The fate of a proposed charter school on Sunset Drive and 73rd Avenue will again be up for discussion at a 9 a.m. hearing on Thursday, May 18 at the Miami-Dade County Commission Chambers, 111 NW 1st St. The hearing will determine whether to overturn a 1997 zoning resolution limiting the usage of a 19-acre parcel of land owned by Christ Journey Church east of the Palmetto Expressway.
Somerset Academy, a charter school with several South Florida locations, hopes to build a K-12 school for 1,400 students—a marked decrease from the 2,500 students initially suggested by the school, but still a significant change from present zoning permitting only the construction of a 98-child day nursery.
More than 300 parents, teachers, students and residents converged to plead their cases before the commission last month in an assembly room so packed many were forced to stand outside. But after three hours of emotional testimony from supporters and opponents of the school, tentatively named Somerset Sunset, the commission postponed judgement until later this month. District 7 Commissioner Xavier Suarez said he hoped a solution would be ironed out in the interim.
“It was very civil and a great lesson for the kids who were there,” said Mary Faraldo, executive director of Sunset Neighbors, a local community advisory council. “With that said, it was amazing to see so many kids and teachers out of school on a school day. You can’t help but wonder how public schools would benefit if their teachers and students could just randomly leave to go to commission hearings.”
By an approximate 3-to-1 ratio, hundreds of Somerset supporters in blue shirts waited to speak alongside less than 100 opposing neighbors wearing bright yellow shirts with “VOTE NO” emblazoned on the front. Somerset representatives assert that most Somerset Sunset supporters participating in the hearing came from within a 5-mile radius of the project, with additional support from parents from schools outside the area.
Those in favor of the new school spoke highly of student performance ratings and pointed out that its presence would likely increase the value of properties in the surrounding neighborhood. Representatives of the school, like Florida Charter School Alliance Executive Director Lynn Norman-Teck, reassured residents and tried to alleviate concerns about infrastructural issues, including how the school plans on mitigating a daily traffic influx that many worry might lead to dangerous gridlock.
“Somerset is a good neighbor in the communities that they serve,” said Norman-Teck. “Just like any school, they’re conscious of their footprint and try to make drop-offs and pick-ups as easy as possible. This is a great service for families, especially young families looking for options. We absolutely want to work with the other side; Somerset has always done that.”
Neighbors and local officials hoping to block the school’s construction arrived hours before the April 20 hearing to ensure they gained entry to the chambers. They plan on showing up earlier and in greater numbers on May 18.
But soon churches, libraries, colleges, museums and other similar institutions may no longer have to receive zoning approval before allotting space to charter schools. Though still awaiting full Florida Senate passage, SB 1362, a bill that exempts high-performing charters from having to receive special zoning approval, has already passed in the House. If enacted, it will strip a crucial check local governments have on the expansion of charter schools, public/private school hybrids owned by private businesses.
“If our legislators allow that to happen, they are stealing local government powers and concentrating them at the state level for the benefit of a corporation—a moneymaking business,” said Faraldo. “It’s pillaging the public school system and creating a two-tier education system, one for the disenfranchised and marginalized and one for the connected. Whatever they’ve got going here, we’ve always believed that all of this in Dade County has been a distraction from what they’re planning in Tallahassee.”
The city of South Miami sits east of the plot of land in question, but an uptick in traffic as considerable as the one Somerset Sunset promises to bring into the area has some elected officials dubious as to its manageability. Further worries exist as to whether the new school will serve the unique needs of its surrounding population. Somerset Academy South Miami Charter School came under fire in 2015 for having a student body demographically incongruous to its surrounding neighborhood. Little has been written of the issue since June that year, when the city and the school worked together on the problem, but South Miami Vice Mayor Robert Welsh claims that the school still suffers from racial disparity.
“[Somerset Academy in South Miami] is in the Marshall Williams neighborhood, and all they have enrolled in their school is five black children,” said South Miami Vice Mayor Robert Welsh. “Until the makeup of the school resembles the demographic makeup of our city and school district, they might as well have a sign outside saying, ‘Blacks need not apply.’”
Norman-Teck argues that attending the not-for-profit institution is a matter of choice—the fundamental currency in a free market economy. Founded in 1997, Somerset Academy, Inc. has since grown to encompass almost 50 schools in Florida and many more outside the state. Public schools that now share funds with charters must either catch up, partner with their usurpers or cede the game entirely.
“I’ve seen the bar raised on education across the board in Miami-Dade and believe that charter schools have had a significant role in that,” said Norman-Teck. “I think a conversation where it says that the money belongs to the state or a district is flawed. The money follows the child, and if a parent chooses to send their child to a magnet program, which is choice within the public schools, or their neighborhood schools, or a charter school. Really, it’s the parents’ decision.”
