City Is One Step Closer To Building
A School in Sunny Isles Beach
By Norman S. Edelcup, Mayor

August is generally the vacation month for elected officials. Instead of taking a vacation, the City Commission was working on the goal of constructing a school in the City of Sunny Isles Beach.

On August 10, 2005, Vice Mayor Lewis Thaler, Commissioner Gerry Goodman, Commissioner Roslyn Brezlin, and I attended a committee meeting held at the school board headquarters in downtown Miami to discuss the proposed school. City Manager Christopher J. Russo, City Attorney Hans Ottinot, Zoning Administrator Jorge Vera, and Bob Welsh and his wife also attended the meeting.

At the meeting, a school board committee unanimously approved a staff recommendation to select a proposed site for a new school in the City of Sunny Isles Beach. The site will be the home for a K-8 school facility that would serve as a primary school for residents of the City.

The approval by the school board committee is a very important step in the process of constructing a public school in the Sunny Isles Beach area. It is undisputed that the City Commission is committed to building a school for our residents. We have demonstrated our commitment by offering the school board $8.5 million dollars to assist them in acquiring the site for the school. This commitment has been demonstrated by the advocacy of Bob Welsh, Chair of the Mayor's Education School Advisory Committee. Mr. Welsh has worked diligently with city officials to advocate the City's desire to build the first school in the City of Sunny Isles Beach.

During the committee meeting, school board officials praised the City for its commitment to assist them in building a school in the City. In fact, school officials indicated that the partnership between the school board and the City is a historic one because no city in Miami-Dade County has ever contributed municipal funds to the school board for the purpose of building of a school.

The Superintendent of the Miami-Dade County School, Dr. Rudolph Crew, has also expressed his support for the school when he met recently with me and city officials. We have a desire to work with the school board to ensure that we have a quality school for the residents of the City of Sunny Isles Beach.

The proposed school will relieve overcrowding at Bay Harbor Elementary, Ojus Elementary, Highland Oaks Elementary and Highland Oaks Middle School. With the support of our residents, we will achieve the goal of constructing a school in Sunny Isles Beach.

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