Miami-Dade School Board welcomes DeSantis appointee, elects vice chair appointed by governor
The Miami-Dade County School Board welcomed a new representative to its nine-member board and also elected a new vice chair — two positions that were held by former member Lubby Navarro, who stepped down last month.
Maria Bosque-Blanco, 48, a guidance counselor at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, an all-girl, Archdiocesan of Miami high school in southwest Miami-Dade, was appointed Tuesday evening by Gov. Ron DeSantis to represent District 7 for the remaining two years of Navarro’s term. She was sworn in Wednesday morning.
READ MORE: DeSantis appoints a Lourdes Academy staffer to the Miami-Dade School Board
Later, during the regular board meeting, Daniel Espino, a DeSantis appointee who just joined the board in November, was elected in a 5-4 vote as vice chair. Espino voted for himself, as did Chairperson Mari Tere Rojas and the three other DeSantis allies on the board, Bosque-Blanco, Roberto Alonso, who nominated Espino, and Monica Colucci.
Steve Gallon III, Lucia Baez-Geller and Luisa Santos voted for Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall, who voted for herself. Gallon nominated Bendross-Mindingall. As the most senior member on the board, Gallon argued the board would benefit from Bendross-Mindingall as a leader with institutional knowledge as it navigates a “very rapid and unanticipated transition in leadership.” She has been on the board since 2010.
READ MORE: Miami-Dade School Board elects new chair, vice chair aligned with DeSantis, GOP
A fourth DeSantis ally on the board
The moves are the latest changes that welcomed three new DeSantis allies to the board before the end of the year and a leadership election in November that all but guaranteed a conservative lean on the board.
In August, Alonso, a businessman, was elected to the District 4 seat vacated by longtime chairwoman Perla Tabares Hantman, who did not seek reelection. In the same Aug. 23 election, Colucci, a district teacher, defeated longtime incumbent Marta Pérez for the District 8 seat. DeSantis backed both candidates.
The third, Espino, a local attorney and former Miami Springs city councilman, came onto the board in November. DeSantis tapped him in November to fill Christi Fraga’s District 5 seat after she successfully ran for Doral Mayor.
READ MORE: DeSantis has another opportunity to shape the Miami-Dade School Board. Will it matter?
Bosque-Blanco is the fourth member to be either appointed or endorsed by DeSantis, further solidifying his influence on the historically non-partisan board. During her acceptance speech Wednesday, after thanking the governor and Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez for “entrusting me with this responsibility,” Bosque-Blanco reiterated common phrases often espoused by conservatives, such as the need for more parents’ rights in schools. (In November, Nuñez ceremoniously swore in Alonso and Colucci before the official ceremony.)
‘Parents’ rights’ tilt, echoing DeSantis
“Having dedicated my professional career to the field of education, I believe all children have a right to feel safe, loved and educated, while preserving the parents’ rights to be the primary educators in the home,” she said from the podium.
As a teacher, psychologist and guidance counselor, she added, “It has always been clear to me that a strong collaboration between home and school is the most effective in maximizing the student’s potential and overall well being.”
Bosque-Blanco, an alumna of Miami Dade College and Barry University, serves on the Board of Trustees at Miami Dade College. Alonso also serves on the MDC board. DeSantis appointed Alonso to that board in 2020.
Alonso and Colucci campaigned on platforms that echoed DeSantis’ education agenda, which calls for more parents’ rights and endorses a “back-to-basics” education model that focuses on core subjects such as reading, writing, math and civics. And Espino, during his acceptance speech in November, argued there’s never been “a more critical time” for parents to play a central role in their child’s education.
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This story was originally published January 18, 2023 at 4:11 PM.