Editorial: Why the rush on Miami-Dade schools contracts?

The Miami-Dade School Board has two important contracts to consider Wednesday, but the way the process has been handled in one case and the laser-speed in the other raise questions.

In one case, the board is looking for an attorney to replace JulieAnn Rico, who was let go after questions arose about her use of $15,000 in relocation expenses to stay at area hotels instead of moving from Palm Beach County.

In the other, Board Chairman Sol Stinson wants to add two more years to Superintendent Alberto Carvalho’s contract, but Mr. Carvalho hasn’t even finished his first year of a two-year contract. No doubt Mr. Carvalho has done a good job in very difficult times. But shouldn’t talk of a new contract start perhaps six months before his tenure is to end?

It’s all very messy. The selection process that led to lawyer Walter Harvey becoming the finalist for School Board attorney raised a ruckus when board members learned — from published reports in the Daily Business Review — that their colleague, Renier Diaz de la Portilla, worked in the same law firm as Mr. Harvey. Incredibly, neither had mentioned the connection, which became a sticking point that prompted the board to vote in May to restart the process.

Then in June Mr. Diaz de la Portilla announced at a board meeting that he had quit the firm and rushed through a revote on Mr. Harvey. Board members Agustin Barrera, Perla Tabares Hantman and Marta Perez were right to object.

Mr. Harvey’s credentials are not the problem here. Neither is Mr. Carvalho’s work so far. It’s the way this process has been cooked. The board shouldn’t rush, particularly when the district is stretched thin.