At the March 27, 2023 Commission meeting, Resolution No. 2023-32545 authorized the City Manager to engage a consultant, for a fee not to exceed $25,000, to assist the City with exploring all available options for the City to partner with the School Board of Miami-Dade County to assume some portion of deferred maintenance and security functions for the benefit of public schools located in the City of Miami Beach.

The City entered into an agreement with Enid Weisman on July 28, 2023, to explore all available options for the City to partner with the School Board of Miami-Dade County. The goal of the exploration phase was to identify options for collaboration and to determine if City management of maintenance and security is feasible. The consultant was to develop a timeline inclusive of the completion date for the exploration phase including but not limited to:

1.  Defining all possible options for collaboration and all related activities

2.  Benefits and challenges for each option provided

3.  Funding sources for all options considered

4.  Required agreements to achieve options presented

5.  Required next steps and timeframe for each option provided

Enid Weisman is the former Mayor of the City of Aventura (2014-2022) and former Chief Human Capital Officer for Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS).  Currently she is the Board Chair of ACES K-8 Charter School and Governing Board Chair at Don Soffer Aventura Charter High School. In her role at MDCPS, she was responsible for all retirement programs, bargained annual employment contracts, and a $350 million budget for Region Center II. Additionally, she served as the Exceptional Student Education Director for Region II, Region Superintendent, District Assistant Superintendent, and Assistant Superintendent (Attachment G).   

Enid Weisman, Consultant, submitted the report for review and will present findings of the exploration to the City Commission for discussion (Attachment A). Applicable sections of Florida Statutes are included for review.

The state mandates per FS 1013.31 an Educational Plant Survey every five years (Attachment C). M-DCPS contracts with Jacobs Project Management Company to perform this function. The completed deficiency report is utilized by M-DCPS Planning Department to prioritize the structures to be addressed based on this analysis. Ownership of the real estate and structures including the concomitant liabilities resides with M-DCPS and funds from the state flow to M-DCPS to support this function.

Between 2019 and 2023, the School Board of Miami-Dade County budgeted and expended an average of $4M on capital improvements.   The annual expenditures for the six Miami Beach public schools are reflected below (Attachment B):

In the 2022-23 school year, M-DCPS budgeted $11 million.  In the 2023-24 school year, M-DCPS has allocated and/or funded $17 million in maintenance and capital improvements.

M-DCPS is currently meeting all statutory obligations (SB 7026) regarding school safety with an M-DCPS full-time officer at each public school (Attachment D).  The City of Miami Beach provides three (3) Miami Beach police officers to the six public schools during the school year.  

The report submitted by the educational consultant, Enid Weisman, provides for various options available to the City of Miami Beach including the following:

1.  Maintain Status Quo (maintenance)

2.  City to Enhance Maintenance funds

3. Change State Law (FS 1013.33) allowing for state capital dollars for schools to be redirected to a municipality (Attachment E)

4.  Charter School Conversion FS 1002.33 (Attachment F)

5.  Increase City Police Resource Officers (Safety)

6.  Increase Security Safety Monitors

7.  Amend Executive Order (SB 7026)