Who will be the new Miami-Dade School Board chair? A key position is at stake
With a new Miami-Dade School Board set to take hold Tuesday, some of the more pressing questions — how will the board’s dynamic change and who will be the next chair and vice chair — remain top of mind.
Not only will the board see two, potentially three, new members after the official swearing-in ceremony, it will have a new political makeup that could impact what kind of policies are proffered and how the board balances its relationship with Tallahassee.
New board leadership could also determine the board’s tone and what it will — or won’t — tolerate during public meetings. (A Proud Boys contingent showed up at a contentious meeting in September over whether the district would recognize LGBTQ History Month in October.)
In August, two Gov. Ron DeSantis-endorsed candidates won their first-time seats on the board: Roberto Alonso and Monica Colucci.
Alonso, a businessman and Miami Dade College Board of Trustees member whom DeSantis appointed to the college board in 2020, won his bid to fill the seat left open by longtime chairwoman Perla Tabares Hantman, 82, who announced in April that she’d be stepping down.
Colucci, a district teacher, defeated incumbent Marta Pérez, who served on the board since the 1990s. The two were unofficially sworn in Tuesday by Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez but their four-year terms don’t begin until Tuesday.
A third newcomer will replace Christi Fraga, 35, who is in a Dec. 13 runoff election for mayor of Doral. Fraga’s School Board seat will be filled by DeSantis, but as of Friday, the governor’s office had not made any announcement. She has to resign by Tuesday, per state statute.
Much about who will be the next chair or vice chair remains unknown. Yet, with only nine members on the board, there is room to speculate about who is interested in the top seat and who has the experience to do so.
Here, then, is a look at the board members, current and incoming, and their qualifications:
Roberto Alonso
Roberto Alonso, 43, will begin his term Tuesday.
During his acceptance speech at the unofficial ceremony on Tuesday, he said he’d “work to oppose any extreme agenda” and evoked a common phrase used by DeSantis: “Education, not indoctrination.”
Though he sits on the Miami Dade College Board of Trustees, he has never been a teacher or a K-12 school administrator. Electing him as chair could raise some concerns within the community about his qualifications. Still, members who align with his priorities could offer his name for consideration.
Lucia Baez-Geller
A former teacher at Miami Beach Senior High School for 15 years, Lucia Baez-Geller, 39, was elected to the board in 2020. During her term, she’s often sided with the more liberal board members. Only halfway through her first term, veteran members may opt against electing her to lead the board.
Most recently, she was the lone board member to support recognizing October as LGBTQ History Month, an item she proffered. (In September, the board voted 8-1 to reject the designation in the district’s nearly 400 schools, reversing itself from last year.)
Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall
Come Tuesday, Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall, 79, will be the longest-serving member on the board.
Elected in 2010, she served as the first African American vice chair and in 2020, led the board’s effort in asking the district to review curriculum related to racial and cultural understanding. She defeated her challenger, La-Shanda West, in August.
Prior to joining the School Board, the former classroom teacher and principal served as a state representative for District 109 from 2000 until 2008. Given her longstanding tenure, some could argue she’s up for either the chair or vice chair role.
Monica Colucci
Monica Colucci, 49, will assume her post on Tuesday.
A conservative, she campaigned on a platform that parallels with DeSantis’ education agenda to promote parental rights and a “back to basics” education model. A teacher at Everglades K-8 Center in Westchester and career educator with Miami-Dade Schools, this is the first time she’ll be a board member.
Like Alonso, promoting Colucci to the top seat on her first day could raise eyebrows about necessary qualifications.
Steve Gallon III
As the board’s vice chair, some could argue Steve Gallon III, 53, is the natural fit for board chair.
Gallon is a former teacher, former principal, and, in New Jersey, was a superintendent of schools. He was elected to the board in 2016 and first elected as vice chair in 2019, a role he’s held since.
As the second in line, he often presided as chairperson when Tabares Hantman stepped out or handed over governing duties during meetings.
But his ascension to the top seat isn’t guaranteed. Among the more liberal board members, his election to the top seat may be thwarted, given the board’s more conservative swing.
Lubby Navarro
Lubby Navarro, 49, was first appointed to the board by Gov. Rick Scott in February 2015 to fill a vacant seat and later was elected in 2016 and 2020.
Navarro came to Miami-Dade Schools in 2002 as an administrative assistant to the board chair, where she assisted in the development of the agenda items pertaining to education policy.
In the last year, she’s increasingly supported policies that align with conservative agendas and has become a loudspeaker for parental rights. Prior to the 2021 school year, she was the sole ‘No’ vote for implementing face masks for students.
She came under fire for claiming — from the dais — that there’s “one creator, and that is God and Jesus Christ,” and more recently, opposed the adoption of a comprehensive sexual health textbook.
She also voted against hiring Superintendent Jose Dotres and voted for Jacob Oliva, senior chancellor at the Florida Department of Education in the DeSantis administration.
Maria Teresa Rojas
Mari Tere Rojas, 68, is a former teacher, principal and district official, all in Miami-Dade public schools. She was first elected to the board in 2016.
She serves as the chair of the board’s fiscal accountability and government relations committee and vice chair of the personnel, student, school and community support committee.
During her two terms, Rojas, the sister-in-law of Carlos Gimenez, the former Miami-Dade mayor and now a U.S. House representative, has sometimes been the swing vote on divisive and controversial issues — a potential qualifying attribute for becoming chair. (Tabares Hantman, at times, was also a swing vote.)
During the pandemic, she voted in favor of requiring masks in schools, but more recently, voted against the adoption of a comprehensive sexual-health textbook, citing inappropriate material. She defeated challenger Sandra Manzieri in the August primary.
Luisa Santos
Elected to the board in 2020, Luisa Santos, 32, has pushed for many of the board’s environmental initiatives.
She worked in former President Obama’s U.S. Department of Education in Washington, while completing her studies in political economy and education at Georgetown University. She’s taught fourth-grade students and led a mentoring and advocacy literacy program for historically underserved third graders.
During her first term, she proposed having School Board meetings streamed on social media and launched a student fellowship within her school board office.
As the youngest member on the board, however, her experience may not hold up against the more senior members.
