M-DCPS, CITY OF HIALEAH FORM 'COMPACT'
TO BENEFIT CITY'S STUDENTS, RESIDENTS

School Board Also Receives Progress Report on Compact with Miami-Dade County

MIAMI - Miami-Dade County Public Schools and the City of Hialeah will join together to improve education and align their resources better to ensure that children are armed with the tools they need to succeed in school and beyond.

The School Board Wednesday unanimously approved a proposal to form the education compact with the City of Hialeah promising important results that also will benefit the city's residents. The District and the City of Hialeah will work together to ensure and enhance students' continued academic success, as well as provide them with opportunities to participate in internships, mentorships and parent/child activities. High on the priority list, for example, is the pledge to assure no school has a school accountability grade lower than B by 2009. Another item of great importance is the plan to implement the District's Five-Year Capital Plan, which will bring to Hialeah six new schools, six school additions, replacement of two schools and a major restoration of Hialeah Elementary.

This is the fourth such compact the District has negotiated with a local government. Earlier in the school year, the School District entered into a compact with the City of Miami. In February, the School Board approved a compact with Miami-Dade County, and one with the City of Coral Gables in March.

The City of Hialeah presents many unique opportunities for both students and residents. It boasts a renowned Recreation and Community Services Department that provides vital services to the community through 15 public parks, a cultural arts center, an indoor gymnasium, a municipal auditorium and the 10,000-seat stadium at Milander Park. Hialeah, the fifth-largest city in Florida, is unique from a cultural perspective, as it ranks highest among U.S. cities where a language other than English is the first language; 91.9 percent of residents speak Spanish as a first language. By collaborating on everything from construction to facilities use to the creation of new programs, both governments aim to ensure that children are prepared to be successful in all aspects of their lives.

Among the programs or projects currently under consideration through the Compact are:
o Creating special-interest schools to foster academic success, skills development and job readiness among all Hialeah students.
o Expanding the Hialeah Reads! community literacy initiative from the Hialeah Public Libraries into city parks and provide opportunities for stronger collaboration on academic and literacy support services between schools and the City, especially during the City's Literacy Month in September.
o Collaborating to foster local business support for educational programs, including employee programs to encourage parent participation in schools.
o Developing an education roundtable to host regular meetings on educational issues with various community and business leaders and school/District staff.
o Collaborating to better connect adults who are not in the workforce with the District's Adult Education/Vocational Training programs through City resources, such as One-Stop centers.
o Developing internship and mentorship programs for Hialeah students in accordance with the Superintendent's Secondary School Reform Initiative and economic growth priorities of the City.

Other goals of the Compact include collaborating on legislative agendas in support of public education, regular briefings of the School Board and City Commission, better coordination of communications and issues, and partnering on grant development opportunities.

In a related development, the School Board received a progress report on the District's compact with Miami-Dade County. Staff from both entities have met and formed pertinent subgroups, and also have produced a comprehensive report that includes projects that will be addressed over the next year, as well as implementation schedules and a formal designation of staff counterparts to work on these. Among the projects identified for immediate implementation: the development of Community Emergency Response Teams in District schools, the creation of a pet-friendly hurricane shelter, and the creation of a pilot program to offer public transportation benefits to District employees.

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