K-5 in a attempt to to reduce present overcrowding without the capital to demolish and expand it, 25% of the present teaching staff will be laid off or look to be assigned to another district school on the mainland. This will be announced after the completion of MAST 6-12 @Virginia Key, eventually when advocates and opposition is no longer voicing concerns.

[Please note: Today our K-8 Center is still overcrowded even after the departure of 40 or more K-8 Center eight graders. The K-8 maximum student body capacity is for 981 students.  Our present enrollment as of January 2013 has reached 1331 students] 

In the grand scheme of things, both Parents and Teachers can agree a New & Expanded Key Biscayne K-8 Center  will become a A+++ educational campus which has proven to bring communities anew. Besides, don't happier teachers make happier students and the result is increase in test scores and the empowerment to excel at the high school level? 

Expect Success. ó

______________________

PROPONENTS REPLY TO MDPS

On January 16, 2013, the Miami-Dade Public School District (The District") posted comments to this blog responding to the four (4) main benefits for voting "yes" for conversion.  Unfortunately, many of the comments from the District were misleading. For this reason, we felt compelled to post our Reply to set the record straight.  

No 1.

Proponents Reply: The village residents, willing to give the money to rebuild the school, do not want to simply hand it over to the School District.  The Miami Herald did a great story a few months ago detailing the waste and abuse the last time the District received millions in bond money.  Furthermore, it is telling that the District is inviting people to give them money to rebuild the K-8 Center.  It is obvious that the District does not intend to use any of the new bond money to rebuild our K-8 Center.  The District, with all due respect, is a black hole where money is wasted. The donors for our K-8 Center want the school to be operated by a finance committee made up of Village residents. People that will be critical and make sure that all of the money each year is re-invested back into the school.

Harold Maready is the administrator of 6 non-profit charter conversion schools in Polk County. He has been working with us for the past several months. We obtained a budget for the K-8 Center that the District put out some time ago. Mr. Maready believes the numbers in that budget are inflated. But even using the District’s inflated numbers, Mr. Maready conservatively estimates that our K-8 Center would generate excess revenue of between $750,000 and $1 million dollars a year. It is this money that the Village residents on the finance committee will guarantee will go back into the school.  It is this money that the District does not want to lose.  

We have repeatedly told parents and teachers that a “yes” vote does not automatically result in the conversion of the K-8 Center to a charter school. A “yes” vote simply provides the parents and teachers the “choice” to explore whether to submit an application for conversion prior to August 1, 2013. After a yes vote, we will have between March 9, 2013 and August 1, 2013, to secure the $10 to $12 million dollars that will be needed to rebuild the school for a capacity of 1800 students. Once we have the money, the application will be submitted. 

What is important here is that the converted non-profit Charter K-8 Center will only remain over capacity at 1330 while the new school is in the process of being built. All of these efforts are for the children – something the District obviously opposes. The complete reconstruction of the K-8 Center will result in: (1) smaller classrooms sizes, (2) new technology (admittedly lacking), (3) happier teachers, able to provide different instructional methods to the students, (4) empowering the children to learn more than they are capable of, and (5) better preparing them for high school. A “yes” vote is a win-win for all stakeholders. The children win. The parents win. The District wins. The Village wins.

No 2.

Proponents Reply: Contrary to the District’s implication, we have never used Mrs. Sylvia Tarafa’s name without her permission.  Quite frankly, we do not need her permission to tell parents and other teachers that the proponents of a “yes” vote want Mrs. Tarafa to remain as the Principal.  She is a public official.  This is our first amendment right of free speech.  If this statement is somehow unauthorized, then please tell that to the Miami Herald or the Islander whenever they reference any public official by name. With that said, we will continue to advocate our position that we believe that Mrs. Tarafa should remain as the Principal of the K-8 Center.  We gladly admit that we have not coordinated with Mrs. Tarafa.  We simply believe she is doing a good job as Principal. Therefore we have pledged to have a member of the governing board chosen by her, and that only a unanimous vote of the board can dismiss her. 

With the over $1 million in excess revenue that the non-profit K-8 Center will generate in the first year, we can also pledge that the governing board will maintain the same salaries and health insurance benefits that the teachers and staff currently obtain as an employee of the District. Ultimately, it will be the goal to utilize the excess revenues for increases in teacher’s salaries. 

We can also guarantee that the teachers and staff will remain “public employees.”  See Fla. Stat. §1002.33(12)(c) reads: “The employees of a conversion charter shall remain public employees for all purposes, unless such employees choose not to do so.” This law is crystal clear.  It is interesting that the District omitted this provision from its Q&A.  How convenient.  

While it is technically true that a teacher in the charter operated K-8 Center will not be an actual employee of the District, it is also true that the employee will remain a “public employee for all purposes.”  This comes right out of the law.  We also pledge that the charter operated non-profit K-8 Center will be deemed a “public employer.” “As a public employer, a charter school may participate in the Florida Retirement System.” See Fla. Stat. §1002.33(12)(i). Here is the best part: “If a charter school participates in the Florida Retirement System, the charter school employees (i.e. our teachers) shall be compulsory members of the Florida Retirement System.” See Fla. Stat. §1002.33(12)(i). 

No. 3

Proponents Reply: We agree that no individual can be compelled to remain at the new school with state of the art technology, smaller classrooms, at the same salary and benefits as the teacher would enjoy as a District employee.  The District is wrong when it says that teachers will need to seek “leave” from the school District in order to teach at the new non-profit charter operated K-8 Center.  The section of the law the District is referring to applies to the typical situation where a teacher of the District asks if he or she can go teach at a charter and remain a District employee.  

In our unique case as a conversion, the law is clear: “The employees of a conversion charter shall remain public employees for all purposes, unless such employees choose not to do so.”  See Fla. Stat. §1002.33(12)(c).  As referenced above in Reply to No. 2, we pledge that the charter operated non-profit K-8 Center will be deemed a “public employer” and that the teachers shall remain in the Florida Retirement System.

No. 4

Proponents Reply: The District is engaged in wishful thinking.  Our K-8 Center student enrollment currently grows at 3 to 4 percent a year according to the District’s own statistics.  While no one at District headquarters today may want to reduce our school to a K-5, in 3 to 5 years the District will have no other choice.  The Mast expansion will not reduce the overcrowding at our K-8 Center – the District knows it and we know it.  As such, the move to reduce our school to a K-5 will occur.

What we find interesting is a new scare tactic rolled out by the District.  In the Q&A they created, the District claims that if there is a “yes” vote for conversion that “350 students will have to be assigned to another school.” The District is simply wrong on the law. 

There is no Florida law that “compels” the District to remove 350 students from the K-8 Center because the parents and teachers vote “yes” on conversion.  Indeed, at the present time, the District operates the K-8 Center with 1330 students – and has been operating the K-8 Center in its overcrowded capacity for a number of years.  The school has a capacity of 981 students. Ironically, it is the District’s position that so long as they are operating the school that the District is allowed to operate it beyond it capacity. However, once it is converted then the law (the District of course refuse to cite to any statutory provision) compels them to remove 350 students. How convenient and, quite frankly, absurd.

Fla. Stat. s. 1002.33(18)(a) provides that any “local governing authority must treat charter schools equitably in comparison to similar requirements, restrictions, and processes imposed upon public schools that are not charter schools.” In other words, if the District can operate the school beyond its capacity, then the non-profit charter conversion can also operate it beyond its capacity. But the entire purpose for calling for a “yes” vote is to rebuild a new school that can accommodate 1800 students.  

We have conferred with regulatory officials in Tallahassee.  If the parents and teachers vote “yes” for conversion, there is no specific law that would prevent the current 1330 students from continuing to attend the K-8 Center while the school is rebuilt.  If, after a “yes” vote, the District begins take steps to stop 350 students from attending the K-8 Center, then that is something that they are doing “on their own” and is not something that is being required by any regulatory officials.  This is simply a scare tactic - like the one the District employed at Neva King Cooper last year.  

In February 2012, the Principal and Assistant Principal of Neva King Cooper, a special needs school in Homestead sent a letter to District asking for a vote to convert their school to charter. Four months later, the Principal was demoted to the mailroom and the Assistant Principal was demoted to the motor pool. It was alleged by District administrators that they were intimidating and coercing the teachers to vote yes. Both the Principal and Assistant Principal filed complaints with the Florida Department of Education for unlawful retaliation. 

The Inspector General’s Office of the Department conducted an investigation that was completed in November 2012. The Report was sent to the District to provide them with 60 days to comment on the findings of the Report. The Report has 2 main findings, or what it calls “summaries:” (1) “all employees interviewed stated that neither Fernandez (Principal) nor Cristobol (Assistant Principal) threatened or intimidated them regarding the charter conversion issue,” and (2) “when each of the employees were asked if they felt threatened or intimidated by District administrators being assigned to (Neva King Cooper) daily, many of the employees stated that the District presence made daily operations uncomfortable.” The Report recounts how numerous District employees had descended on the school in order “to help” teachers during the run up to the vote. The District never held the vote after the demotions.  How interesting.  

What is important for parents and teachers, at our K-8 Center, to know is that District is wrong on the law if it continues to maintain the position that it will be “compelled” to remove 350 students from our school.  This is simply not true.