School Concurrency

The City of Miami can only allow the construction of new housing if there are enough resources. For example: a developer makes an apartment building with 100 apartments. Let's say this means 50 school age kids will live there, but the nearby school only has space for 25 kids. The developer has to make up for the resources required for the extra 25 kids. We call this School Concurrency Mitigation. 

We’ve taken it a step further by allowing developers to meet with the School Board and The City. During these meetings, the School Board will present options so that the developer may meet capacity.  For example, developers can perhaps donate land or pay additional fees per school-aged child.  

If there are enough resources, the developer will not be charged for mitigation. For example: a developer makes an apartment building with 100 apartments. Once again, let's say this means 50 school age kids will live there. The developer will apply for school concurrency to see how much capacity the nearby school has for those 50 kids. The developer applies for school concurrency and the review concludes that the nearby school has 50 spaces available. The developer will not have to make up space because space is already available. 

School Concurrency Mitigation only happens when the developer needs to make up for a lack of school capacity. This process must take place before building permits can be issued.  

If your project is going to increase the amount of housing units, then you need to apply for school concurrency.

For example, let's say that you demolished 10 housing units and built 300 housing units. We will run school concurrency for 290 housing units. If there's capacity with Miami-Dade Public Schools, they will reserve it for you. If there's not capacity, you will have to make up for it. 

We charge $150 administration fee for a concurrency review, whether there is capacity or not. Additional fees may be assessed by Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS). Learn more about the concurrency process. 

Process for developers:

Reserve School Capacity through School Concurrency

If you are building a residential project that is for people 55 years of age or older, you can be exempted from school concurrency. In many cases, this can help projects save time and money. To do this, you must record a restricted covenant that restricts the dwelling units to persons 55 and over. The City has templates ready for your convenience that you must use in these cases.

View our Covenant Templates

We encourage you to give us a call, in the Comprehensive Planning Division, to discuss your project if you are not sure if you want to do this. We can help you understand the school concurrency process and also what is involved in the restricted covenant. Sometimes one option is better than the other and the decision should be made on a case-by-case basis. Send us an email at planning@miamigov.com or give us a call at 305-416-1445.