If Miami-Dade County Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho hoped that questions about his relationship with a former Miami Herald reporter would fade away in time, he was mistaken. A new report about e-mails between him and the former education-beat reporter suggests that the drip-drip-drip of scandal won't be shut off until Mr. Carvalho clears up those questions to the satisfaction of the School Board and the public.

On one thing all sides can agree: As Mr. Carvalho himself said, this is a ''personal attack.'' Coming from an anonymous source, apparently with access to his messages, makes it all the more unsavory. But precisely because it is Mr. Carvalho's character, integrity and honesty that are being called into question, he owes it to the school district to clear things up.

So far, he has denied a romantic relationship with former Miami Herald reporter Tania deLuzuriaga. The e-mail messages raise doubts, however. Further, Mr. Carvalho has not made clear which, if any, of the messages he thinks are authentic, but he has asked for an investigation of the district's e-mail system. This leaves things murky indeed. For the School Board, slated to consider ratification of his $275,000-a-year contract on Friday, it poses a troubling question: Has Mr. Carvalho been honest with the board and the public?

The board cannot weigh the issue of whether Mr. Carvalho's conduct was proper or not until they know more about what that conduct was. Mr. Carvalho has a duty to help clarify the situation. The board has a duty to find out before it makes a final commitment on a contract. The relationship between board and superintendent tends to be contentious under the best of circumstances. When it starts out under a cloud of suspicion, that only makes matters worse.

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@