Key Biscayne's Education Advisory Board voted the week of Aug. 18 to ask the Village Council to revisit a 2012 agreement with Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The deal expanded MAST Academy and gave qualified Key Biscayne residents priority access to roughly 1,100 added student stations through MAST's Cambridge programs, which accept grades 6 through 10. A separate Maritime & Science Technology Program accepts students in grades 9–10 from across Miami-Dade.

Vice Mayor Oscar Sardiñas, who serves as the board's council liaison, pushed the question during the meeting, the Islander News reported. He argued the current distribution of seats across grades no longer reflects how Key Biscayne families actually use the MAST pathway.

The numbers tell the story. Key Biscayne K-8 Center's middle school has just 50 students: 12 sixth-graders, 20 seventh-graders and 18 eighth-graders. Elementary enrollment at the same school is far higher, with 143 fifth-graders alone. Many families now keep children at KBK8 through eighth grade and apply to MAST for ninth grade rather than entering in sixth.

That shift creates a mismatch. Current eighth-graders in MAST's Cambridge program do not need to reapply for high school, potentially leaving fewer ninth-grade openings for students who stayed at KBK8. The board wants to verify how many Key Biscayne students are currently at MAST and how many seats open each year by grade. Members also want to know whether the 14-year-old agreement still serves families choosing the later entry point.

The EAB stressed it does not want to reduce the island's access to MAST. Board members also questioned whether the current 2.5 unweighted GPA requirement in core academic subjects is rigorous enough.

Separately, Mayor-elect Brett Moss floated a related idea at a Rotary Club breakfast on Saturday, Aug. 22. Moss proposed moving the MAST entry point to ninth grade entirely, arguing the change would restore KBK8's middle-school enrollment and ease social pressure on 11-year-olds splitting up friend groups, as we reported in our Aug. 26 coverage of Moss's priorities.

KBK8 expanding middle-school offerings

The board also discussed efforts to make staying at KBK8 through eighth grade more attractive. Under Principal Evie Mayor and new Assistant Principal Giuseppe Semeraro, the school is adding advanced coursework in algebra and physical science, foreign-language instruction, digital storytelling and broadcasting, robotics and STEM programs, and new clubs and leadership opportunities.

A proposed $28,000 partnership with the Biscayne Nature Center would give roughly 767 KBK8 students hands-on environmental education through field visits and in-school programming. Additional proposals include about $5,000 for STEM and robotics equipment and $18,000 for campus enhancements.

Those investments dovetail with the PTSA's Shark Impact Circle campaign, launched Aug. 19 with a goal of raising $324,000 toward a $635,000 school improvement plan. EAB Chair Robert Duzoglou said Aug. 19, when the campaign launched, "Great communities are built by great schools."

Board members said any presentation to the Village Council should document investments already made by the school district, the PTSA and the community. No date has been set for the council to take up the recommendation.