Controversial Biscayne Park proposal brings out new opposition from parents at South Florida school
MIAMI - A controversial land deal brings out new opposition from parents at a South Florida public school.
"It's so much more than a little park," concerned parent Lina Carrera shared.
"If we don't make the right decisions today, we're putting the future of the city at risk," added Benji Power, a parent of two students at iPrep Academy.
iPrep Academy parents, like Power and Carrera, wear pink shirts outside city hall. "Public Land for Public Schools," words they hoped to share at the city commission meeting on Thursday.
"There's a lot of people," said Commissioner Miguel Angel Gabel from the dais. "I'd like to defer that item."
Gabela tables an item discussing the Biscayne Park land deal.
So, people in the pink shirts must wait until March 14th to voice their opinion.
"Undoing the lease with the entity that is a private school is the right decision," said Power.
"Vision to put schools at the heart of the community," said Carrera.
"We believe it's important to restart the process, listen to the Miami-Dade School system, and really think about those neighborhoods," said Power.
The Miami-Dade County Public School was once in line to receive a new building in Biscayne Park. A vision to double the number of students it could serve and provide workforce housing for teachers.
A plan nixed in 2022. The city instead awarded David and Leila Centner's private school the rights to build a sports complex on public land to be used by their academy and the public.
"Why moving Iprep needs to go to this public park, take away green space from the residents of Miami, I don't really understand," shared David Centner.
Following former commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla's arrest for alleged bribery and money laundering in September, the move came under greater scrutiny, especially from iPrep parents.
CBS News Miami reporter Joe Gorchow asked Centner: "Are those allegations you think are part of the reason this deal is being delayed?"
"I've not denied any allegations anyone else has alleged to have done," said Centner. "We're not a party to any of that stuff."
The Centner's have not been charged with any criminal wrongdoing. Centner did, though, cast blame for the delay on former city commissioner Ken Russell.
"He was the original champion of this project," mentioned Centner. "And the reason why, I believe everyone's here, is that commissioner Ken Russell flipped-flopped and had a change of heart."
"The only thing slowing this deal down or potentially canceling it isn't me," said Russell. "It's the fact that the former commissioner and chair of the OMNI CRA, the champion of this deal, was arrested and removed from office on bribery charges around this deal. If that's found to be true in a court of law under section 4C of our charter (city of Miami), this deal is nullified under an emoluments clause."
Although Russell has no vote in how the city moves forward, he supports a way for all parties, iPrep Academy and the Centners Academy, to work together.
"I'm always an optimist," said Russell. "The hope is that they're at the table for renegotiation to make sure the public has access and that Irep can relocate."
"It would be nice if we could figure out a way we could all work together, and everybody gets something," said Centner.
The city looks to take this matter up again on March 14th.
