Carvalho’s foundation will keep $1.57 million donation and give it to teachers
Most Miami-Dade County public school teachers will receive a $100 gift certificate from a nonprofit foundation started by Superintendent Alberto Carvalho when he was second in command at the district in 2008, despite a recommendation late last month by school district investigators that the money donated to reward the teachers be returned.
The board of the Foundation for New Education Initiatives, which includes 11 members of the community, including prominent lawyers, a former U.S. congressman and business executives, unanimously voted Monday to keep the money and get it to the teachers as soon as possible.
“I think it’s time to act on the behalf of our teachers,” Carlos Curbelo, the former South Florida congressman and now vice chair of the foundation, said during a board meeting for the nonprofit. “They have been waiting for a long time for this small token of our community’s gratitude for the extraordinary effort they all put forward under some very difficult circumstances at the beginning of the last school year.”
The money for the certificates — $1.57 million — was donated to the school-district-run foundation last summer by a publicly traded company based in Herndon, Virginia, then called K12, Inc., and now known as Stride, Inc.
Before having a fully executed contract with the district, Stride created the online learning platform that was used by Miami-Dade public schools in the beginning of the 2020-2021 academic year. The system was fraught with snags, and teachers received little training on how to use it at a time when all classes were being held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Within the first two weeks of the school year, which began Aug. 31, 2020, the system was scrapped and the district eventually cut ties with Stride.
But, in the days before the school year began, and with Stride’s contract still pending, the company donated the money, which was deposited into the FNEI’s bank account on Sept. 8. Teachers received an email on Sunday, Aug. 31, from their principals telling them that any teacher who was already connected to the system would receive the $100 gift certificate.
That was 15,761 teachers. In all, about 19,200 teachers work for the district, the nation’s fourth largest.
School Board members in September expressed concern over the appearance of a foundation chaired by the district’s top administrator accepting such a large donation before they approved the company’s contract.
The Office of Inspector General for Miami-Dade County Public Schools launched its review that same month. In late June, the OIG released its findings in a report that concluded that no violations had occurred as a result of the foundation accepting the donation, although there was an appearance of impropriety, and as a result, the foundation should return the money.
Specifically, there were no violations since teachers were the intended recipient of the money, and they are “not required to file financial disclosures pursuant to the State Ethics Code,” unlike public officials, the report said. Also, investigators did not find any facts to suggest the foundation’s solicitation of the donation was tied to future action regarding a contract with Stride.
Carvalho, who abstained from voting, said Monday at the meeting that he accepts the OIG’s findings, but he still bristles at the mention of an appearance of impropriety. He said the foundation has worked diligently on behalf of teachers and students in need of financial assistance, including those who are homeless, since its founding. And, the language in the report could harm the organization’s reputation.
“None of us joined this fearing that our bones were ever going to be hurt or broken,” Carvalho told the board members. “At the same time, I never thought that my heart would be broken. But, speaking not as superintendent or chair of this foundation, this has truly broken my heart. This whole episode has broken my heart.”
Some of the board members who explained their vote Monday at the meeting said that choosing to return the donation would create an even larger appearance of impropriety.
“If you give the money back, it looks like you did something wrong,” said board member Dave Marcus.
Curbelo agreed, saying that returning the money would signal that the foundation favors contributions from companies and other organizations doing business with the school district.
“It would give the appearance to the public that because this vendor was not awarded a School Board contract, that therefore, the foundation is refusing the contribution, when stating precisely, there is no connection between the donation and the foundation, and to procurement processes. And, the inspector finds no connection between the two,” he told the board.
Even with the donation, the foundation was still $6,100 short of being able to pay all 15,761 eligible teachers. A board member Monday agreed to donate that sum to make up the difference.
Alan H. Fein, a board member and general counsel for the Miami Heat, said that as an attorney, nothing about the money being donated or solicited appeared improper to him.
“I simply don’t see it in this case,” he said.
Colleen Wright contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 14, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
