‘He’ll be able to pick up where we left off.’ Why this man is favored for superintendent
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Down to three
Jose Dotres, Rafaela Espinal and Jacob Oliva are the finalists to be Miami-Dade Schools superintendent, and the vote could come Monday.
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Past and present colleagues describe José Dotres as good-hearted and passionate. They’ll say he’s someone with a proven skill set to improve students’ and employees’ lives.
For those who’ve worked with him in his more than three decades as an educator, they’ll say he’s a good listener. A relationship builder, a teacher at heart.
Dotres is one of three finalists vying to be the next superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, a $7 billion entity with more than 17,000 teachers and nearly 335,000 students between traditional and public schools.
Dotres, 59, and the two other finalists — Rafaela Espina, 51, a longtime educator from New York City, and Jacob Oliva, 47, senior chancellor of the Division of Public Schools for the Florida Department of Education — are expected to be interviewed Monday by the School Board in a 2 p.m. public meeting. The board is expected to vote Monday on one of the three candidates to replace Alberto Carvalho as the next school superintendent.
Dotres is the deputy superintendent of Collier County School District, a position he’s held for about one year. He left Miami-Dade schools last February after more than 30 years in the district.
Some have called him the inside candidate. As the district’s chief of staff and former HR director, he developed relationships with key School Board members, including Board Chair Perla Tabares Hantman, who has been on the board 25 years.
Dotres declined to comment for this story.
Education career spans more than three decades
Dotres grew up in Miami and attended public school from kindergarten through 12th grade. (The school district did not confirm his alma mater.)
After attending Miami Dade College — he was inducted into MDC’s 2013 alumni Hall of Fame, a class that included former Major League Baseball All-Star Mike Piazza — he graduated from Florida International University with a degree in public administration in 1985.
In 1988, he got his start with Miami-Dade Public Schools as a teacher and reading coach at Frederick Douglass Elementary School in Overtown and South Pointe Elementary in South Beach. There, he taught intermediate grades and students in English for speakers of other languages, according to his resume, and also served as the Title I coordinator for parental outreach and support.
He moved on to become an assistant principal at M.A. Milam K-8 Center in Hialeah and later a principal at Hialeah Gardens Elementary. At both campuses, he implemented foreign language and gifted programs for students. At Hialeah Gardens, he worked with students on the autism spectrum.
“When I was a principal at Hialeah Gardens, we had a large population of students with autism. And that group of kids is very important to me. This experience at Hialeah Gardens made me a more sensitive individual, a more confident administrator in the sense of understanding the incredible potential that children hold,’’ Dotres said in a video of the MDC Hall of Fame inductees.
By the mid-aughts, nearly two decades after beginning his career, he was tapped to be the administrative director of leadership development for the district, administering a budget of $5 million, and then the regional administrative director of curriculum. In 2009, he became the north regional center superintendent, overseeing all educational aspects for 91 schools, more than 91,000 students and nearly 300 principals and assistant principals, according to his resume.
For one year, in 2013, Dotres moved to Broward County Public Schools to be the chief academic officer, before returning to Miami in 2014 as the district’s chief of staff. In his final role in Miami, he served from 2014-2021 as the chief human capital officer, where he oversaw teacher and leader development, recruitment and labor relations, among other duties.
He received a master’s degree from Barry University in 1988; and a doctoral in leadership and innovation from St. Thomas University in 2020, according to his resume.
‘Skill set that any district needs’
Dotres’ many layers of experiences are what makes him the right candidate for Miami-Dade, said Kamela Patton, superintendent of Collier County Public Schools. His experience is why she tried to poach him twice before he agreed to move to the west coast last year.
“We tried several times to get him to come to Collier County because he has a skill set that any district needs,” she said. “I know his work focused on school improvement, leadership development and academics.” Patton previously worked alongside Dotres in Miami-Dade Schools.
That’s why, she said, the question shouldn’t be why did he apply to become superintendent, but why would he not apply?
Entering education with a focus on students with disabilities and English-language learners — plus his years working in human resources — is alone enough to make Dotres a contender, she said. Even after just nearly one year in Collier County, Patton said, Dotres would be able to go back to Miami with new ideas to lead.
Good relations with unions
When Phyllis Leflore became president of the Miami-Dade American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees union (AFSCME) in 2018, which represents district employees such as bus drivers, nurses and cafeteria staff, she received a call from Dotres’ office inviting her for a meeting. At the time, he was head of human resources for the Miami-Dade school district.
“Our [working] relationship started with [Dotres] giving me his personal cell phone number,” she said. ”They invited me in and he said his door was always open.”
Almost immediately, she said, Dotres began advocating for changes she asked for. And when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, Dotres reassured Leflore her members would be taken care of — a promise he saw through, she said.
Dotres and his team “built programs for [our members] to go online, complete courses and get certificates and continue to be paid, all while schools were closed because of COVID,” she said.
Vicki Hall, AFSCME Council 79 president and former Miami-Dade AFSCME union president, echoed LeFlore’s sentiments. She felt confident walking away from a meeting with just a handshake because Dotres “always kept his word.”
Moreover, she said, Dotres always ensured that the unsung heroes in the district receive recognition they deserve.
“[Dotres] has always been a labor-friendly administrator,” said Karla Hernandez-Mats, president of United Teachers of Dade, the teachers union. “I think it’s because he is a teacher at heart.”
He understands the work employees do in the classroom and the importance of providing adequate working conditions and trouble-shooting any issues that arise, she said of Dotres.
Asked about how he would replace Carvalho, Hernandez-Mats said Dotres will lead the district in a different way.
“Everyone is aware that no one will be quite like Carvalho, but Dotres will do it in his own way, with empathy,” she said. “His personality has been more backstage, but that’s because his roles called for that at a time. He’ll be able to pick up where we left off.”
The favored choice?
Whispers that Dotres would be the top choice have made rounds both in and outside of the district throughout the search process. In December, even before the board met to determine how it would go about finding a replacement for Carvalho, board members at a regular school board meeting acknowledged that his name was already being floated as a top contender.
At a special board meeting on Tuesday, Miami-Dade School Board Vice Chair Dr. Steve Gallon III nominated Dotres to be the next superintendent, though he later withdrew his nomination after other members criticized him. (Board members said Gallon sidestepped their decision to nominate three candidates and bring them in for a public interview, a process Gallon opposed.)
Still, he said, he remain committed behind Dotres. Dotres has a proven track record in the district, knows the difference between the district’s regions and can connect with the community, Gallon said.
For her part, Leflore was reassured to hear at least one board member support Dotres.
“Everyone has a right to be heard and a right to be interviewed” before a final decision is made, she said. “But I really think he can move this district forward.”
To Watch Monday’s School Board Meeting
The School Board will meet at 2 p.m. Monday to interview the three finalists for the school superintendent job. To watch the proceedings, go to https://www3.dadeschools.net/SchoolBoard/information and click on Web Simulcast button on left
This story was originally published January 23, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
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