Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee - Regular Meeting

Okay, good morning and welcome to the Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee meeting for Wednesday, January 7th. I'm now calling to order the Fiscal and Accountability Government Committee meeting for Wednesday. Before we stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, I'd like to give our Board Chair an opportunity to share a few words.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and happy new year to everyone. Hope that everybody had a wonderful, relaxed time, and you're all re-energized and ready for another exciting year in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. However, on a sad note, our superintendent's mother did pass away yesterday, and I'm going to ask for a moment of silent meditation. This is very difficult on the family, and so at this time, we could just bow our heads and have that moment for him and his family. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you so much, Madam Chair. And now, if we can please rise, and our pledge will be led by our chairwoman, Ms. Maritere Rojas. All right, so we're all now in sync and ready to go. So before we get started, I'd like to start by first mentioning all of our committee members and our membership. You have me, Roberto Alonso, as the chairman. You have Danny Espino as vice chair, Luisa Santos as a member, Joseph Geller as a member, and Dorothy Bengels-Mindigal as an alternate member, as well as Mary Blanco as an alternate member. Our first order of business is to approve the minutes of the Wednesday, December 10th, 2025 Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee meeting. Are there any questions? No questions, first and second. All in favor? Aye. Okay, the next order of business is to move the E items to the floor. May I get a motion to move the E items to the floor?

Move it.

Second. All in favor?

Aye.

Our first item is E1, Mr. Steiger.

E1 is the monthly financials for the period ending November 25th.

E35.

E35 is our first refunding of the day. This is for a series of COPs, COPs from 2015, 16, and actually 2015 D, 2016 A, 2016 B, and 2016 C. Any questions?

Yes, ma'am, you're recognized.

Thank you very much, sir. And thank you for the item. I had some questions when I first read it, but then I reviewed it very carefully. So this is going to ultimately end up in a positive, correct, through the chair?

Yes, absolutely, Mr. Chair, Ms. Rojas. So this doesn't extend the maturity date, right? We still have the initial maturity date. of 30 years after the COPs were initially issued. But we're able to lower the interest rate and save $19 million for the capital fund.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Okay, we now move to E36. E36 is another refunding, but this time for our first group of geo bonds from 2014, 15, and 16. And it's similar. It saves $24 million without extending the maturity date and could eventually lead to lower millage for our taxpayers. So we always appreciate that.

Through the chair? Yes. Also, to resolve the debt, right, would be the main one of the areas that we're going to look at here, correct?

Through the chair? Yes, certainly. The GEO bond is one that was approved by the voters. So each year we have a bond. So 30 years from the issuance of the last GEO bond we'll take, which was... I think roughly two, three, no, three or four years ago. So that was the last bond. So 30 years from then, there will be no more debt associated with this. Anytime you refund it and get a lower interest rate, obviously the taxpayers pay less, have a lower millage, it's better for everyone.

Yes, thank you very much. Thank you for the clarity.

Thank you so much. And I echo the same sentiment. Thank you, this is exciting. And I think our taxpayers should be happy of how our district is working in ways to save them money, right? Because that's what we're trying to do while still delivering a high level of education to our students. Next one is E201. E201 is our monthly acceptance of grants and donations. Okay, I did have two questions. One of them I brought up to you yesterday, Mr. Steiger, on this, and it was regarding the SmartPath Connect to College. Did we get a breakdown on how those schools were selected and which schools are receiving that funding and support? Yes, Ms. Diaz will come and answer.

Good morning, through the chair. So those schools had already been in existence under the SmartPath program that was funded, organized through the Ed Fund. Primarily the schools were City of Miami schools because the original funding, way back when this started, was I believe through the Biscayne Foundation. So the focus was on the four City of Miami schools and then A school in the Deep South was added. So this program was already existing and funded, which is generally how Helios, the funder, operates. They look for existing programming that has shown some level of success. This is an organization that they only grant funding on invitation, like they invite you to apply type of thing. So they look for programming that is already semi-successful or in the process of growing that they believe with an injection of additional funds would become more successful. So when we applied for this additional funding, we realized that we did not have any representation anywhere in the north end of the county so that was when we added the additional school which really kind of stretched because although it seems like a large amount of money it's over the course of three and a half years so it's really in the grand scheme of things not not that much so we have the bulk the four schools are in the center we have one in the deep south and one in the deep north for lack of a better term but the the good news is that the helios pattern is that as programming becomes successful, we can reapply and they can continue to expand. So that is our hope. I am clearly aware that there are areas of the county that do not have any schools involved in this process, but that doesn't mean that we're not going to pursue that moving forward. So that was how this came about. They were already participating in SmartPath through EdFund. This is an additional layer of funding to try to expand and do more with the program that was already there.

Okay, thank you for the explanation. I mean, the reason I brought it up is I've met with several of our CAP advisors in high schools within my own region that I represent, and they're stretched in. So any support that we can get across the entire district and not just specific areas would be great because I really think it's important that all of our students get the access to be able to have this pathway to post-secondary education, right? And when our CAP advisors are stretched and our counselors and advisor schools are stretched in, any resource we can do. So if we can look for ways that we can identify other grants like this one or other support mechanisms, I think it would be great. So thank you. Any other questions on that particular grant? And then the second question that I had was on the computer science teacher certification. I didn't bring it up yesterday, so sorry, but as I looked at it more, I just wanted to understand from a district perspective, how are we gonna be able to manage this and do we have other options to be able to support Because I know there's a cut here of 55 percent, a decrease in funding that we're receiving. But yet we all know how innovation technology is a critical part of the future. Right. And our students being prepared for it. What are we going to do in order to be able to to supplement that gap that we are going to now be experiencing?

Sure, so through the chair. So that funding, the reduction was at the state level. There was less funding available, so there was less this year and hopefully will be more this year. But this is an annual grant that we get or that has been out for a number of years. And so we still think we use different vendors to provide the training. So Miami Ed Tech, Code Art, and different ones. And we also work with Miami Dade College and FIU because we use it for both to provide teacher training, to prepare them to take the computer science certification exam, but also industry certification exam so that then they can test students and prepare students for the industry certs. So we're gonna work with the vendors to ensure that we can still have the largest number of teachers possible being trained and being prepared for the exam. So this is like teachers that are already teaching other subjects that want to add on. So we basically, pay for their preparation and their training. So we still feel like we're gonna have a strong number of candidates that we can train in moving forward.

Do we have a large demand of teachers that want this certification or?

It varies year to year, I think last year memory serves we trained about 100 and something teachers some years it's 80s and it depends also the the split. Sometimes there's more demand for industry certification and sometimes there's more demand the computer science certification is very, very challenging and sometimes it takes teachers, a couple of tries. you know, we train and then they're unsuccessful on the assessment and then we train again and we keep working with them. But there are also other PDs that the district provides and other ways that we support our teachers to prepare for these exams. So we don't feel like it's going to be a detrimental impact despite the decrease in funding.

Thank you so much for the explanation. Any further questions? With none, yes, Ms. Santos, you're recognized.

Thank you so much. Just a quick one, because I also had some questions on SmartPath, which I was able to get answers to, so I appreciate the team answering, and obviously any additional support to our students and our schools is exciting. I did have a serious... questions about the metrics that were gonna be measured as far as the success of the grant, and I did get some answers on that, and what we are looking to increase. Some of them are more of inputs, right, like number of students who receive mentoring, but then there's some really great ones about outcomes around increased FAFSA completion and increased college enrollment, and obviously I constantly talk about making sure we're measuring the outcome of our efforts, not just our efforts. And I'm glad to see that it has a third party evaluator. So I feel really good about the rigor of the program moving forward and what we'll be able to accomplish in addition to everything else that our CAP department is growing. And it is my hope because really for this funder, it's a smaller amount given how they invest in other areas that we prove do really well and are able to get significant more funding for something that's so important for all of us.

Thank you so much, Ms. Santos. Any other questions or comments? Okay, the E items have now been discussed. We'll now take a motion to recommend E items to the board meeting. Move it.

Second.

All in favor?

Aye.

The next order of business is to move to our H items to the floor. Move it. May I get a motion? All in favor? Aye. Our first item is H3 and is being presented by Ms. Maritere-Rojas.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. And this is a school board confirmation of the 2026 appointment to the Value Adjustment Board. This is a responsibility that I have as chair every year to appoint one of our members to represent us. throughout the year during this very important session that takes place on an annual basis. And again, I am appointing Daniel Espino, who has done a superb job for us. Thank you, Mr. Espino. You have represented us very, very well. And this is a very important group because it affects the school board very directly. So thank you very much. for the job you've done in the past and I know that you will do the same again this year. I have to be the alternate as the chair of the school board and then I also have Mr. Javik. He is unbelievable. He is such a supporter of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, has been serving on this board for several years now. I had a conversation with him as well, and he is very happy to represent us one more time. So this item is simply, that the school board of Miami-Dade County, Florida, confirm the chair's 2026 appointment of Mr. Daniel Espino, board member, to represent the school board on the value adjustment board, and myself, chair, as the alternate representative of the school board on the value adjustment board, as well as Mr. Hanny M. Jardak, as a school board citizen member on the value adjustment board. That's the item, sir. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Ms. Rojas. Do we have any questions or comments from any board members? Okay, are there any board members who would like to co-sponsor the item? All in favor? All those in favor of co-sponsoring, yes. Okay, we now move to take a motion to recommend H3 to the board meeting of January 14th as amended. All in favor? Okay. All right, our next one is h4 and that item is presented by me so board members, I present to you guys the 2026 legislative program of the greater Florida consortium of school boards. As you all know, I've been selected by the chair to be our representative on that board. And this past December, we met in Hillsborough County where we had our meeting together with the 12 member school boards and went over our legislative priorities. Many of these are in line with our priorities as a district already, but it has been provided to everybody to review. The way in which the process works is that now the 12 member districts will take a vote on it and once everybody has agreed to it, we go collectively to the state during this legislative session to advocate for these items which we feel of our importance. If any of them get removed by any school district or any school districts like ourselves were to not like one of the initiatives, it would be removed and then the consortium would also remove it. It's just the way in which it functions and I think it's very collaborative. So I have shared that platform with the board through this item and will now open up for any questions regarding any of the items on here. Yes, ma'am, you're recognized, Ms. Ross.

Yes, thank you so much. And I just want to make a comment again. Mr. Alonso has served us in the past. I have assigned him to this very important task as well, representing our entire school board based on input from the nine board members here in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. You have done an exemplary job, sir. I appreciate it. I see you in action as well, and I'm very happy to know that that Miami-Dade County Public School students, teachers, administrators, and the entire MDCPS family is truly being looked out for by you and by the other eight board members that sit on this board who make recommendations for Miami-Dade County Public Schools as well. So thank you very much, and I look forward to co-sponsoring this item.

Any further questions? And just so everybody knows, I'm actually the president-elect. So Miami-Dade County will be the chairing and presidency over the consortium going into next year. So it really gives us an opportunity to really lead, but also to highlight all the incredible work that we're doing here as a district. We'll be hosting our annual meeting this coming year here in Miami, and I'll make sure that everybody's invited and that we do something that really highlights and showcases what Miami-Dade County is and why we are our state's, if not the country's, best choice. So with that, I'll now take a motion on any co-sponsors. Second. All in favor?

Aye.

Okay, we now take a motion to recommend H4 to the board meeting as amended.

Second.

All in favor? Aye.

Aye.

Okay, our next item is H9, and that's going to be presented by Ms. Luisa Santos.

Thank you so much. This item is around safe and secure schools. It essentially makes the case for why we should conduct an assessment and analyze the long-term operational and fiscal impacts of doing key cards, which we actually already do at many of our schools. We just don't require it in our specs for new projects. And so it's smart planning. helps our schools be more dynamic and responsive. I don't know, I've had to ask for keys and sometimes it's taken up to months and that poses a serious security threat if someone who doesn't need to have a key keeps it or we have to incur costs in changing lock systems. This is just a 21st century way to handle access and security and ensure that we have the safest schools. So it really looks at identifying what this would cost, what technology is available, and then ensuring that if feasible, moving forward, all new projects, all renovation projects, implement this technology, and eventually we get to a full rollout. So I appreciate your questions and support, colleagues.

Thank you so much. We'll now open it up for questions. I'll first go to the board, and then I see that Mr. Buenas has a question, but first I'll recognize Ms. Maridere-Ross.

Thank you very much, sir. And thank you, board member Santos. Anything that deals with safety, security, and the well-being of all those that we represent is a massive priority for everyone on this board. So thank you for bringing it forth. I only have one recommendation to make. And this would be a friendly recommendation to look at number three. And once everything has been completed, to please take it to the district safety. which is held on a regular and ongoing basis so that we could also present it to them because that group is representing the entire district on a regular and ongoing basis. So if you could just include that there, I think it would be very, very beneficial in making the item even stronger. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay, any other board members? I did have a question but i'll let Mr when we go first, but you might want to answer this question at the same time, so with this, I think it's once again a great item. I know that we still have pending our district universal ID cards, which would somewhat encompass. This of badging our employees, do we have any updates, I know that that rfp or rfp or whatever it was had been pulled back and. haven't heard any updates as to what the district's plan is also on just student ID badging as well throughout the district and having a universal badge for all of our students as well as employees.

Through the chair, Mr. Alonso, let me get back to you on the universal IDs. Students are required to wear IDs, so IDs are being furnished for the students, but I fully understand the concept of the universal ID. My request to Board Member Santos is there's a due date of March if she would be amicable to allow us to turn it into April due to the vast amount of research and 300 plus sites that we would have to go to and look at and survey and re-inspect to make sure that the numbers of doors and everything else is accurate. So I'm just asking for an extension of April instead of March if Ms. Santos would be amicable.

Thank you, through the chair. Happy to if that's what you say you need, but that also is concerning to know that this should be something that we should be able to print at a moment's notice to understand which system exists at which school in what building. And so if that's what we need, maybe it continues to prove the point of why we need to ensure we move in this direction so that we don't need months to be able to know which system exists in each of our buildings, but rather we've just got a system that can tell us at all times. So absolutely, we'll be happy to make that change.

Through the chair, we are aware of what the systems are, without a doubt, and we can produce that, but I believe that item number three, item number one and number two are very requesting a lot of information in reference to the doors and all of that, but thank you.

Thank you. Through the chair, they're very straightforward, saying which schools have this, which schools don't. That is the extent of the analysis. And then, of course, which systems exist in which one. And understanding the fiscal impact should be as simple as whatever it costs us at the ones that have it times the ones that don't. We'll give you the time to appropriately give us a really thorough response. And I appreciate all the comments. Thank you.

Thank you. Yes, Dr. Gallin, you're recognized.

Yes, through the chair. want to commend Board Member Santos for this item. I do echo the sentiments of Mr. Bueno with respect to the details. And I do understand Board Member Santos is referencing that there should be a database relative to the systems. But when I look at Recommend 1, I think it speaks to some practices. And I'm curious, as it relates to through the chair, who's going to do this? Is this going to be a centralized process, or is this going to be a site-specific endeavor? and that becomes a real Herculean effort, and I think that's where you may have some disparities in terms of the responses. And so I totally understand the need for some additional time because this is not... I know we have Mr. Munoz is over that, and you can give me some additional staff at the district level, but I'm stopping with Munoz. When you look at 300-plus sites, my question is for continuity, Who's going to do this? Is this going to be school-based? And again, I do agree, Board Member Santos, through the chair. The systems, the electronic systems should be inventoried. I think that's part of the process. But I think this takes a deeper dive and recommend, one, looking at some of the practices across the districts. And I've seen going to schools, you may have a difference in terms of what school does versus the other. So through the chair, who's going to do this? Who's going to be responsible? Is it going to be school-side or district-led? through the chair.

Through the chair, Dr. Gallin, on point, it would most likely be Mr. Diaz's office leading it, however, with support from Carl Nichols' office, with Chief Silva most likely as well, and the region assisting. Most of the work would probably be and I don't wanna speak for the Regents, but most of the work would probably lay, would be placed on the school site itself to identify those doors, the items on number one, and then for Mr. Munoz to most likely review it, and then for us to put it into place, and for us to accurately reflect with what Carl has on his databases to make sure that the information that we're providing to the board and to the constituents is an accurate information, sir.

And I promise you, you're going to have the record today. Yeah, sure. No, but any time having a bureaucratic lens and understanding the minutia that's required to do some of this work, systems and programs and things of that nature, those are easily captured. But when I see practices, somebody is going to have to look at how things are actually implemented, full stop. And so when I look at the practices across the district, With all due respect to Mr. Niccolo, facilities, maintenance, this becomes somewhat of an operational instructional leadership function. How are things implemented at the school site? And so when you mentioned some of the staff members, I wanted to know who was going to lead that region, definitely because most region administrators have been principals. But I believe in the law of proximity. Those who are closest to the issue have a better understanding of it. when you look at gaps in practices, how one school implements versus another school, that can be the difference between life and death. You can have the best system in the world, but it comes down to implementation. I'll follow up if need be, but I was just curious as it relates to how this is going to be carried out, because you can get potentially 300 plus different reports if it's going to be a school site base, and nothing's wrong with that. I know the question came up about IDs and things of that nature. There's something to be said about how schools brand their schools. So if you have a child that's lost and they're a Miami-Dade County Public Schools student, if they have an ID to identify their school, I think that's something that's important to know how a lost child or, God forbid, something happens to a child, an injured child. We just lost a child up at Carroll City Middle School to a traffic accident. He was killed the last day before we went on break. So the question became initially, what school was the child from? Uniforms is always an easily identifiable way, and also IDs. So those are things that we have to continuously contemplate as we move forward with some initiatives, but just relative to the practices across the district, wanted to know who's going to shepherd that process. Thank you.

Thank you. Any further questions or comments? All right, we now will move to co-sponsorships. Any board members that like to co-sponsor the item?

Move it. Second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Okay, we now take a motion to move H9 as recommended to the board meeting. Second. All in favor? Aye. The H items have now been discussed. We will now take a motion to recommend the H items to the board meeting of Wednesday, January 14th.

Move it.

All in favor? All right, we now move to contract extension report. Ms. Moffitt, I know that it's probably been distributed. Any questions or comments for her?

I'll just say on the, just real quickly, there's a typo on it where it's for the pest control where it says there's a $2.5 million extension. Behind the scenes, it's actually a $55,000 extension. It was just a carry forward from another contract on the form. So it's actually $55,000, not $2.5 million.

It's quite the difference, right?

Just an extra zero, right?

Thank you for bringing that up and for clarifying. Any questions or comments? None? Okay. We will now move over to our legislative update. Mr. Tony Olivario, I see you're here. We probably won't see you anymore for the next couple of weeks, but welcome back, and I know the session's starting next Monday, so exciting times. Yes, good morning.

So it's actually starting on Tuesday. So legislative session does start on Tuesday. Lots of bills getting filed now last minute. Our office is in the process of tracking it. I do want to thank all of the departments that have been providing their feedback regarding the various bills that have been getting filed. I do want to say all appropriations have already been filed. Attestation forms at the House have already been submitted. So we're good to go in the House. several in the Senate. The Senate does not have a deadline on this, but several have already been published on the Senate side. We're just waiting on the last few that we're following up with those particular sponsoring senators to make sure that those attestation forms are completely filed. At the last committee meeting, I believe Board Member Geller had asked about a companion bill for a Schools of Hope bill that had been filed at the Senate. It has been filed at the House side now, so it does have a companion bill. Representative Gant did file that on the House side. So that was just a follow-up to last week. And we'll continue working with the various departments as these bills come in to look to see if there's any amendments, any concerns, any feedback that we could possibly get to take back with us to Tallahassee. And, yes, we will be up there next week. Thank you so much.

All right, now questions. Dr. Gallin? Yes, through the chair, I don't know the specifics of the bill that has been filed relative to the Schools of Hope And that's not new. I think we had an extensive conversation about the fact that some of those issues are not new. Through the chair, I've been unapologetic even prior to 2016 that I support school choice. Parents have a right to educate their children where they so choose. I've never been averse to competition growing up in Liberty City and graduating from Northwestern. You have to compete in the classroom, in the community, wherever, on the field. I have no problem with that. But I do think there needs to really be a candid examination of not the schools of hope. You mentioned schools of hope in general. That's already been in place. That's not new. Trust me. That's not new. The law shows that's been around for a while. What gives me, and quite frankly, as a fiduciary, I can't speak for my other colleagues, what gives me consternation is the co-location provision. So I know you referenced schools of hope in general, but I'm looking for more specificity as it relates to the language regarding co-location. And co-location is not new. Let me just say that. That's not new. But co-location at additional cost to the district and no revenue being produced, that's where I think the rubber has met the road for a lot of people, even strong, longstanding advocates and leaders. of school choice, because let me just say this parenthetically. I've said it privately. I'll say it publicly on the record. You've had some operators who have been around for decades. They're very successful, very effective, and in many cases, they're many friends of ours. I mean, I support them. They've supported me. I have no problem. But when you hear the story of how they started out to make investments in starting that option of schools, charter schools, I'll just call it for what it is, You're talking about people who may have taken personal loans, maxed out credit cards, took equity out of their home to start what are now multi-million dollar businesses, but they made the sacrifice in the initial investment, which represents in anybody who knows about schools, the most significant investment is in personnel and facilities. When we look across the state, one of the challenges that has even been incorporated in some laws is is regarding facilities. So many schools don't open because of a facility issue. Many schools close because of a facility issue. Many schools have financial challenges because of facility costs. So I think there's some consternation, not just by me, consternation not by me as a fiduciary of the board, but many people who have been in this game a long time, who've made those investments, have developed strong organizations, not only in Florida, but around the country, You think about where they started from. They didn't have the benefit of a free facility at no cost. So I'm really interested in seeing where that is and what discussions at the state level are being held with that. You mentioned Representative Gant's bill, but you mentioned Schools of Hope. I want to go granular as it relates to the co-location provision. Schools of Hope, been there, done that. That's in place, been around for a while. Have no issue with that. If that's what the state wants to do as an authorizer, That's the state's prerogative. But when we're talking about our assets, and not only our assets, potential costs to the district that won't bring any revenue as a person who owns property, as a landlord myself, I think that's a tough one. And I think that's really the fulcrum of the debate that's taking place at the local state level through the chair. So if you could respond to that.

Thank you, through the Chair, and for clarification, the bill that was just put forth by Representative Gantt is a mirror of what the Senator had put forth prior, that we discussed during the December committee meeting, where it's pretty much revoking the new pieces that were added to the Schools of Hope, so that it does remove the no-cost provision, it removes the co-location provision, it removes that third, criteria that was set to determine what a persistently low-performing school is. So it's pretty much revoking what was enacted during last year's session. But it does not remove the entire Schools of Hope piece that you mentioned. Yeah, it's just what was added as to last year.

Yeah, through the chair, that's what I wanted you to be explicit about. Understood. Because when you mentioned Schools of Hope, that's not new. It's this other provision. And let me just say this for the record. You have co-location of entities that are not schools of hope. The district has been very supportive and friendly and a good partner in facilitating co-location of charter schools and related educational programs that don't, you know, conflict with our mission. So co-location is not new either. We've done that. We continue to do that. We continue to explore that. But co-location at no cost co-location is real, real interesting. And again, I'm going to be quiet, Mr. Chair, just having a conversation with people that we all know. When you think about how they started out in some cases decades ago, and I use the example once said, you know, some people maxed out credit cards. Some people took out home equity loans. Now they bet on themselves and they have successful multimillion dollar organizations. But when you think about the sacrifices that they had to make at the onset, As members of this community, members of this state, members of this district, you know, that's something that really has a lot of consternation. I would say, you know, I don't have a dog in the fight on that end, but I have a dog in the fight as a fiduciary of the Miami-Dade County Public School Board. So thank you for clarifying that. That's important to clarify for the record. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you so much, Dr. Deana, and I appreciate you bringing that up on not just this conversation being about schools of hope, and I wasn't at the December meeting. I was actually in Tallahassee having some of those conversations with our commissioner as well as with many of our local representatives that are out there advocating for us, and as I said to the media, because I wasn't here and they had been questioned on this, I have the full trust in our administration in really showing them clear views as to what this impact could look like, but to your point, co-location has always existed, Miami-Dade County Public Schools actually co-locates with Miami-Dade College. Right down the street from here, we have classrooms inside of Miami-Dade College that we're using right now to co-locate where we have students. So it's always been something within public entities. But to your point, there are now some private non-for-profit entities that will be coming in using some of these properties. And how are we going to be able to deal with some of these cost offsets that we will have? Yes, the buildings do exist, but there is maintenance, there is security, there are factors that go into there. We're not building a brand new school, so we don't need a capital dollar for building a new school, but we do need to continue maintaining this. So I think it's important that as a board, as many of us travel up to Tallahassee, we continue to highlight the importance of this and not make it about the schools of hope, but yet make it about how do we all coexist and work together? Because we're not saying that we don't welcome the competition. I think the competition has really made our district better and has really helped our community get to a different level because look at our schools. I mean, I think the superintendent said not too long ago, over 70% of our students are in what we call our district choice program. They are traveling around to different schools within our own district because of choice. This is what happens when you create good, productive competition, and let's make sure that we continue doing that. So appreciate you saying that. I will continue to advocate as a consortium, as a school board member, as a parent, and a taxpayer here in Miami-Dade County on the same points. Ms. Rojas, you're recognized.

Thank you very much, sir. So I'm not going to reiterate again what's been said. I think it's a feeling that we all have shared in the past. And just to address the issue very directly with the leaders in Tallahassee has been great. a critical component and I know that many of my colleagues on the board have done it. I personally went with the superintendent. We have met with key people to address precisely the fiduciary responsibility that we have as board members because it is unsustainable. to be able to fulfill the request that is being made of our schools. And so I think that we have a lot of people in the state that are listening very closely and that agree with a lot of the areas that we have advocated for Tallahassee and will continue to do so so I want to thank you you are doing a wonderful job sir representing us at the state continue on your quest and I know every board member here every single one is doing the same thing individually and the superintendent as well so hopefully with everyone's efforts collectively we will be able to hopefully come out at the end of the day in a situation which is just fair to everyone involved. Again, schools of hope, We've been at it for years, for years. This is nothing new, co-location. But it's that portion of the fiduciary responsibility that as board members, we were elected to ensure that tax dollars were spent appropriately. And that's our responsibility. And I think that that's where we're all together. And to board member Alonzo and the new position as president-elect that you have and the current position that you have right now, I know that you are representing us well in this particular arena because we're not quite the same as our friends in the north and the Florida. And so people have to look at us that we are the third largest school district in the entire country and we have different needs in various areas. So I thank you for that and I hope you continue. Thank you very much, sir.

Thank you so much. The next order of business that we have now is new items from board members or any new business. Dr. Gallin, you're recognized.

Yes, through the chair, thank you so much. Just want to follow up through the chair as it relates to some whispers and we get whispers throughout the community about different issues. Through the chair, can we have an update as it relates to what is the current status of the Adidas allocation of a million dollars to a certain segment of schools and approximately 800,000 to the remaining schools of which there's representation that some of the money has not been spent is not being spent and or that the initial designation for the seven super seven schools that they call it may be redistributed. So through the chair, can we just kind of have an update as relates to what's going on with that particular allocation so we can kind of quell any of those whispers that are occurring. And just for the record, you know what I'm saying. A million dollars through the chair was supposed to go to Super 7. $800,000 was to go to the remaining athletic programs, and potentially some of the money is not actually being utilized, and there's speculation that some of the million may be redistributed to the other schools through the chair.

Through the chair, Dr. Gallin, and Happy New Year to all.

So, yeah, so that's contractual.

The $1 million and $800,000, $1 million to the seven schools and $800,000 to 34 schools, contractual, in order to amend that, we'd have to amend the contract. So no, no dollars can be allocated flip-flop from one side to the other. As we move forward every year annually, we provide a proposed contract, a proposed allocation based off of the $1 million for those seven and $800,000 for the 34. That proposal is being submitted to Adidas based off of those $800,000. dollar amounts based off the seven getting whatever they need to do split by seven so no changes will be made um if we want to make changes as i referenced earlier it has to be contractual and as of now there has been no amendment to that contract thank you follow-up uh is there a way that i i'd like to request it for me just to

But I'm sure our other board members would like. Could we maybe have a summary of what revenue has come in from that contract and what expenditures have been made and where through the chair?

Through the chair, yes. I can follow up with that.

Just maybe a table. We got $8 million in. $500,000 has gone to the Super 7. They have another $500,000 this year. $800,000 has been allocated. They spent $400,000. This is pending. and kind of get a sense of how those funds are being distributed. Just, you know, everybody's entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts. So if you give me some factual information that I can stand on, that would be very helpful, and I'm sure my colleagues would appreciate that well, to know what's going into their schools to support their programs as well. Through the chair.

Through the chair.

Most definitely we will follow up with that. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for bringing that up, Dr. Gallin. And, Mr. Diaz, if you could add to there, out of the other 34 schools or so, there is a requirement through this contract that they have to upgrade their uniforms to Adidas, and that's a cost and expense to all these other high schools. Can you also, in that report, include what our other high schools are doing to be able to continue to have their programs and have to fulfill this requirement with less dollars, per se?

Through the Chair, yes, we can follow up as well.

Mr. Buena, was there? Something you wanted to share?

Through the chair, I just, it's not a correction, but we are not getting dollars. It's a store that we purchased from, and it's like a credit. So I just want to make sure that we understand that monies are not coming to the district. It's almost like a credit that we have at a store, and the schools go and buy from that credit. I just wanted to make that clarification.

And just for clarification, what are they buying?

Through the chair, contractually, it's apparel, anything that's related to athletics. It's pretty specific, but more or less, I mean, to be in general terms, it's more or less uniforms across all athletic sports. And that's a key component. We're talking about girls, boys, all athletic uniforms, the apparel that are utilized for athletic events. That is the main purpose of the funding for these sports.

Are dance and band part of that? and are they considered athletics? I mean, I know that my sister was a dancer, and she said how she was an athlete, and I believe that they are athletes. Are they being covered through this, through the chair? Or I am the chair.

Through the chair, Dance, those are extracurriculars. They're not considered athletic activities. Cheerleading is.

I would tell you that you should probably do a little bit of homework on that. Because I'll tell you that cheerleaders and dancers, there is a lot of athletic skills to it. And there are some questions as to what it is. But I won't make it a whole thing. I just...

But to clarify, I did say cheerleading is considered an athletic event. Unfortunately, it's not based on opinion in the physical, but there is certain specifics. Thank you.

But if we can get those reports, I think it will be helpful for the entire board. And thank you for bringing it up.

And through the chair, just a shameless plug. I just have to say this, Mr. Chair. You didn't say this, Mr. Diaz, that cheerleading is a sport in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. because the board voted to make it a sport. We were the only district in the state that we weren't a sport to compete. And I profit an item some years ago and now cheerleading is actually a sport. And for clarification, I know Vice Chair Colucci would agree. I have a dancer and an athlete. Dance is under the arts, performing arts. So it wouldn't constitute allocation for athletics. So through the chair, thank you.

But through the chair, I have a dancer too. And I think we could possibly change that the same way we did the cheerleaders.

All right, we're moving on to our staff follow-up. Thank you so much, Ms. Rojas. And no, I agree. I mean, we recognize all of our students and all their incredible talents. And we will continue to support those because we know that that full child is so important you know making sure that we provide them all these extracurricular activities and the support to be able to have them the next item that we had was our staff follow-up from october 2025 on agenda item h6 which was exploring the feasibility of a partnership between miami-dade county public schools and the pga tour i believe a report was provided to the board members and i know that that was a board member spino's item so are there any questions or comments on it yes mr spino

Mayor Mrakas, Thank you so much, thank you for the report, I just have to provide you with the contact of the person leading operations and marketing for the PGA. Mayor Mrakas, which will be the person on the ground, I really happened to lives in my memory springs came across them by accident, when we were after an event and so they're they're ready eager and willing to follow the conversation further from this.

Mayor Mrakas, To chair appreciate that Thank you.

Mayor Mrakas, Okay, any other questions Okay, this now is off today's agenda if there's no other further discussion I moved to adjourn today's committee meeting.