School ethics committee discusses lapses in oversight of after-school program

The Miami-Dade school district’s ethics committee met Thursday morning to figure out what to do about the district’s failures after a privately run after-school program was found to have operated “temporarily” at two district schools without proper protocols for over a decade.

The committee concluded that the school district’s work was far from over.

In September, the Inspector General for Miami-Dade County Public Schools issued a 977-page report that found that Chabad Chayil near Aventura misrepresented itself to gain access to free use of public school facilities, wasn’t licensed for a time and could not verify if employees had the required background checks. It also found that School Board member Martin Karp’s chief of staff, Jerold Blumstein, pressured administrators to approve the program’s contracts. The school district said it missed out on up to $1.3 million in facility rental payments.

The school district was required to submit a corrective action plan to the inspector general by Saturday. While the plan did include three revised administrative stopgaps, including a new waiver, protocols that were already in place and a briefing with principals, there was no mention of any consequences for district employees involved.

That was the number one question from committee members at the school district’s downtown headquarters, but no one from the superintendent’s cabinet was present to give specific answers. There are six prominent community members on the committee.

“I’m very disappointed that we don’t have someone from staff here,” said School Board member Marta Perez, “for something that is quite serious.”

In its first response to the Inspector General’s report, the district took no responsibility and instead blamed Chabad Chayil as school principals “have not been privy to any of the comprehensive licensing requirements for Board approved, not-for-profit, fee-based outside agency before and after school providers.”

The inspector general’s office reprimanded the district in its final report for passing the buck, calling its reasoning “nonsensical.” It admonished the school district for putting children at risk.

Committee members pressed school district attorney Luis Garcia to find out if any district employees, particularly former principal Luis Bello, who allowed the program at Aventura Waterways K-8 for a decade, were under investigation for allowing the programs to run on school campuses for so long.

“Everyone seems to be under scrutiny and everyone seems to have names pushed to the public and embarrassed, but what about the principal?” asked committee chair and former Coral Gables mayor Don Slesnick.

Garcia gave a stammering answer in the affirmative.

“I understand that that has already started, that process,” Garcia said.

Immediate past committee chair and attorney Frank Silva praised the inspector general’s work. He asked if there would be consequences for Chabad Chayil.

Garcia didn’t have an answer. He said he didn’t think the Jewish center was still on campuses. There have been efforts to reinstate the program at the urging of parents.

Some committee members like former Florida Supreme Court Justice Gerald Kogan worried that the same mistakes would be repeated.

“If you’re in this for enough time, you’ll see it repeats itself,” he said. “You get a hold on it, and then as the years go by it strings out. Government is a funny thing and it’s constantly trying to keep up with itself.”

Perez recommended forming a task force to follow through on consequences.

“If we put the facts on paper and lay it out and the people responsible are not held accountable, then I think you run a much greater risk of something like this happening again,” said Inspector General Mary Cagle.

When Silva asked about criminal charges, Cagle said she recently provided the State Attorney’s Office with a copy of the report.

While the committee sat at a conference table, Karp sat with his wife and lawyer Daniel Bitran on the perimeter of the room. Karp grimaced when Silva mentioned that staff felt pressured by Blumstein to approve Chabad Chayil’s contracts. Karp moved a few times to the center table to speak to the committee.

“I’m not here to defend any organization,” Karp said, before going on to list the mitigating factors in favor of Chabad Chayil. “My knowledge of some of what they did is limited. I really don’t pay attention to those things.

“I’m sorry that it’s come to this point,” he added. “It certainly was never our intention to facilitate or be a part of anything that would be harmful.”

Some committee members wondered about how to address the issue of lower-level employees feeling pressure from higher-ups. There wasn’t a clear answer.

Cagle said after the meeting that the school district is expected to issue another response to the inspector general, which would in turn respond to the district and determine if the school district’s actions are enough.

Silva didn’t think so.

“Not yet,” he said. “I think we should have some further discussion to make sure we could do everything that can be done.

“I think we need to continue monitoring this going forward,” Silva added. “I do believe the right steps are being taken.”

Slesnick said after the meeting that he picked up on a lack of outrage or deep concern from the district. He said school district employees need to have “an abiding commitment to ethical behavior.”

“I think there needs to be some passion to the response,” Slesnick said.

Karp declined to comment after the meeting and referred questions to his attorney. Bitran could not immediately be reached for comment.

Superintendent Alberto Carvalho was not made available to comment. A spokeswoman instead issued a statement about the personnel investigation into Bello.

“This is a matter that was referred to the district’s Office of Professional Standards,” wrote Daisy Gonzalez-Diego in an email. “Once a recommendation is proffered, personnel action, as appropriate, will be taken.”

She said ethics committee meetings are coordinated by the School Board attorney’s office. “Unless making a presentation, staff typically does not attend,” Gonzalez-Diego wrote. “We provided a response to the Office of the Inspector General’s recommendations, but it is their report to present.”

This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 2:46 PM.