School Board - Special Meeting

Good morning and welcome to the July 29th, 2026 special board meeting of the Miami-Dade County School Board. We will begin by asking everyone to stand as board member Blanco Lizas in the Pledge of Allegiance. of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please pause for a moment of silent meditation. Thank you, you may be seated. Now, before we proceed with our agenda for today, I would like to acknowledge that school board member, Luisa Santos, will be participating in this meeting virtually through communications media technology. At the special school board meeting held on July 21st, 2026, the board approved member Santos' request to participate and to vote virtually pursuant to board policy 0165K, participation and voting by board members at public board meetings through communications media technology in extraordinary circumstances. A physical quorum of the board is present and in the meeting room. And Member Santos has joined us remotely. In accordance with Board Policy 0165, Member Santos is fully authorized to participate in the meeting and will announce each of her votes verbally for the record. Welcome, Board Member Santos. At this time, If there is anyone from the audience who would like to address agenda item SP1 but has not signed up, please go to the lobby counter outside the auditorium where staff will be ready and happy to assist you. Board must approve additional speakers to agenda items by a majority vote. Do I hear a motion for approval of the supplemental list of speakers? Do I have a second? All in favor say aye. Any opposed nay. Seeing none, motion passes. The list of additional speakers will be distributed once completed. The purpose of today's meeting is to continue the board search, the process for the next superintendent by continuing the board selection and appointment process for the next superintendent of schools. These discussions are intended to ensure a transparent, inclusive, and a very well-structured selection process that reflects the priorities and the feedback from members of our community. Before we move agenda item SP1 to the floor, I would like to remind the public speakers that pursuant to board policy 0169.1, individuals are allowed two minutes to address an agenda item. The green light signals for two minutes, the yellow light signals 30 seconds remaining, and the red light signals that the speaker has exhausted their time. The two minute time limit will be observed. I need a motion to move agenda item SP1 to the floor. Do I have a second? All in favor say aye. Any opposed, nay. Seeing none, motion passes. SP1 is now on the floor. SB1 are the matters related to the comprehensive integrity-based selection and appointment process for the next superintendent of schools, interviews of the two finalists, and selection of the next superintendent of schools. The action proposed is as follows. That the school board of Miami-Dade County, Florida take appropriate action on the following matters. One, conduct public interviews during the July 29th, 2026 special school board meeting of the two finalists for the position of superintendent of schools. Number two, upon completion of the interviews of the two finalists, vote on and select from the two finalists the next superintendent of schools. And number three, authorize the school board chair to schedule a special school board meeting to provide direction to the board chair on the following, A, the terms and conditions of employment agreement for the next superintendent of schools, B, the timeline for the negotiation and finalization of the employment agreement, and C, the transition process for the next superintendent of schools and any other related matters. Agenda item SP1. is on the floor, and so I'm going to call the public speakers that have signed up at this time. We will begin with Ms. Lizette Fernandez. Good morning, Ms. Fernandez, and welcome.

Good morning, Chair Rojas and everyone that's here today. My name is Lissette Fernandez. I am the legislation chair of the Miami-Dade County Council PTA, but most importantly, I am a parent of two children in District 6. Miami-Dade isn't a district you can learn from the outside in a few months. It's the third largest district in the county, in the country, excuse me, bilingual, majority minority, and home to tens of thousands of students with exceptionalities and unique needs. Whoever this board selects today needs real demonstrated experience with the challenges our kids face academically, linguistically, socially, and in special education. That's especially true right now. This district has cut its budget by nearly $100 million over the last two years due to declining enrollment, and our reserves currently sit below the state required level. Our longtime chief financial officer just departed for a new role. This is not the moment for a superintendent to spend his first year learning the basics of how Miami-Dade works. The PTA's mission is to make every child's potential a reality. That's the standard we hold ourselves to, and it's the standard we'd ask this board to hold its next superintendent to as well. I'd ask you to weigh what that means for every child in this district as you make your final decision today. Thank you.

Thank you.

Nancy Vega?

Good morning.

Good morning, Madam Chair and the board. My name is Nancy Vega and I have the honor of serving as Vice President of Advocacy and Legislation for the Miami-Dade County Council, PTA, PTSA. I'm here today on behalf of families who care deeply about this district and want to see it thrive. Our families are paying close attention because we are looking for a superintendent who understands the urgency and responsibility of leading one of the largest and most diverse school districts in the nation. Families need a leader who communicates clearly and consistently, especially during moments of crisis or major decision making. Transparency is essential. New tools, new challenges, and new expectations. are coming our way and things are rapidly changing. Families need a superintendent who can navigate this evolving landscape with transparency, compassion, and a clear vision. We also hope for a leader who respects process, follows policy, and ensures every school from the northern county line to the southernmost communities receive equitable support and resources. We value a superintendent who stands with our teachers and staff. Retention around professional development must be real priorities. Our educators deserve stability, respect, and a leader who listens and responds thoughtfully when concerns are raised. Family engagement must remain central to this district's work. PTAs, parent organizations, and community groups are not accessories. We are partners. We want a superintendent who meets with us regularly, embraces cultural and linguistic diversity, and ensures families have access to information and meaningful voice in decision making. We are ready to collaborate with whomever you select today as the next superintendent. We will also hold him to a high standard because our children deserve nothing but the best. Thank you. Thank you.

Mr. Antonio White.

Good morning, Madam Chair, members of the board. Good morning. I am Antonio White, president of the United Teachers of Dade. Miami-Dade County Public Schools is entering a period of major transition. We do have a new superintendent on the horizon, new leadership in the chief financial office, as well as chief renovation officers. For a system as large and complex as ours, it is critical that the superintendent selection process be handled with care, stability, and clear intention. Our district is one of the largest workforces in the county. Teachers, paraprofessionals, school bus drivers, security monitors, administrators have always been the backbone of our student success. Their trust in district leadership is essential for everything from classroom instruction to transportation and safety. That trust matters now more than ever. Under Senate Bill 1296, collective bargaining has become more complex, more visible, and more consequential with new rules that bring new challenges to both the unions as well as this district. This is not the time for disruption or abrupt changes in direction. It is time for steady, experienced leadership that can navigate these legal requirements while keeping focus on students in classrooms. A thoughtful transition between superintendents is critical. Allowing the current administration to complete this year's collective bargaining process and the renewal of our referendum gives our employees, students, and families the stability that they deserve. Cutting that process short introduces unnecessary risk, conflict at the table, delays in agreements, and a breakdown in trust. So as you move forward with these public interviews of your two finalists and your final selection, UTD asks that you prioritize a transition plan that honors the work already underway, protects continuity in bargaining and budgeting, and sends a clear message to the workforce. that this board values stability, respects process, and understands that successful change must be carefully managed, not rushed. Thank you.

Thank you. These are all the speakers that I have signed up. So therefore, at this time, I will now explain the process to date and the proposed procedures for today's meeting. Pursuant to the timeline established, discussed, and approved by the board at its regular meeting on May 13th, 2026, and under agenda item G3, and reaffirmed at its special board meeting on June 24th, 2026, under agenda item SP1, Each board member was afforded the opportunity to identify and submit to the Office of the General Counsel the names of up to three applicants to be considered for advancement to the semifinalist stage of the selection process. Consistent with the board approved timeline, all submissions were required to be received by the Office of General Counsel no later than Monday, July 6th, 2026. Following this submission period, the Office of General Counsel compiled and reviewed the recommendations submitted by the board members in accordance with the board's established process. The Office of General Counsel prepared and transmitted a memorandum to the Board on July 7, 2026, identifying the six applicants who advanced to the semifinal candidates based on recommendations received from Board members. In accordance with the board's established timeline, on July 21st, 2026, a special board meeting was held to, and among other things, receive the community engagement report compiled by the school board's facilitator, from the information gathered and provided by the school board members, and review the six candidates' background checks, vetting information, and minimum qualifications as approved by the school board and provided by agenda item SP1 at the July 21st, 2026 school board meeting. Special board meeting, the board also determined that the following two semifinalists would be advanced to the board as finalists to be interviewed and considered for the position of superintendent of schools at the special school board meeting scheduled for July 29th, 2026. The two finalists are Dr. Ernie Lozano, and Mr. Rafael Villalobos. In addition, at the July 21st, 2026 special board meeting, the board decided that board members would submit to the Office of General Counsel their proposed interview questions by 5 p.m. on Friday, July 24th, and that questions submitted by board members would be compiled and transmitted to the board by the general counsel by Monday, July 27th, 2026. As we continue the process of selecting our next superintendent of schools, it is important to recognize the board approved superintendent search framework has been followed as designed. This comprehensive framework consists of eight distinct stages, each intentionally developed to ensure a thorough, transparent, deliberate, and extremely thoughtful process for the selection of the best leader for our school district, the third largest in the nation. Agenda item SP1 was developed in accordance with a superintendent search framework that was reviewed and approved by the board on May 13th, 2026. The development of SP1 followed the established framework to ensure consistency with the board's approved process, objectives, and guiding principles. This approach reflects our collective commitment to conducting the superintendent search in a structured, thoughtful manner. while adhering to the direction previously established by the board. I want to commend my fellow board members for their professionalism, their respectful collaboration, and their absolute due diligence through this entire process. Throughout the search, the board has remained focused on following the framework which we adopted while conducting what I believe has truly been one of the most transparent superintendent selection processes that this district has ever undertaken. We have prioritized openness transparency, public engagement, and accountability at every single step of the way. So that our stakeholders have been given the opportunity for meaningful input and have been remained informed throughout the entire process. Our consultant, Mr. Adam Lechner from HYA is here with us today and will be going over the PowerPoint presentation that was sent by our general counsel on Monday. Mr. Lechner, sir, welcome and the floor is yours.

Thank you, board chair, board members. It's great to see you again. I'm Adam Lechner, the board's facilitator. I'm with HYA. Glad to be here today on this very important day for the board and the Miami-Dade community. I just have a few slides, board members, just to kind of review what the board approved last week, and then we will go ahead and get started. So up on the screen today, I believe you all have gotten a copy of this, but this is the summary of what is page 27 and 28 on last week's presentation that the board chair had referenced. This is the process that we had agreed to. Just want to go over a few things just to make the process clear and upfront for everyone here. We'll have an opening statement by each candidate. That's how we will start each interview. After that, we will go into each board member's questions. As the board chair had mentioned, you all submitted questions last Friday. Thank you for doing that. We then sent out on Monday a list of questions. All of those questions aligned to the board's attributes, to the leadership profile, to what is included in both community engagement reports. And so what you have in front of you board members is a list of those questions with highlighted questions in each category. That was done really to make sure that we cover all of those categories and make sure that you all have the opportunity to ask the questions that you submitted. So all of you should have copies in front of you with the highlighted section. The highlighted section is the question that would be answered in those categories. There are eight different categories. Related, we talked last week about follow-up questions. If there is a follow-up question to a board member's question of the candidate, as the board had agreed to last week, you are more than willing to ask a follow-up question for clarity in that response if that's needed. But other than that, we'll have time for each board member to ask one question as we go down the dais. Moving on, the candidate Q&A is the second to last portion. This is, as we discussed last week, a really important part of the interview. This is the opportunity for your candidates, both of them, to ask questions of the board. We have allotted about 15 minutes to keep within that roughly 60 minute timeline. I will be signaling here from the floor to the board chair when we're about at that time. And then we move into the last phase, the closing statement for each of your candidates. Couple minutes about why they should be the next superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools and their candidacy. Both candidates are here and in separate conference rooms. We ensure that they do not have access to this meeting to see any questions in advance. But both are in separate conference rooms. And how this will look is we'll start with Dr. Lozano. After the conclusion of the first interview, we'll have a five-minute recess just to take a break and transition. We'll come back for Mr. Villalobos to have his interview, again, roughly 60 minutes, and then we'll take a 10-minute recess after that before voting and deliberations happen for the selection of the next superintendent of schools for Miami-Dade County. And lastly, or second to last, talked a little bit about this last week, but wanted to lift it up again. Per the board's policy, the next superintendent of schools requires of the board five affirmative votes to be the next superintendent of schools. So I just wanted to be clear about that for the viewing public about what the board's policy actually states. So five affirmative votes once we get to that stage, which would be after the two interviews have concluded after that 10 minute recess. And then we have the last phase. So after you all vote on the next superintendent of schools, what we'll need to do as discussed last week, schedule a board meeting for the board to give direction on contract negotiations and other matters related to the transition. So that meeting, a special meeting, or perhaps at a different subsequent regular meeting would need to be scheduled. And then part of that, a goal of that then is to give direction for the board chair to negotiate contract terms, a very important part of the process here. So just wanted to conclude with that would be the last action step for today is setting that meeting and then authorizing or giving direction to the board chair on the terms of the contract. Board members, board chair, without further ado, I'm going to go ahead and turn it back over to you and we'll go ahead and start.

Thank you very much, Mr. Lechner. And if there are no objections, yes, sir?

Just to clarify, so just in support of his presentation, we passed out copies to the board, and in that, there's the questions. I just want to make sure that each board member has that, and that the highlighted question is the question that the board members to ask. Just wanted to confirm that. Thank you.

Yes, thank you very much, sir. Do all of my colleagues have questions? The documents that have been referred to, yes, they do. So therefore, thank you, sir. And if there are no objections or questions from my colleagues on the board, we will proceed with today's interviews in the manner which has been described. We will start in alphabetical order. And so therefore, Dr. Ernie Lozano will be our first candidate to be interviewed. And while we wait for Dr. Lozano to be brought to the auditorium, I would like to state that I do have two board members that have apprised me that they have been caught in traffic and are running a bit late.

Madam Chair, point of clarification.

Yes, the board attorney has been apprising me that if the two board members do not arrive on time, and I will give them the opportunity if we're still in the questioning process, but if not, I will assign two board members to ask the questions that those two board members were going to ask but cannot do so because they are not physically present at the time. I also have... Board Member Santos, I believe you wanted to say something?

Yes, Madam Chair, thanks. Point of clarification, on the follow-up questions, I wasn't sure, is each board member, are we agreeing that we have the ability to follow up on the one question we asked ourselves, or that we have the ability to follow up on, get clarification on any question that is asked of the candidate?

Okay, Mr. Lechner, sir?

Through the chair, thank you Board Member Santos for that clarifying question. We typically advise boards that if anyone on the board has a clarifying question of the response to that board member's questions that they should be able to have that opportunity to ask that follow up question.

Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Thank you, of course. And through the Chair, I think the Board had also agreed that only for the follow-up questions, five minutes.

Yes, a five-minute time limit. Yes, that was the agreement. That is correct. All right, well, do we have Dr. Lozano? I see him actually waiting here. Well, good morning, sir, and welcome to Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Yes, absolute pleasure. And so we're going to start, first of all, with a very brief opening statement, not to exceed five minutes, and for you to tell us why you would like to be the next superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the third largest A-rated district in the country.

Good morning, board. I want to thank you.

Is your mic on? Testing. Yes, now we got you.

Thank you. So good morning. And first I want to start by thanking this board. You promised the community an open and transparent process, and the fact that I'm sitting in this chair today shows you followed through on your commitment. I want to thank this board for allowing me the opportunity to be here today to present why I would be honored to be your next superintendent.

Sir, excuse me, can you move the mic a bit closer? Because it's not coming through. Is that better? Much better, thank you.

Usually I'm too loud, so. So again, thank you for having me here today. You know, as I watched and worked through this process the last four months, I thought about one question. What makes Miami-Dade County Public Schools so unique? And I realized it's not simply your size. It isn't the incredible accolades. It isn't even your national reputation. It's the remarkable idea that 300,000 children speaking over 150 plus languages, representing cultures from all around the world, walk into your schools every morning carrying completely different stories, yet walk the graduation stage with the same opportunity to build an extraordinary future. That's the promise I learned, that's Miami-Dade County Public Schools, that's the promise. And I can't think of a greater honor than helping to protect that promise. Before I talk about tomorrow, I want to commend this district on seven consecutive A grades. That only happens because teachers, principals, employees, families, students, and so many of our loyal community partners make meaningful decisions about students every day. That deserves celebration. Congratulations, Miami-Dade County Public Schools. But as your superintendent, my goal isn't simply to rewrite success. It is to protect what works, strengthen what we must improve, and prepare our people for what comes next. One of my highest priorities will be what I call accelerate to eight. I will spend every day serving alongside our talented educators, leaders, employees, families, community partners, and this board to earn an eighth consecutive A grade. Let's claim it today. So I'm gonna tell you a secret in case you didn't know. I'm the external candidate. And sometimes that comes with certain things. But let's talk about that for a second. because adding fresh perspective to an organization has value because it challenges all of us, including myself, to keep learning, to keep improving, and to keep asking questions of how we can serve our students better. Combined with the talented people already here in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, I am confident we will create an even stronger leadership team that is prepared and ignited to handle the challenges ahead. I have spent my career leading the very systems large urban school districts depend on in times of change. School safety, school improvement, human resources, finance, labor relations, and leading principals in serving their school communities. The strongest organizations aren't the ones that never stop learning. And I look forward to learning with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, just as I am confident my experiences, my belief in people, and my leadership skills will contribute to Miami-Dade's continued success. I also know this is a season of real anxiety for our teachers, our principals, our staff, and our communities. Miami-Dade is dealing with consolidations, financial pressures, declining enrollment, and uncertainty about what might come next. But what does it say about this district that in spite of all of that, you still earned a seventh consecutive A rating. Who wouldn't want to be a part of Miami-Dade County Public Schools? I've spent the last few years sitting across from many employees and community members in exactly these difficult moments. And I've learned that what people don't need most is a promise that change isn't coming. What they look for is a leader who will tell the truth early, who will be inclusive in decision making, and will never let a hard decision be a surprise to the people it affects. That is the standard I will hold for myself and this district every single day. I will ensure every teacher and every principal knows they are respected, equipped with the resources they need, and are empowered to focus on the work that matters most, helping our children learn, grow, and thrive. Under my leadership, that means central office is only measured by its success on how well it serves our schools and supports our school leaders. It means removing the administrative burdens that pull our educators and our principals away from our students and ensuring our principals have the autonomy and the support to lead their buildings well. Today marks the beginning of Miami-Dade County's next chapter. It will not be defined by the challenges we face, but by the courage with which we respond to them. This is a moment for us to preserve what generations before us have built while preparing our students for a future that's arriving faster than ever before. This moment calls for a leader with the breadth of experience to honor what has made Miami-Dade exceptional while having the vision and courage to reimagine what is possible. For the past 28 years, I have intentionally accepted responsibility for the most difficult challenges presented to me. There isn't a major challenge facing this district today that effective governance and a cohesive senior leadership team can't solve together. If entrusted to be your superintendent, I'll protect what has made Miami-Dade exceptional, I will strengthen what will determine tomorrow's success, and I'll prepare this organization for a future arriving faster than any of us have imagined. But above everything else, I will give every ounce of my energy to create the conditions where teachers can teach, principals can lead, parents can trust, and students can thrive. In learning about this district, I've come to understand something very simple. Miami-Dade County Public School changes lives because extraordinary people choose every day to invest themselves in the children of this great county. My responsibility as your superintendent will be to make sure that our staff in this district district has everything they need to do the extraordinary work only they can do. Because I've learned when every student reaches their full potential, our entire community thrives. Just like little Ernie Lozano coming here many decades ago, a little toddler in a diaper running around West Little River. And when Ernie Lozano reached his full potential, it earned him sitting in this room as an opportunity to be a finalist in the third largest school district, Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Thank you, and I'm honored to be here today.

Thank you very much, sir. We will now go on to the portion of the interview questions. At this time, each board member will read a different question that has been selected from what was submitted and received from the Office of the General Counsel. Now we will proceed with the board members' questions. I will start on the left side of the dais with board member Santos. Each board member will then follow accordingly and ask one question with a three to five minute limit for response. Upon the response from the candidate, the board member can do some follow up based on the same question if they so desire. We will then move on to the next board member until we reach the other side of the dais. At this time, I will begin by recognizing board member Santos to begin her questioning.

Thank you so much, Madam Chair, and thank you, Mr. Lozano, for being here with us today and to our community who came out and gave their input. As you know, declining enrollment creates both an educational and financial challenge for the district. What would be your strategy to better align our programs, our facilities and resources with our changing enrollment while retaining current students and attracting new families and ensuring long-term financial sustainability? Please give specific examples.

Thank you for that question. So declining enrollment is part of obviously the current conditions in the landscape, but it's also a reflection of public confidence in the work we do every single day. And it starts with, as a school district, answering the question. What are the, answering the question of What can we give our parents to make us the number one choice for their children? That's the question where we start when it comes to declining enrollment. And then we have to go out and be present in the communities meet with our communities, we have to meet with our business partners, our industry leaders, and get everybody at the table to say if we are going to increase the enrollment in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, we have to provide programs that align with the workforce and the industry so when our students leave, they're able to be successful. Declining enrollment also starts with customer service. The way I was treated this morning, from the parking garage to walking in this room, is a prime example of how we need to work as a school district when our parents enter our campuses, when our ESE parents have a concern, when our ELL parents are looking for support. We have to be able to be a world-class leader in customer service. We also have to align our district resources with enrollment realities, right? Your strategic plan talks about improving your, reducing your footprint to 80%, and making sure we have 80% of our seats filled. So what are the strategies we're gonna put in place to make sure we're able to fill our seats to improve our school enrollment? We also need to create a culture of continuous improvement. We have to learn and grow every single day. Enrollment's not won through advertising campaigns, It's one through trust with everyone in our community. So again, we have to look at our footprint, we have to work as a team to look at the best way to allocate our resources, we have to provide world-class customer service, and we have to put programs in place, not just adding programs, but aligning programs with our workforce industry, our higher ed institutions, FIU, Miami Dade College, to improve the enrollment in Miami Dade County Public Schools.

Thank you. Board Member Santos.

Thank you so much. And thank you, Dr. Lozano, for that answer. I think what I'd love for you to expand on in the follow up is, Specific examples. Yes, our strategic plan says to reduce our footprint to 80% utilization. That's the outcome. How do we get there? If you could expand on that with specifics. And then, of course, you said not just advertising campaigns, but trust, and certainly trust is important. And then... to talk about how we reduce our footprint first in specifics, and then secondly, on how we then turn that into delivering the kind of programs. You mentioned one specific, workforce and industry. What other specifics do you see us being able to turn that utilization savings into delivering better programs for families?

So again, I think this district always sets the pace, right? Venetian Park. Right, we need to do more things like that, be the state leader in designing programs that don't even exist, that's gonna meet the needs of our students of today and our students of tomorrow. So it's looking at programs that we're able to implement across our district that meets the needs of our families in South Florida, your charter school of autism, what that does for those families to keep those families in our ecosystem and support the parents of children on the autism spectrum. It's looking at our specific community, looking at the wants and needs of each community and building out the programs that are going to get students and families to say, I only have one choice, Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Thank you.

Okay, we will now go ahead and proceed to Board Member Alonso, sir.

Thank you so much, Madam Chair, and thank you, Mr. Lozano, for being here today and for your great opening statement. Declining enrollment creates, sorry, I was reading Board Member Santos' questions. Switching over from declining enrollment and gaining the trust, reading proficiency remains one of the greatest predictors of a student's long-term success. If selected as superintendent, what specific strategies would you implement to significantly improve reading proficiency, particularly by the third grade?

Sir?

Yeah, so when you look at literacy, for me it starts with being grounded in the science of reading and ensuring that we are implementing a research-based curriculum to all our students and it's systemic and purposeful in everything we do when it comes to our emerging readers and our youngest learners. And then we have to provide professional development to all our teachers and then extend that professional development to our early childhood centers and our centers that support our students before they arrive in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The makeup of our teachers today looks a lot different than it did 20 years ago. with so many teachers choosing education as a second career or not coming through a college of education. The role we have to do in supporting our teachers with the right professional development is critical to the success of our students, from birth to third grade. Then we also have to have solid and strong data and assessment systems in place so we can monitor each student's progress and make adjustments all along the way. And then we have to, again, look at that whole child component, working with our philanthropy partners, working with our business partners to working with our municipal cities to ensure that we're providing wraparound services for our children so that they come to school ready to learn. As they enter into our kindergarten through third grade environment, we're ensuring that we're providing a strong phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension program, and then we're also building literacy in everything we do across all content areas to ensure that our students are being immersed in literacy every minute they're in our schools.

Board Member Alonso, sir?

Thank you so much and I'm glad you mentioned data because it's such an important part of being able to truly measure success. How would you measure that success based on the data you have access to and what results should this board expect to see over the next four years?

So in this state we have a robust progress monitoring system. and we assess and monitor the students in PM1, PM2, and then we get to celebrate in PM3. And that starts even before kindergarten with our state assessments that are put in place so we're progress monitoring our students all along the way. but there's no better assessor than where a student is than the teacher in the classroom. And our teachers are doing real-time assessments every minute of every day. They're in front of our children. So I give half of that burden to our teachers who carry it so well, who work with each student where they are, understand the gaps they need to overcome, and work hard to get our students to proficiency. So we have our authentic assessments that happen in the classroom, we have our district assessments that we use to monitor student progress, and then we have probably one of the robust progress monitoring systems across this nation in place right now to assist us in making sure every child gets to third grade proficient and ready to learn.

Thank you very much. Board Member Bendrells-Mendenhall, ma'am.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and I'll stay a little because I was tardy. Good morning, sir.

Good morning.

When you mentioned West Little River, I felt right at home getting ready to talk with you. I taught at that school, and it's been a few days ago when I did that teaching. So thank you for mentioning that. Wow. I do have a question for you. If you could accomplish only three lasting improvements during your first four years as superintendent, what would they be? Why would those rise above every other priority? And how would those changes improve the daily experience of students and the people who educate and support them?

So I think what I would be most proud of after four years of serving as superintendent, that I was able to build better trust with our parents, our families, and our communities for this district, and there was better alignment between each community and that universal why in our strategic plan, that would be what I would be most proud of where the trust in every community to say, my safe place is Miami Dade County Public Schools, and that's unified across this district. Secondly, that we've accelerated student achievement. So I would be standing there saying Miami-Dade County Public Schools had 100% students proficient in reading, math, science, 100% students that walked that graduation stage that would be a top priority and a proud moment for me and lastly that i've done the difficult work to ensure long-term sustainability in this district from today to four years and net from now i've set up this district to be financially solvent for many years to come. So my three priorities, that would be my top priorities and what I would be most proud of is earning the trust of this community, improving that trust, accelerating student achievement to 100% and ensuring the long-term solvency of Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Thank you, follow up, yes ma'am. Thank you. I asked you to talk to me about why these would be above any other priorities. If you could just expound on that a little.

So I'll tell you a story. It was COVID, we closed down, get a call, it's right before spring break. We have to deploy, superintendent wants us to deploy laptops to every student. I asked one question in that meeting, rookie mistake, right? Right after the meeting, Lozano, we need you to come tomorrow, it's Saturday, we gotta build the master plan to get this done, come down. Come down, put together a plan to roll out Saturday, we set up our sites, we set up the process. I roll out at 9.30 to a school campus. There's a long line of cars. I'm like, wow, this is a successful plan. And I get out, and I walk in, and I look at our hardworking people from the district, and I see them scrambling to piece together laptops, chargers, and I'm like, I thought when we put this together, I knew this school had enough laptops to meet today's need. So I asked the question, where's the principal? Like, oh, he's on the other side. Okay, so as I start walking, I see there's a second line. And as I'm walking up, I see this line is moving straight very quickly. And I ask the question, what is the difference between these lines? And he says, oh, this is the line for our parents and our community. That's the line for everybody else. Thank the good Lord I had some restraint. And I stayed silent for a minute, and I kept looking back at that other line, hoping it would register. That was not a unified decision. So he got the message. We moved all of those students into the other line. So to answer your question, I will make sure there are not two lines in this district. There is one line for every student and every family.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, ma'am.

Thank you, Mr. Lozano.

You're welcome. Vice Chair Calucci.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And Dr. Lozano, thank you for being here with us today. One of the top priorities after watching the news and seeing everything that's going on in our communities and across the nation, parents are very concerned about safety and security. School safety remains a top priority, including the role of the district's school police department. How would you strengthen campus security while at the same time maintaining a welcoming, supportive, and positive school climate?

And that's been some of my key work over the last four years. I was blessed to serve as the Chief Safety Security Officer for a year. I also was able to, right after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas tragedy, I had the blessing to be able to to be tasked to join the state workforce, looking at the threat management process. So when you talk about school safety, it starts with culture, to your point. How can we still create inclusive environments where parents feel invited, but then at the same time, ensure our schools are safe? Because safety is our number one priority, and every parent expects to have their children return to them at the end of the day. That is job number one. So for me, it's that culture, and it starts with every individual in this district, every employee, every student, every parent, every volunteer, every community leader. It takes everybody in Miami-Dade County Public Schools to ensure every school, every classroom is safe. And then it starts with prevention. It starts with building a robust mental health program in the district. One of the most important things we do is meet students where they are before it becomes a bigger issue. And if every student is connected to an adult, we're gonna reduce the chances significantly of a student making a bad decision. So the first two elements again are a, school a district culture that safety is our number one priority and building robust prevention with threat management and mental health. And then on the other side of it, there has to be accountability. and working with this district when we do our state school safety inspections is critical because if we don't monitor, we're not going to ensure the policies this board has put in place is being implemented out in the schools. So we must have a robust, just like with academics, The same focus in progress monitoring on academics must be that same progress monitoring we have in school safety. And then most importantly, continuously improving. What are the newest ways we can implement to minimize the schools not being as inclusive as we want to, but still providing and making sure safety is our number one priority.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair, and just a quick follow-up. And the measures you would use to determine these safety policies, you would determine how they're effective, and when would you consider changing them if there are weaknesses?

So when would I consider changing them? Immediately. There is zero ease.

But based on what, I'm sorry, based on what data would you use to determine what you would change and where the weaknesses are?

So again, Chief Silva and I will meet together. We will prepare a comprehensive plan to inspect our schools, we will look at our assessor data, we will look at our mental health data, we will look at our threat management data, we will look at our suicide risk assessment data, and then we will use that data to determine which schools may need more support, which schools do not need more support, and work collaboratively to ensure that every school is implementing every requirement of school safety.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you very much. Thank you, Dr. Lozano. Thank you. And now, Board Member Espino, sir.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Dr. Lozano, thank you so much for joining us and your interest in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. I tend to like to work backwards. I like to go to the destination, our goal, and then see what steps I have to do to achieve that. So my question is framed that way. Leadership is ultimately measured not by the challenges that we inherit, but by the legacy we leave. So let's presume we are all sitting here 10 years from now, not because of the meeting, just generally. 10 years from now, Miami-Dade County Public Schools has built upon its long-standing reputation as one of the leading urban school districts in Florida and the nation, having strengthened student achievement, right-sized and reversed enrollment trends, become the first choice for more families, as you've stated, and continue to earn the confidence of our community. Looking back, what decisions, innovations, leadership practices and school board superintendent partnership dynamics do you believe have made the continued success possible for our schools, most importantly for our students?

So I think everything starts with the nine of you and the person in this seat, the superintendent. So if that happened, it's because we had clear alignment and communication and clarity in our roles in setting the vision for this district. Because everything in this district starts and stops with the 10 of us working together with a common vision and a common mission for this district. And then that means everybody in this district stood 100% by our strategic plan, and made that strategic plan the core of the work that leads this district forward in the next five years, and then the next five years after that. So the strong governance and relationship with the superintendent, strict adherence and commitment to implementing our strategic plan. And then most importantly, that means our principals and our teachers in the classroom were provided the supports and resources and empowerment to do the job they do best every single day.

Follow-up, Madam Chair?

Yes, sir.

Thank you. Coming from a similar district, what innovative practices do you think districts like Broward, like Miami-Dade County have to do to reach those milestones?

I think we're doing it now. I think you're seeing a lot of that work happening now. We are the trendsetters in South Florida. We are showing the rest of the nation how to do it right and how to create an ecosystem of learning that meets the needs of every child.

Thank you. Thank you. And now we have Board Member Blanco.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Lozano, for joining us. It's a pleasure to get to meet you in person.

Thank you.

One of the priorities you've already mentioned that you would address is the budget, and so the question has to do with that. As you know, this year proved difficult for many districts regarding the budget. How would you align the district budget with the priorities that we have identified in the strategic plan? What would be the long-term approach to financial planning and what strategies would you use to maximize state and federal funding opportunities?

So I think it starts with having that, cohesiveness with their chief financial officer. It starts with having a clear understanding of the FEFP, Florida Educational Finance Program, and ensuring we are starting most of the budget in a school district is its people. When you look at, what we have to allocate our funds to. So one of the key priorities is how we ensure we're taking care of our employees and our people and being able to staff our schools and provide the supports our schools need to meet the needs of the students in our communities. So that's where everything starts, when you start looking at your financial package. What are the resources we need to allocate to schools to make sure our teachers, our support staffs in our schools, and our principals can do the main job we do, which is educate children. And then we also have to look at contracts, and we have to evaluate every contract in this district. and we may even need to move to performance-based contracts, not just giving out contracts to give out a contract. But if you want some of Miami-Dade's dollars, we better be getting return on investment. So it's looking at our contracts, it's looking at our capital outlay to say what are the best ways we can use our capital outlay to improve our facilities in every community. Every community deserves a world-class facility. So what are the dollars in our capital outlay that we need to allocate to ensure we are improving the facilities to meet the current needs of the programs we need to put in place to meet the workforce of tomorrow? and then it's looking at revenue generation. I see this district doing some great work with some P3 initiatives, some public-private partnerships. What you're doing with the combination of Pine Villa and Arthur and May Poly Conservatory and what's happening there to look for workforce housing and looking for ways we can start revenue generating. One of the things we could do, this district, is on average, when I did my read, it looked like we're losing students to Florida Empowerment Scholarships by 14% every year. Well, let's turn that around and let's start being a Florida Empowerment Scholarship provider and start collecting some of that revenue back by having our students come and maybe take three courses and then when we provide that world-class customer service to them, they say, you know what? I don't just wanna be here for three classes. I like the feeling I get when I'm on this campus. I'm ready to come back and be a Miami-Dade County public school student because nobody does it better. So it's looking at our general fund It's looking at that we're allocating our resources with a clear focus on our schools and what's happening there and the supports needed to support our schools. It's looking at all our contracts and it's looking at all our capital outlay dollars to ensure we're being fiscal stewards of taxpayer dollars.

Follow up, Madam Chair?

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you, as you mentioned, the majority of the budget goes to the people, right, the people that we employ. So how could you identify opportunities for cost savings without impacting the services and the student achievement that we provide?

I talked about it a little bit by looking at contracts. AI is going to be a powerful tool for us, especially in terms of operational efficiency. We're doing a pilot right now with 20 schools where we're implementing a program to handle our preventative maintenance, be able to monitor our HVAC systems remotely. Those are the types of opportunities we need to move forward with that will recapture millions of dollars back to Miami Dade County Public Schools. So it's looking at technology as a key driver to support our operational efficiency. It's It's looking at ways to generate revenue. Are there facilities we can lease out? Are there programs that we can offer communities? So it's really looking at and building a new model where we become a driver to generate revenue as well to support the dollars that come in through our FTE enrollment.

Thank you. Thank you very much, Board Member Geller, sir.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Yes, sir.

And fellow colleagues.

Thank you, Dr. Lozano, for participating in this process, for your presence here today, your statement, and your thoughtful answers. We appreciate that. As one of the few non-educators on this board, I'm always very concerned about our academics. So my question is, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, as you are aware, has earned a national recognition for academic excellence, yet achievement gaps and disparities in student outcomes persist. What will be your top academic priority? during your first two years, and what specific strategies will you implement to achieve that priority?

Yes, sir. So again, everything starts and stops with our teachers. We must recruit, retain, and respect the teachers in the classroom, because our teachers drive our academic excellence. our teachers are the ones who make everything possible in a school district. So it starts with providing our teachers the professional development they need, ensuring what they're teaching in the classroom is aligned to Florida standards, and we're holding every individual to the standard to get students to proficiency. But proficiency is not the end. Proficiency is just the beginning. Because proficiency is the ticket that opens doors to be successful in your, when you leave our schools and have the world and you'll be able to accomplish anything you look at. So when you look at what creates strong academic programs, it's supporting and mentoring and training our teachers in the classroom, supporting our principals, making sure we're providing robust professional development, making sure we are teaching the standards we're required to teach to ensure our students have success on the assessments they're required to take, and building a culture where everybody in the district is a arrow that focuses directly on our classrooms.

Thank you very much, sir. And now I will be asking a question, and again, thank you so much, Dr. Lozano. Thank you. Miami-Dade County Public Schools has been designated as an A-rated school district for seven years and also with a graduation rate of 95.4% for our district schools this past year. How would you organize the district regarding curriculum in a way that maximizes student performance and potential?

So that's different for every student, right? How we deliver curriculum to an ESC student versus an ELL student versus a general education student, or even a student coming in, which many of our students are, coming in well above grade level. So there's no one, ticket answer to how we're gonna deliver that curriculum. It takes school planning, it takes district planning to provide choices and options that meet the need of every student. So whether I'm working above grade level, whether I need additional supports, we have programs in place to meet students where they are and move them to success. Thank you.

So as a lifelong educator, absolutely, educating children is indeed, for us, our primary focus. So I would like to ask you a question, and I want you, before I ask the question, to look back here. And that says Miami-Dade County Public Schools giving our students the world. So my follow up question would be to ask you to please elaborate on how you plan on putting students first in every single decision you make, regardless of whatever subject matter you are dealing with.

I think it starts by, as the superintendent, being in the classrooms myself. Superintendents can't lead from this building. Superintendents have to lead where the work is happening. And I have to be in the trenches with our teachers and our principals and our schools to ensure I understand the realities they're facing every single day. And by listening to our teachers, by listening to our students, by listening to our community leaders and partners, we're gonna together build, because the superintendent never works in isolation, and we're gonna work together to make sure we find the programs, the opportunities, and the right people who wanna love our children to show up every day, and that's the way we give our students the world outside.

Thank you. And so that concludes my question, and we are now going to go to your closing. So would you please give us a very brief closing statement, and yes, sir? Oh, that is correct, I am so sorry. Yes, I did forget about that, the Q&A period where you can ask us questions, sir. If you so desire, you don't have to.

It's up to you. So again, this board, you did your homework. I was able to speak with each one of you. And I could feel and hear your commitment to this district. And you did an outstanding job answering my questions. So there's no questions right now that I have. So if it's the will of the board, we can move to my closing statement.

Thank you very much, sir. So yes, in your closing statement, please tell us what you believe sets you apart as a candidate. What steps would you take to transition into your new role?

Can you repeat that one more time?

Yes, of course, sir. All right, so please tell us what you believe sets you apart as a candidate and what steps would you take to transition into your new role?

Can you say that first part one more time?

Absolutely. All right, so here we go. Please tell us. what you believe sets you apart from everyone else as a candidate, what steps would you take to transition into your new role?

I think what sets me apart is my body of work speaks for itself. Throughout my career as a teacher, a principal, a principal supervisor, and then moving into the central office, a lot of the questions today centered around how will you leave Miami-Dade County better in 10 years, in four years? Every opportunity I've had to serve people, whether it was school safety, whether it was student achievement, whether it's human resources, The thing I'm most proud of, I left it better than it was before, and I developed the people in those departments to do a better job than I did. No one is gonna come in to this district, no one's gonna catch her, but I'm gonna wear out the sole of my shoes pretty good trying to catch Dr. Bendro's mending call on running around this district supporting everybody. No one's gonna be the biggest cheerleader, no one's gonna be the biggest advocate in Tallahassee, no one's gonna be the biggest celebrator when the lights are off than Dr. Ernie Lozano. Bar none, I will be the best individual to follow in Dr. Dodgers' footsteps and lead this district and elevate this district to the greatest possible heights. And the steps I'll take to do that I have to build strong relationships with each one of you so we can establish our rules of communication. We can have clarity on our roles so together in alignment, we can move this district forward. So everything for me, the steps I'll take is building relationships with each board member to move the vision of this district forward. support our teachers and our principals in the work they do every day. And then again, I have to take off my jacket and make sure on the finance operational side, we're doing the difficult work to make difficult decisions so that we can build a strong, financially solvent district to support the people that work for us and the students our families entrust us with every single day thank you so very much sir on behalf of my esteemed colleagues on the board and myself

And on behalf of the 330,000 students that we serve, all of the teachers, the administrators, and the entire Miami-Dade County Public School family, we thank you for the time that you have taken, the interest that you have in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, in our opinion, your best choice, and the third largest in the country. Thank you, and good luck, sir.

Thank you.

we are now going to take without any objections.

Can we consider a five-minute recess before we move on?

You weren't here, sir, when I made the announcement, and that's what I was going to say now. So with no objections from my colleagues on the board, we will take a five-minute break. Let me tell you the time right now is 11.20. We shall be back at 11.25. Thank you.

you

Welcome, as we reconvene the July 29th, 2026 special board meeting of the Miami-Dade County School Board. At this time, we will continue with our second candidate, Mr. Rafael Villalobos. Welcome, Mr. Villalobos, and thank you so much for being here with all of us today. I understand that you have your wife with you, and also I believe it's your Uncle Pepe, I was told. So welcome to all of you. I am the chair of the school board of Miami-Dade County, Florida. I represent district six and I would like to start with a left hand, my colleagues actually is board member Santos. If you could just please go around and introduce yourself and state the district that you represent. Board member Santos. Right, then Board Member Alonso, sir.

Roberto Alonso, District 4.

Vice Chair Monica Colucci, District 8. Board Member Espino.

Danny Espino, Board Member District 5.

Mary Blanco, District 7.

Joseph Geller, District 3, that runs from the county line down the Intracoastal to Brickell and the Grove.

Using my cafeteria voice. District 2, good morning. Good morning.

Mr. Villalobos, welcome, and will you please make a brief opening statement, not to exceed five minutes, and tell us why you would like to be the next superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Good morning, Madam Chair, Madam Vice Chair, school board members, teachers and staff of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the listening public, and the community. It's truly an honor to be here. I'd like to first start by thanking everyone for giving me this privilege to be here representing the superintendency candidacy for the third largest school district. It's awesome to be here knowing that I graduated from South Miami Senior High School, an alumni of Miami Dade County Public Schools, and that took a twist of fate, not necessarily going into education, was gonna do something else, but my little brother, who was autistic and blind, was loved and cared by teachers, and fell in love with that, and quickly learned after I became a teacher a quote that a friend of mine told me, which was, the two days that you remember the most are the day that you were born, and the day that you find out why you were born. And I was born to be an educator. And throughout that time, after being a teacher, an assistant principal, a principal, a region director, and a south region superintendent, I've had the honor and the privilege to touch the lives of so many students, so many families, so many communities, and so many partnerships throughout that process. You know, change is inevitable, but growth is intentional. And I've had that opportunity to create amazing things with amazing people for children first. You see, for me, it's personal. I take what we do personal because it's about the communities, our society, and our country as a whole. And if we do it right, we're all going to benefit from it. To me, that is standing ground to do this work of the superintendency. I look forward to your questions. I look forward to the opportunity to someday, maybe soon, lead this district, be innovative in this district, resolve issues, whatever those may be, collaboratively through communication and transparency, and being able to bring every single entity together for one common goal and the most important, which is children. Thank you.

Thank you very much, sir. We will now go on to the portion of the interview for questioning. At this time, each board member will read a different question that has been selected from what was submitted and received from the Office of the General Counsel. Now, we will proceed with the board members' questions. I will start on the left side of the dais with Board Member Santos. Each board member will then ask one question This will be a three to five minute limit for each response. Upon the response from the candidate, the board member can do some follow-up based on the same question. We will then move onto the next board member until we reach the other side of the dais. At this time, I recognize Board Member Santos to begin. Is Board Member Santos? Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Thank you.

Mr. Villalobos, thank you for joining us today. It's such a pleasure to see you here. And again, thank you to our community members who have tuned in. As you know, and we've lived through this U.S. South region superintendent in district nine, declining enrollment creates both an educational and financial challenge for the district. What would be your strategy to better align our programs, facilities and resources with changing enrollment, retain current students and attract new families while ensuring long-term financial sustainability? Please give very specific examples.

Thank you, Ms. Santos. Declining enrollment is a concern across this country, and we are not limited to that concern. Now, we know that that concern comes from a variety of different situations that we're facing, right? Reduction in childbirths. Immigrant students are not coming into the country. We have an ecosystem of educational programs. We've got to understand those things that are also challenging us. But there are ways around that. And one of the ways around enrollment is making sure that we continue to be your best choice, that we continue to be that only choice. But how do we do that? We do that with making sure that me as a superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools is front and center. That we are talking about the amazing programs that undoubtedly are hard for anyone to compete against. Whether it's our magnet school programs, our industry certification programs, our dual enrollment programs, so many partnerships that we have with the universities and colleges, the partnerships that we have with other community agents to not just educate students academically and get them to be successful, but also educate them as a whole child. that mental health, that wellness, that inspiration, that motivation, to make sure that teachers, through my leadership, continue to inspire children, to put children first. But not only the teachers, but those that touch the lives of children indirectly and directly, because everyone is extremely important to this enrollment cause. And then, After we've done that and we've talked to the New Times, influencers, social media, the press, and we constantly keep them informed of the things that we are doing to innovate new programs that attract parents back. It's a critical component, making sure that we have tours, making sure that we understand that sometimes some parents may have left and may not have left in the best of terms. Well, I challenge those parents to come back. I challenge those parents to see the amazing work that Miami-Dade County Public Schools is doing. Seven years in a row in a district, but it goes way beyond that. It goes into the emotional aspect of what we do, what we believe in, and who we care for, which is children and our communities. Now when you look at the fiscal responsibilities of that, and we understand that we have one, we have empty seats in many of our schools. We do. We have utilizations that is low and schools that are not at capacity. And we know that we have to fiscally be responsible. We have to fiscally manage much better because if we have schools at 30, 40% and students aren't equitably receiving the programs that they should or the staff members that can support them, then we are doing a disservice to those children and those families. So we've got to make sure that they understand that sometimes we may need to merge schools. We may need to consolidate schools. We may need to dissolve boundaries. We may need to be innovative and create 612s where there was a high school. we may need to create a K-12 where there was once an elementary and a high school. You see, I've done those things already. I have been a part of the attendance boundary committee process. I have repurposed schools. I have created a K-12 alongside the support of this district. I have done a 612 and there's more to come because we have to continue to be innovative in what we do. We have to also listen to the community and we also have to be out there in the community explaining to them why we are doing these things and why it's critical to do them because ultimately it's going to impact all children in our community in a more positive way. If we don't do it, then we are not being fiscally sound with our money, but most importantly, we're not being sound with the educational process that every child deserves in Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Thank you very much. Any follow-up, additional? All right, seeing none, then we go to Board Member Alonzo. Thank you, Madam Chair. Oh, can you hear me? We hear you now.

Thank you so much Madam chair and thank you Mr. for the thorough answer. When you look at our strategic plans goal of achieving that 80% utilization. Do you have can you give a little more detail about how you would go about. uh speeding up the process by which we achieve those steps you've outlined in order to be able to get ahead of simply reducing you know cutting services as needed to stay afloat and survive but rather to achieve what you outlined ability to reinvest the savings into the programs that are needed can you give a little more detail about how you would speed that process up given that you've been through it

Absolutely, and I welcome that question. Definitely, let's take an example. So many of our communities may have five schools in a community, three schools in a community that's two miles, three mile radius. And some of those schools, the capacity may be 1,000 in each one. But you may have 201, 250 in another, 300 in another. combining those schools into one school that, number one, probably the building is much newer, the facility is better equipped for it, then that alone gives us a cost savings if we've already merged and consolidated other schools into that school. So you say to yourself, and I believe your question is, then what happens with those buildings? Well, then we look at how we repurpose those buildings, and that has to happen with the board's interaction. That has to happen that the board understands that those buildings may be vacated, and if they're vacated, do we ITN them? So that way later on we know are we going to lease them? Are we going to put another entity in there? or look at other options that may be brought to the table. It's extremely important that we all work collaboratively because we are definitely in new territory. This district was known for building schools because we were getting an influx of children daily. Now we're going in the other direction. Now we have to be fiscally responsible and we have to cut back in the sense and make sure that we meet the demands of our district today. I hope that answers your questions, Ms. Santos.

Thank you very much. Thank you so much. Yes, it does. Thank you. And now we go to Board Member Alonso.

Thank you so much, Madam Chair, and thank you, Mr. Villalobos, for being here and for your long-term service to this district. You mentioned the great progress and work that we've done as a district, specifically around workforce and magnet schools, but we still see across our nation and across our community an issue when it comes to proficiency, specifically reading proficiency, which is one of the greatest predictors of a student's long-term success. If selected as superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, what specific strategies would you implement to significantly improve reading proficiency, particularly by the third grade?

It's a great question, Mr. Alonso. Early learning literacy is the key. We've got to start earlier. We've got to reduce those gaps before they get to third grade. We've got to make sure that we have strategies in place, that we have partnerships in place, and that we are extremely aggressive to reduce that learning gap before third grade because third grade, research proves, is the indicator of whether students are going to continue to be successful academically or not be successful. So we've got to make sure that we have strategies in place through literacy. We've got to make sure that we have professional development on board that gives our teachers a cutting edge on the latest scientific research to make sure that students are improving at rapid rates. But we also have to take into account that not all students are created equal also. And we may have some students that are students with disabilities or unique abilities. And we may have some ESOL students that are learning English as well. So we may need to strategize around those two also and create specific programs, which I, as a superintendent, will oversee personally. Because to me, as I told you, it is personal. And I envision this district in the next three years to be a premier district to add to the successes that it already has had. but to add to them in a way that everyone across this country is looking at us and asking us, how do we did it, give us the blueprint. And if we can do that, and I am sure that we can, we will ultimately be successful. I hope that's answered your question, Mr. Alonso.

Yes, Board Member Alonso.

It definitely did, and I'm glad that you expressed the ownership that you would have over watching this progress. With that being said, how would you measure that as a superintendent to make sure that what you're doing is successful? And what are the results that we should expect as a board from your work and the work of our amazing teachers and administrators through our schools over the next four years?

One of the plans in my 100-day plan book talks about securing accountability and making sure that we have a dashboard for every single school board member and community to actually see how our progress is being rated. how we are looking academically and what we're doing to make those things happen. So it's extremely important that the board members have a dashboard that they understand what we're putting in place and that it is data-driven, that every single child, K, one, two, three, three already is, right? But that those are data-driven standards that we are monitoring and assessing, not only for literacy, but I'm gonna take it a step further, and I know literacy is a question, but numeracy, science, we've got to make sure that we get ahead of the game earlier. If we do that, we're going to have less of a critical impact to change or close that gap later on. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

Thank you very much. Dr. Bendos-Mendingel?

Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning. It was really nice seeing you. Yeah, nice seeing you the other day. Thank you so much for your commitment to Dade County Schools. You have a few of us up here who have done nothing but, nothing but educate children, And some of your answers were spot on. I could ask a thousand more, but we have five minutes, I believe, Madam Chair? Yes, ma'am. Okay, here I go. What is one difficult decision you believe the next superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools will almost certainly have to make? even if it is unpopular? And how would you build trust with students, families, educators, and the community while making that decision?

Thank you, Dr. Benders-Meningal for that question. I think it goes back to enrollment, and it goes back to consolidation of schools, merging of schools, and we've already begun to do that work. I have begun to do that work, where I have met with communities multiple times, with students multiple times, to address that their school may not be their school next year. that unfortunately, because enrollment is the way that it is, for them to receive a proper education full of programs and a secure staff, that they will need to go to another school or they may need to be merged into another location as well. So those are the difficult conversations that will need to happen. as one. I know that there may be other difficult conversations that I will need to have, but I assure you that I have difficult conversations on a daily basis, always, always in the best interest of children, always in the best interest of this community, and always in the best interest of our staff. Thank you, Dr. Benders-Mendigal.

Madam Chair, may I?

Dr. Benders-Meningo, you may, and then I would like for you to go back. It's the same question that we should be asking, so I would like for you to please ask the same question of both candidates. So if you could go back to the same one after. Yes, ma'am.

I can do that, Madam Chair. Yes, thank you so much. Why don't I just not do the follow-up and do that question?

Yes, that would be a good idea.

Okay, thank you, Madam Chair. I want to be sure. I think, yeah, you're right. I put a check by, didn't I? Thank you. Madam Chair, I will do that. Thank you, ma'am. If you could accomplish only three lasting improvements. during your first four years as superintendent, what would they be? Why would those rise above every other priority? And how would those changes improve the daily experience of students and the people who educate and support them?

Number one, I would like every student reading at a proficiency level of 100%. That is first and foremost, because I think that that is the gatekeeper to success. Number two, I want to be in a place where we are fiscally sound and that we have a surplus of dollars that then we can help our staff, those that work with students directly and indirectly, have appropriate salaries. As you know, we are 50th in the country. So, and third, I'd like to make sure, again, that Miami-Dade County Public School is the blueprint for this country in education, that we are the premier educational organization that others would love to be. And we're there already. We're in the process because of each and every one of you and the staff that we currently have. But I know that if we work towards even the highest goals. You know how they say sometimes you shoot for the moon, you shoot for the stars, but you get to the moon. So that's definitely where I'd like to see us in the next four years, Dr. Benders-Mendingel.

Madam Chair. Yes, ma'am. I hope I make this clear to the listening audience and everyone else. You are doing a marvelous job of answering questions. And I did put a check to ask that question, Madam Chair. And I went right on to another question. But I'm one for fairness. honesty and of course giving everyone an opportunity to let us know why they should be chosen as the superintendent of this wonderful school district thank you madam chair yes ma'am thank you

Vice Chair Calucci?

Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Villalobos, thank you for being here and for your time today. My question is, school safety remains a top priority, including the role of the district's school police department. How would you strengthen campus security while maintaining a welcoming, supportive, and positive school climate?

Excellent question, one that is dear to my heart, because if we don't have security and safety, we cannot accomplish anything. So that has to come first and foremost. I'm very proud to be a part of this district, not only because of the amazing workforce that we have and the people that love our children, but that also want to secure and keep them safe. But our police department is incredible. 500 sworn officers, police officers in every school. I'd like to continue to enhance that by making sure, and they have great, great relationships already with municipalities and other municipal agencies as well i want to continue to reinforce that i want to continue to make sure that they train together that they're ready at a moment's notice i want to make sure that i can bring in drones to our school district i want to make sure that we use ai at some capacity to deter future concerns that may be on the horizon. I want to make sure that we elevate the processes of our Lightspeed, our Fortify Florida, which I personally manage for the South Region Office. 110 schools, over 83,000 students. I personally manage every Fortify Florida that comes in, every Lightspeed that comes in, and I address those concerns. If there's an ELISA alert, I get that as well. So all of those factors and more, I would like to see what other programs, what other trainings, what other technologies are out there to keep us and our staff and ultimately our children safe on a daily basis. And don't get me wrong, I feel safe with what we do today, but we can always do more to prevent anything from happening in the future. I hope that answers your question, Ms. Colucci.

Yes, and one follow-up. What measures would you use to determine whether current safety policies are effective or need strengthening?

So we meet with the school board police department and we go over incidents. So looking at incidents is a very important component as well. So just to throw a school out, which we evaluate, if there's a school that may have incidents on vaping, for example, Well, why is it that there are so many incidents in the school of vaping? And then what are we doing to address those incidents? Where is it coming from? Do we need to have an investigation? Do we need to address it? Because sometimes the smallest of things can become the greatest of things. Because if we don't nip those things early on and address them quickly, they can become bigger problems. So that's just an example. But like that example, there could be other issues that we've gotta make sure that we look at incidents, that we address incidents, that we put plans in place to make sure that those incidents don't reoccur, and that we have proper training and processes, not only for our police department and our security personnel, but also for our staff, because I know just like we have CRAZE training and we have active shooter drills, it's important to understand that If they see something, they need to say something as well. And that's another component of tracking. And if I may add to your follow-up question, I was the first principal in Miami-Dade County Public Schools that brought the Sandy Hook project at Ferguson Senior High School. And that has spread like wildfire throughout the state of Florida and even the country. So I'm very proud of that. I'm very proud of the student that came up to me and talked to me about it. And I said, that sounds like a great idea. And we put that in place. I'm trying to say is that it's important to also listen to others. And if they have ideas, we can also implement that. But to your question, looking at incidents, addressing incidents.

Thank you, Mr. Villalobos. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Board Member Espino, sir.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Villalobos, good to see you. Thank you so much for being here and again for your interest as well in being our next superintendent. Leadership is ultimately measured not only by the challenges that we inherit but the legacy we leave behind. And as I mentioned to the previous candidate, I like to look at goals and work backwards from the goal that I'm trying to work to. So let's presume we're all sitting here 10 years from now and Miami-Dade County Public Schools has built upon its longstanding reputation as one of the leading urban school districts in Florida as well as in the nation. having strengthened student achievement, right-sized and reverse enrollment trends as you discussed, become the first choice of more families, and continue to earn the confidence of our community. For you, looking back, what decisions, innovations, leadership practices, and school board superintendent partnership dynamics do you believe made that continued success possible for our schools and for our students?

First and foremost, it's making sure, again, that we put students, families, and communities first. Knowing that is the key component to ultimate success. But along with that is having strong communication skills, being an active listener, bringing people together to actually formulate plans that are going to enhance our school district, that are going to enhance our staff to a great degree, and are going to enhance ultimately this premier status that I will look upon years from now and say I had a process in that along with every single staff member in Miami-Dade County Public Schools and every board member because we worked diligently together to get there. Could you please repeat that question just to make sure that I didn't miss anything?

Sure, Madam Chair, if I may? Yes, sir, you may. What decisions, innovations, leadership practices, and school board superintendent partnership dynamics do you believe made that continued success possible?

So, and part of the dynamics is going to be very important also, because it's about being active, being in the front lines, making sure that you are visiting, you are speaking to people, you are hearing it firsthand, and that you are reacting to what it is that you are listening to, and that you're putting plans of actions in place. We cannot sit idle. We've got to make sure that we act quickly. The world as we know it is moving so fast, And if we don't move with it, we're going to be left behind. So making sure that we address those as quickly as possible and we create that dynamic district that I would like to see 10 years from now.

Yes, sir.

In a couple of your answers, you have mentioned innovation. Specifically, what have you done or what have you seen that you think can apply to your time as superintendent to get to that pace, to get to that pace at which technology changes and we can keep up with it?

Innovation is incredibly important. I've had the opportunity as a principal in many schools to create programs, even created the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial High School. It was the first of its kind. Created the entire curriculum by myself, created the magnet programs, and then went out into the community and was able to recruit advisory boards for the law enforcement side, the forensic side, and also the law side. So when you look at those things and the abilities to do, I have the ability to do, we've got to be more innovative. We've got to see when you look at partnerships on the exterior of businesses, for example, what are they looking for? I like to bring those business partners in. I like to see colleges and universities and talk to them as well. And I like for them to tell me, what is our workforce going to look five years from now? And if that workforce is going to look at AI, if that workforce is going to look at logistics, if that workforce is going to look at different engineering strands, then I've got to make sure that I listen to those entities first and that I know that there is a rationale behind building those innovative programs and then exercising that innovation. Education, and we don't always see education this way, and we should, education is a living document. Education is constantly evolving, and if we don't evolve with the times and the businesses and the entities and technology and how everything is evolving today, We're not going to be in the competitive market that we need to be. So to answer your question, Mr. Espino, is definitely making sure that I speak to business partners, making sure that I speak to large entities in our community, whether it's the airport, whether it's transport and other fashions, and see where it is that we need to create other innovative programs, as we've also created in the South region. Thank you so much.

Yes, thank you very much, sir. Board Member Blanco.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Villalobos, glad to see you here. Thank you. With the intent of being our next superintendent, it's been a pleasure doing you. As you know, this year proved difficult for many districts regarding the budget. How would you align the district budget with the priorities that we have identified in our strategic plan? What would be your long-term approach to financial planning and what strategies would you use to maximize our state and federal funding opportunities?

So, it's incredibly important that I take a decisive look at where it is that we can cut the fat. If it is not going to be important to schools and detrimental in the progress of schools, I've got to make sure that we are deliberate and that we're intentional about those things that aren't being used toward that factor. So for me, it's important to take a quick analysis, a thorough analysis, making sure that we don't create a vacuum in certain areas so that ultimately schools have all of the resources, that teachers have what they need to teach, and that we are building stronger programs on a continual basis. Now, through that fiscal management, I think it's also important that I spearhead and lead and understand what it is that what our current situation is, and I know that we've been going through some hard times, but that does not mean that once enrollment starts to create some sort of elevation that we're no longer losing students and we've created already schools that we've merged and consolidated or we've dissolved boundaries and we're in a better place, I think that that's also going to help us. we can also leverage some of our properties at that point. So if we have properties, and I'm not one for necessarily selling properties because we never know what the future may bring. We've had situations in our very own communities where we've had influx of thousands and thousands of people throughout the years, and who knows what can happen. So leasing properties, renting them, different associations can also bring us another stream of financial importance for us to actually use and for our students and our schools. So I think that those are some of the ideas along with what we talked about earlier about schools and school closures and consolidations and mergers and making sure that we're fiscally responsible to address that. I hope I answered your question.

Mr. Villalobos, yes you did. I do have a follow up though. Yes. How would you, you talked about cut the fat, right? How would you identify those opportunities where we can save money and reach those cost savings without impacting the negative achievement, without negatively impacting academic achievement? How would you identify that?

Well, it's exactly what I'm trying to say is making sure that there's not a vacuum that's going to affect achievement, that it's not going to affect schools, that it's not going to affect teachers, that it's not going to affect the support personnel pool. So wherever that fat is, it's got to make sure that it doesn't trickle down to that aspect of what we most importantly do on a day-to-day basis. So making sure that I take an analysis of the entire district and what is working, what is not working, or do we have multiple departments doing multiple things and consolidating those, restructuring those, making sure that maybe there are certain fundings that we're using that may be antiquated in the way that we do them, and maybe we can streamline that funding differently. But I would not know that until I get into the position and understand, read those books, and understand where that is actually happening and where that is going to need to be cut or consolidated for the future. Now, I don't have... any reservations of doing what's in the best interest of this district, and most importantly, doing what's in the best interest of children and schools first and foremost. And if we can provide more funding to schools, and if we can provide more funding to our staff to do the ultimate work, then I am going to do that, and I'm gonna streamline that process, and I'm gonna do it quickly.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Villalobos.

Thank you very much. Board Member Geller, sir, you recognize?

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Yes, sir.

I was going to say good morning, but I think we've just crossed over, so good afternoon.

Good afternoon, sir.

Lobos, nice to see you here, and I want to thank you for your participation throughout this process. It is much appreciated by the board. Thank you. As one of the few non-educators on the board, I try to be very concerned with our academics. So my question to you today, sir, is since Miami-Dade County Public Schools, as you well know, has earned national recognition for academic excellence, nonetheless, it is still the case that achievement gaps and disparities in student outcomes persist. What will be your top academic priority during your first two years? And what specific strategies will you implement in order to achieve that priority?

Thank you, Mr. Geller. So I've been in the principal of many schools and many challenging schools where I've had to walk in and help support that achievement gap and making sure that we raise it to successful levels. It's extremely important that, first and foremost, we understand some of the history that I have presented and you see in my 100-day plan as well. I mean, the South Region office right now is at 98% graduation rate. 93% of schools are As and Bs. 7% of schools are Cs, no Ds, no Fs. We're the largest region. when we're doing amazing things, increased dual enrollment, increased magnet programs, and so on and so forth. That's part of my leadership style is to make sure that we go in and we continue to be better than we were before anywhere and in anything that I do. To answer your question about what I would do in the first two years to really decrease achievement gaps is making sure that we are constantly looking at the data. When we talked about early learners and making sure that K1 and 2 that we were going to be extremely effective with and monitor them and making sure that by third grade they were proficient or above proficiency, that already is going to help us for the future. But then above and beyond that, we've got to make sure that we are deliberate with every other student that may not be on that track or may not have been on that track or may be new to us. So we've got to make sure that our teachers are very well prepared through professional development, that our principals who are doing amazing work every single day in our schools under the toughest of situations that they are faced, that they also have the resources and the understanding to be strategic, and understanding that if we need to have pull-out and push-ins, if we have to have after-school tutoring, if we have to have Saturday academies, that they had the funding to do those things. At Ferguson, I was in a school with 4,500 kids. I started after-school tutoring and Saturday school tutoring the second month of school. Did I need to do that at Ferguson Senior High School? No. I did not. But it got us to a point where we were the highest performing traditional high school in the entire district. My goal was always to surpass Corolla Reef Senior High School. And my staff knew that, and they thought I was crazy. But if we don't have high expectations, if we don't put programs in place that we can monitor and inspect what we expect, then we are never going to break that achievement gap. And we have a lot of great people in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, professionals that understand this work. Sitting and having data chats with teachers, providing resources to them, it's not an I got you, it's how can I help you? both on the teacher side and on the administrative side, and even families, we've got to do more, and we do plenty, don't get me wrong, but there's always more to do, right? With families and engaged families, and making sure that we have a support system for them as well, because we know that your first educators should be your family. But if that's not there for whatever reason, and we've got families that work two, three, four jobs, are tired, then we've got to step in, because we are the extension of that family. So Mr. Geller, it is with data, it is with data chats, it is with professional development, and so much more, right? After school, Saturday schools, more financial commitments to our schools as well so they can do these programs. And making sure that we're constantly monitoring because every child is important. That teachers know the data for the child, that students know their data, and that families know it too. Because that is the determiner of ultimate success for the child and ultimate success for this school district.

Thank you, ma'am. Thank you, sir. And now I'm going to ask my question. So Miami-Dade County Public Schools has been designated as an A-rated school for the past seven years, so we also have a graduation rate of 95.4% for our district schools this past year. How would you organize the district regarding curriculum in a way that would maximize student performance and potential?

I think that a large congratulations to our district right now and all of our principals and teachers. I mean, we surpassed the state in every standard except fifth grade science and eighth grade science. Amazing, remarkable. 95% graduation rate as a whole. You know, we have a recipe that's working. We need to fine tune that recipe. We need to make sure that we're more deliberate about that recipe and that we are quicker to act. So for me, it would be how do I get looking at the data more resources on the ground, on the ground being on the school sites, to support our schools, to make sure that those teachers, whatever it is that they need to perform and outperform, that they are receiving that information, that strategy, that support or resource. That is an incredibly important process. And I think sometimes we think that just because we have an idea It's a good one. No, we have to transcend it to actual practice. And transcending that to actual practice is making sure that at the school sites, everyone is doing it and making sure that it works. And if it doesn't, how do we revisit that? How do we realign that? How do we make it work? Many of our schools may look the same, but they're not the same. You know, our communities are different, the learning gaps are different, so we've got to make sure that we have unique strategies, unique implementations for each. It takes work. but I can align the district making sure through the academic department that we are deliberate, that we are intentional, and that we are purposeful because we've gotta make sure that we understand that the work that we're doing is going to impact children and schools and this district ultimately.

Thank you, sir. And educating children has always been the primary focus. And before I ask the question, I want you to look back here where it says Miami-Dade County Public Schools giving our students the world. And so I would like for you to please elaborate on how you plan on putting students first at the core of every single decision that you make regardless of whatever subject matter you may be dealing with.

So we are doing so many amazing things. I'm so proud of our district, and we are going to do even greater things moving forward. Now, this is not just a job. This is a calling. And when individuals that work for Miami-Dade County Public Schools understand that this is a calling, that we do more than just educate. We love, we care, we have compassion. We're more than just teachers and custodians and security and transportation and cafeteria workers and administrators. We are that extension of the family. When parents understand that, they understand that they can trust us. that we're loyal to them, we're loyal to their children, we're loyal to their advancement and their success. Because ultimately, that success is going to be the success of our community, our society, and our country as a whole. And I take that personal. Because we have an obligation to every single child. We have an obligation to this community. Extremely important. And I want to make sure I didn't miss anything from your question. Please repeat.

No, you answered the question. We're good on that. Thank you. And so I, at this time, would like to make sure that we give you the opportunity to conclude with the following interview question.

I'm sorry?

I was gonna ask the questions after he did the conclusion, but we can do it now. Okay, here we go again with that. Okay, so you may ask us questions if you have any that you would like to ask us. It's up to you.

I've worked with so many of you hand in hand, whether it's through referrals, whether it's through book bag distributions, whether it's implementing new programs, and others I've seen in the dais and I've seen on social media. And one thing is for certain, that everyone on this board is number one, children first. Everyone on this board cares about their communities, our community, and wants to make sure that Miami-Dade County Public Schools is a premier educational organization. So for me, I'm just blessed to be able to have an opportunity, if given that opportunity, to be the superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools and work with each and every one of you. But no, I don't have any questions.

I figured that, okay. All right, I tried to get you out of it earlier. Anyway, back to where we are at this point. In order to conclude the interview, will you please give us a brief closing statement and tell us what you believe sets you apart as a candidate and what steps you would take to transition into your new role?

Madam Chair, I'm ready on day one. I've been doing this work with efficacy, with love, compassion, determination. I've never stopped. Even when I was in the business side and I left for five years, I always found myself sitting with principals, sitting with an assistant principal, sitting with a teacher, walking classrooms throughout this country and saying to myself, I'm not doing my job. because I was determined to make sure that no matter where I was, I was able to help others to help children. So with that in mind, I wanna make sure that as I am ready for day one, that Miami-Dade County Public Schools will continue to succeed in that legacy of over 140 years that we've had, that it's another 200 years. And that as just like Miami is the epicenter of so many things happening, You look at FIFA, you look at Indy, you look at Super Bowls, you look at major organizations moving to Miami. Well, so should our educational institution, right? So should Miami-Dade County Public Schools. When those individuals are here, they should want to be a part of what we do. They should want to have their children here as well. And there's no reason that they shouldn't. So with me, it's going to be important that we showcase the amazing things that they may not know. The great work that our teachers and our staff put in daily so that we can again overcome this loss of enrollment and someday even be at a greater capacity of enrollment because of the work. So that is my ultimate goal in making sure that every student is successful and that every student will have an opportunity to live their dreams out because of what we did and what we offered them. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you so much, Mr. Villalobos, and on behalf of my colleagues on the board, over 330,000 students that we represent, the entire Miami-Dade County public school family, thank you for being here with us today and for wanting to be part of one of the key roles that we have. Thank you, ma'am. In this entire system, and that is the superintendency. So thank you so much, and at this time, with no objections from my colleagues on the board, I would like to ask for a 10 minute break as requested by, again, our advisor who is still here with us this morning, or this afternoon by now. And so we shall return, I'll give you a minute, I'll say it's 1220 right now, so we'll be back by 1230, thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Welcome, as we reconvene the July 29th, 2026 special board meeting of the Miami-Dade County School Board. At this time, all interviews have taken place. And now, let's see if I have everybody here. Let me give you a second. Thank you. And now we have two candidates that interviewed and are in front of this board for consideration. We will start on the right side with Board Member Geller to indicate the votes for either candidate. Dr. Lozano or Mr. Villalobos. We will proceed from Board Member Geller to Board Member Blanco all the way down the opposite direction of how we ask the questions. So Board Member Geller, sir, I'm asking for a roll call vote and for you to please announce the candidate that you are going to be voting for. And again, we are following the direction from our school board attorney on how to proceed in this section.

Just a quick inquiry, if I might, Madam Chair, and I don't know if it's directed to you or through the chair to the attorney, because I know we have this sheet in front of us, but it is my understanding that we're each going to cast our vote Allowed, is that correct?

You're just gonna say, allowed the individual that you will be voting for. Yes, sir.

Are we permitted to make any remarks of any kind?

At this time, it was just the vote that we were gonna take. Only the vote. We'll have an opportunity.

No comments of any kind permitted?

We can if the board would like to. We were not going to, but I'll open it up for my colleagues to decide. So I have Espino, Board Member Espino, who wanted to make a comment. I have Board Member Alonso. No, you would not, okay. No, no.

No. Madam Chair, yeah, and I was gonna assume a similar point of order where essentially this is our opportunity not just to cast a vote, but I don't know how many of you are gonna vote. We have two options, so it's gonna be one way or the other, but I would like to give our two cents as to why we're supporting a particular candidate so the public can know as well as maybe you guys haven't made up your mind just yet and I get to convince you to go my way. So, I mean, not a very long statement, but just an opportunity to say why I'm going a particular way.

It is up to the will of the board. Thank you. And whatever the majority of the board wants to do is fine. So if the majority of the board is in favor and would like to make comments, or those that want to make comments can do so. If you don't want to, you don't have to. That's fine, too. So the majority of the board would like to be able to make a comment if they choose to do so. Can you just please show me with your hands up, please?

Make a comment?

To make a comment.

Yes.

All right, those that prefer not to make a comment and simply vote, making their statement as to whom they would like to vote for.

I just wanna vote for. Raise your hands. Yeah.

Yes, okay. Madam Chair, if I may, could you just.

Board Member Blanco. I think I'd appreciate an opportunity to make a comment, but after the vote.

That's exactly how we were gonna do it. But it was suggested by some of my colleagues to do it this way, and I will always go with whatever the majority of our board decides. but that's how it was planned originally, so we will do it that way. All right, so I'm gonna start with Board Member Geller, sir.

I'm sorry, when you say that way, just so I'm clear.

Just roll call, sir.

Okay, I vote for Mr. Villalobos.

Okay, next.

My vote is for Mr. Villalobos.

Okay, Board Member Espino.

Absolutely, Mr. Villalobos.

Okay, Mr. Villalobos, thank you. Mr. Villalobos.

Yes, sir. Mr. Villalobos.

Board Member Santos.

Mr. Rafael Villalobos.

All right, thank you. And my vote is for Mr. Villalobos. So at this time, Everyone has had an opportunity to vote, and the majority vote has been achieved, and Mr. Villalobos has been declared the person who is duly chosen by majority vote to be the next superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the third largest school district in the country, and here I will let you speak. In a moment, we are going to be bringing both of them in, and I would like, before that, for each one of you to have the opportunity now to make whatever comments you wanted to make. I know Board Member Geller, you're anxious to be first, so go ahead, sir. You are recognized.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and through the Chair. In one way, This was a difficult decision because, frankly, I was very pleased with the quality of both of our finalists. I thought they were both excellent. I thought they both presented well. One of my moral failings is that I am a little inclined towards I told you so, but I'd like to note that Vice Chair Colucci and I both advanced exactly two names as semifinalists, and the two that we advanced turned out to be the two finalists, and our wisdom has been borne out by the board's vote. With that said, You know, on the one hand, it was a difficult choice because they were both very good, and I could see either. But at the end of the day, it was not a difficult choice. Now, unlike many of you... I DID NOT KNOW EITHER GENTLEMAN BEFORE THIS PROCESS STARTED. THE SOUTH REGION IS REMOTE FOR ME, AND I HAD REALLY NO OPPORTUNITY, I DON'T REMEMBER EVEN AT ALL MEETING OR SPEAKING WITH MR. VILLALOBOS BEFORE THIS STARTED, AND THE SAME FOR DR. LOZANO, EVEN THOUGH I'M INVOLVED TO SOME MEASURE AND USED TO REPRESENT PART OF BROWARD COUNTY. But the quality of the answers, what I've come to know of Mr. Villalobos and his, not that his qualifications, those are excellent, but that's true of both gentlemen. There's that extra passion that Mr. Villalobos demonstrates and the continuity that it provides, and I should note talking about who had, you know, wisdom of forethought, I want to note that our current superintendent, Dr. Dotris, chose Mr. Villalobos to be a region superintendent, and congratulations on that excellent choice, Dr. Dotris. So for me, the vote of all of us at every step shows that we're making an outstanding choice who can continue a very strong track record in recent years for this district, this superintendent, the prior superintendent, the next superintendent. And I'm very proud to be up here, to have participated in this and I'd like to say with I want to recognize our facilitator and not just our superintendent but the extraordinary efforts of our board attorney but especially Madam Chair I want to thank you for helping guide us through this and I truly as still kind of the newer kid on the block, I want to say how extraordinary I think my colleagues on this board are. Each and every one of you, the thoughtfulness you've brought, the dedication to the process. I could not be more proud to be a member of this board and to serve alongside each of you. And I am extremely confident that we have made a right and proper choice and Great things lie, continue to lie ahead for this district. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Board Member Geller. Very well said. The only, just for the record, I'd like to state that I also put the names of the two that are finalists on my list as well. Yes. So, but thank you so much for your comments, sir. And Board Member Blanco.

Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, from the beginning, when we started this process, One of the things that I very much felt was important was somebody who understood the community. And when I looked at some of the names that I proffered to move on, it was individuals that did understand that, understood our community, and I think our two finalists that were here understood that. Not necessarily because they're from South Florida, but they lived the experiences of South Floridians. And When I, so unique to this, I think as a board member, I actually worked for Broward County Public Schools at one point, never had an opportunity to cross paths with Dr. Lozano, but having been in that district and having been here in this district, I do see lots of parallels between the two, and so I felt very comfortable with both finalists from that perspective. When I looked through at some of the things that this community asked for, we were very specific and very targeted in getting information from the community and what they were looking for for the next superintendent. They asked for a very transparent process, and I think they asked for a very transparent superintendent. And when I looked at the responses of the two, I think it was very, very clear in the way he spoke. Mr. Villalobos talked about how he would get in front of the community, how he would ensure that they know and they understand everything that we have to offer, and my office is very big oftentimes in talking about that marketing of our district, and so I was very impressed with the responses in that from him. They also want someone who can communicate, and while both were very clear on that communication side, I think the decisiveness with which Mr. Villalobos spoke came out very much in front and talking about the difficulties that we face and being able to confront that and speak to it, right? He addressed those concerns head on. From the beginning, one of the things that I have said is that as large as this district is, this district is a family. And that was very, very prevalent, I think, in our choice. And I think one of the words that truly stands out to me when I think of Mr. Villalobos is he is steadfast. He is not afraid to make the tough call. He's not afraid to have the tough conversation. He's not afraid to disagree with something that I might say, but give me the rationale and still listen as to why, and then have the conversation from there. And I think when we look for a leader, that's what we look for. And so I appreciate both, and Dr. Liu, I think you came in after I was already speaking, but it was a... It was a wonderful opportunity getting to know you. You do have very, very strong leadership skills as well. So thank you for the opportunity to meet you. Thank you for throwing your name in the hat. And wonderful things lie ahead of you for sure, I know, in Broward County Public Schools and for you and your future. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you very much. Board Member Espino, sir?

Thank you, Madam Chair. It's going to be hard to follow both of my colleagues. First, colleagues, let me first say that we have so much of which to be proud, including this search. We presided over an unprecedented, transparent, communicative, and a community-engaging process, the likes I've never heard discussed before, and I was certainly proud to be a part of it. This was a collective process. People got how we made the sausage. They got to see it very clearly up here, inch by inch, and it was a shared decision. To Dr. Lozano and Mr. Villalobos, thank you both for the courage to submit and for your work in the spaces that you do. It was a difficult choice because you guys have amazing credentials, and both Broward County and Dade County are better for your collective efforts. When my team and I plan for the year or for a particular thing, we like to plan short-term goals and long-term goals. And coincidentally enough, Mr. Villalobos used a term that we use all the time, which is a moonshot. You know, he said something about, like, not, which is very coincidental. We plan these moonshots. Like, for example, the 612 school that we built, which I appreciate everyone supporting doing that, that was a three-year moonshot that we planned for. And unfortunately, the conversations lately have not been about our accomplishments, our successes. They've been about the negative things, the challenges. You can't turn on the news. You can't open up the Internet. You can't turn on social media without... just being lambasted with all the challenges we face, declining enrollment, steady market competition, changes in state law, changes in federal programs, personnel issues like salary and housing costs, and of course our budget. And when I was reflecting on this, because we use the term moonshot so much, and this was going into DASA weekend, I thought about the movie Apollo 13, which I haven't seen in years, I probably should have at least reviewed a clip before mentioning it today. But there was a scene that resonated with me, because they're in mission control, and the NASA director's getting a briefing from somebody from flight control, and he's being told all the things that are going wrong. The thrusters aren't working, the trajectory's off, the parachutes are frozen, they're running out of oxygen, running out of battery, all these things. And the NASA director says something along the lines of, this is gonna be the biggest catastrophe that NASA's ever experienced. And the mission control director was within earshot, played by Ed Harris. Thank you, I heard that out there. Thank you, Harry. Ed Harris. And he says, with all due respect, Mr. Director, I think this will be our finest hour. Well, like it was for NASA then, we're experiencing our own existential issues as a district. But I, too, believe this will be our finest hour, full stop, like Steve Gallen would say, because this board is unified in its mission to have the premier education system in this country, and we need our own director of mission control, our own superintendent that has an unshakable confidence in what we will accomplish. and that we will accomplish the mission. Rafael Lobos has the combination of educational knowledge, the needed experience, the trusted relationships, our shared values as a board, which tend to be unanimous in most of the things that we do, almost all the things that we do. He's got the leadership skills to hit the ground running, lead with confidence, and go boldly with us to the solutions that'll move this district to the direction we need to go. He will continue to lead from the front, which is something incredibly important to me, with heightened communication and heightened efficacy. Growing up here in Miami, we know that we ask each other when we meet each other for the first time, where did you go to high school? It's a very Miami thing. I didn't know that. I thought that was normal. And it's not to figure out your academic credentials, it's to find out how we're connected to each other. And that relationship network is important to getting the job done as well as to validate the work that's being done and to know that it's coming from a trustworthy source. That is gonna be proven valuable, invaluable to Mr. Villalobos because he has done the work in our district and will continue to do the work The work is going to entail, as Board Member Blanco said, going into our districts, going into our communities, engaging on classroom solutions, school solutions, and working with us to deliver those messages to the community. And that'll have to be done in partnership with somebody that can do that and have the confidence of the people that are listening to him. So I look forward to working with you, Mr. Villalobos. Mr. Lozano, I wish you incredibly well in Broward County. Lord knows they need you over there. But Mr. Villalobos, the work is just beginning. So God bless you and thank you.

Thank you very much. Vice Chair Gallucci. Thank you, Madam Chair, and first and foremost, I want to thank my colleagues on the board for going through this process and being so transparent, working with the community, to our facilitator, And I just want to say I am so proud that we all agreed on this next superintendent unanimously because that sends a clear message to our community that we all believe that he's the right choice for this district. So with that being said, I want to thank Dr. Lozano Thank you. We had a long chat via Zoom for an hour, and I was very impressed, and that's why I forwarded your name as one of the semifinalists. And thank you for your service to public education. It's really, really admirable. And Mr. Villalobos, I love what you said and the passion with which you said it. You didn't deny the challenges that lie ahead, but you embraced them as opportunities to turn this district on the right direction, which it's already on the right course. It's just going to keep going even further along, full throttle ahead. So I am so pleased, I am so honored, I am so proud to be part of this school board. I am so proud to have served this district in the capacity as a classroom teacher for 26 years. And I am so proud that Miami-Dade County Public Schools has all of the accolades and all of the accomplishments that it has. But I know, as you said, we are going to be the top school district in the nation and the blueprint for the rest of the nation. So congratulations, and congratulations to you, Dr. Lozano, too, because being considered as a finalist for the third largest school district in the country is not something to take lightly. It's quite the accomplishment. So I wish you all the best and thank you to all of you here today. Thank you to the listening public. Thank you to our community and thank you for being so engaged and God bless you both. Thank you and congratulations, Mr. Villalobos.

Yes, thank you so much. Dr. Bendros-Manigault.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I know what we're supposed to be talking about, but I want to make a few remarks about the man sitting on the very end, our superintendent. I don't miss. He was my choice. He has carried us, yes he is, he was my choice. I know that he has had some difficulties and so have I, but on Saturdays and Sundays, I call him and tell him about my difficulties and by Monday, they're done. Mr. Incoming Superintendent, please remember that. I remember Alonzo saying to his wife, let him say that. Yeah, I'm so proud of you all. You all just laugh at my jokes. You do it all the time. So it's great to be sitting on this desk. Thank you, Dr. Dotris, but you still got some time to take my calls. What an experience. I think, Madam Chair, we've probably brought in three or four superintendents, haven't we? Yes, we sure have.

Yeah.

So that tells you a little bit about how hard we work, so that means you'll have to work just as hard. And I should say to you all, being totally transparent, I put my phone on silence because people are talking to me and talking about you and talking about Mr. Lozano. But you... came in and you showed up also. You really answered questions. You had us going up here, not because we're in the sunshine, we know how to do that, but I want you to know that Broward County is just across the street. And when you and I talked, you talked about me reminding you of someone, and I can tell you that you did your homework, because I think you know me. and what I'm gonna expect, so we'll just get a little ride across, and if we're not doing well, we'll take some answers from you. But Mr. Villalobos, we won't have to do that, right, right. The opportunity to vote. The opportunity to vote. I'm a little girl from Liberty City. Someone talked about schools, and he should have named the school. I'm a Bull. I'm from Miami Northwestern. We don't play with education. My colleague who's going down there to handle the county while we handle the school board, he's watching too. And he's probably saying, honorable, talk to them. I have to. And I'm getting a little full because we usually just look at each other like playing tennis, and he would, you know, we don't have to say a word because we grew up in the same neighborhood. And we want the children to know that while we're sitting up here, this thing called voting, and I know our Attorney is right down here in the old, she's thinking, board member, please don't go into anything political. I'm not, promise you I'm not. But the experience that we had this morning, I would call that democracy. We had an opportunity to carry it all the way. And we did it well, Madam Chair. Your timing was impeccable. When somebody said it was noon, I said, mm-hmm. Go on, Miss Chair. Changes come frequently, quickly. And I watch people very, very well. Those who know me know I read people well. You don't have to say a thing to me. I know you. I know your heart. Because you said something that I know my colleagues would probably thought about me. You told me about the person that you care for who is blind and other conditions. I won't tell you my story. We have something in common. And I look forward to making sure that we take care of you as you take care of us. Again, I'll watch our growth. We're doing well, but we can do better. I'm one of 100%. I know when we talk about 95, 97, I always want to know what happened to the other 2%. my first opportunity to be one of the best principals in Dade County, because I was the principal of region three when it was region three at one time. But I walked into a school, and I know you talked about this, that had 87% attendance. That's why I walked the soles out of my shoes. Because the school was right across the street, not much farther than where you're sitting. And the children didn't come to school until after Labor Day. Why? They had to have new clothes. The owner of Iblee's is in here. Is he still here? I'm talking about you. Yeah. What we're gonna do, what we did, we walked the neighborhood and he wasn't even speaking English, everyone. Pay attention down there, I'm a teacher. And we walked and we walked and we talked and we talked and we probably bought more uniforms than anyone in Dade County Public Schools because of Eddie. I said all this to say my job up here is to let everyone know I intend to be who I am because I know whose I am. Don't expect any changes unless they're good changes. We have work to do and I know you're more than capable. I heard your answers and I'm gonna hold you to every one. I was waiting for Mr. Lozano to get a chance to hear what I said about the line. Remember those two lines that you talked about? I'll never forget that. But I know Mr. Villalobos will never have two lines. I know that. Why? Because all children deserve to be in the same line. So we have to keep our eyes and ears open and look for that because it slips by sometimes. And don't think that I don't notice it. Fairness, openness must be done at all times, at all times. So you'll hear me close out with my trademark which you can't use. I'll see you on the journey. God bless you. Thank you.

And now we have Board Member Alonzo.

Thank you so much, Madam Chair. And before I thank all the incredible people that have helped us throughout this incredible journey, I want to thank this board. Because we always talk about the fact that our children are watching us. And today we have shown our children what true democracy is and how people work together for the best outcome, especially when it comes to our kids and our children. So congratulations to this entire board and congratulations to you, Madam Chair, on an incredible journey that we've had. And this is just the beginning because the journey continues. I want to also take an opportunity to thank our facilitator, thank our board attorney who's been incredible in keeping us up to date on everything, both digitally and printed, our board chair, as I just said, and our board, but really also to our superintendent. He has been extremely cooperative throughout this entire journey, allowing us to work with a lot of his staff that we requested because we were doing it in a way to reduce the cost of the search, but also for elevating those within our own district to be the future leaders of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, because as it was said earlier, Mr. Villalobos is where he's at today because of that promotion that he got to be the South Region Superintendent and because Dr. Dortchers believed in him when he got here and knew that he had potential to not just lead the South, but to lead the entire district at some point. I also want to thank all the applicants, the ones that made it as finalists and the ones that did not. It takes a lot of courage to apply for a job like this. And it honestly takes the courage that some of us might not even have sometimes to do. Because my first question to every single candidate was, why do you even want to take this job? Why? But I'll tell you, every single one of the candidates told me the main reason what they were doing this for was because they were doing it for the children. And when you hear that from all these candidates, it was really inspiring because it's what we do it for. I want to thank Mr. Lozano. We had an incredible conversation. You did incredibly well today. And as it was said, to be a finalist to the third largest school district, you should walk out of here today with your head up and lots of pride because you did an incredible job and you have an incredible future ahead of you. You have some incredible views and visions that will even help us as a district shape because part of this interview process is for all of us to learn, right, and to see what other ideas are out there and how can we make ourselves better. So having the opportunity to have somebody from outside of our district sit through this process and help us and guide us, your mark will be left here. So just know that, Mr. Lozano, as you go out there. To Mr. Villalobos, congratulations. The journey begins now as you become the superintendent of the third largest school district in the nation. The best choice for all children, not just in Miami-Dade, but across the country. Because we know that thousands, if not millions of people are flocking to Florida and to South Florida because they love this community. And as you said it, the same way that they love all the great events that are happening here and the same way that they love all the businesses that are moving to here, they have to love the district that they have the opportunity to go to. And that's something that we're going to continue to build upon as a district and as a brand, because it's so incredibly important for people to know what is happening inside of every single one of our buildings. There is magic happening inside of our buildings every single day. And I'll say that I think we're guilty at many times of not highlighting a lot of that work that's happening, right? And I know that together as a board, together with you, Mr. Villalobos, and the incredible administrators and teachers that we have throughout this district, we're gonna continue to show people who we are and what we bring to the table every single day. because you're gonna bring the experience, the energy, and the vision that we need as a district to continue the journey that we've already started because we have accomplished incredible things. I talk a lot about proficiency. To me, it's never enough until we get to 100%, Dr. Bendos-Mendigo, as you said, but we have done some incredible work over the last four years and eight years in this district. Our proficiency rates have gone up. our students are reading better, our students are doing better in math, we're leading the state and we're leading the nation in so many different areas, but yet there's still so much work to do. Because until every single student, irregardless of what language they're standing in, because we have one line here at Miami-Dade, is at 100%, we're not gonna stop working as a district. So I want to thank everybody that has participated through this process. This is just the beginning of an incredible journey that we're going to have here. And as it was said by one of my fellow board members, may God bless you, Mr. Villalobos, and all of us that have the responsibility of raising these children and providing them the education that's going to give them those opportunities to go anywhere that they want in the world. So thank you, and I look forward to working with you.

Thank you very much, sir. And now we have Board Member Santos.

Thank you so much, Madam Chair. I echo all of my colleagues' sentiments. I'll simply add my own thank you to Dr. Braggles, Mr. Harvey, and Mr. Leichner in leading us through this process. I found it very helpful to have a firm engaged and a facilitator. So I'm grateful for that. Thank you to all the candidates who submitted their names in the process. Specifically, Dr. Lozano, it's been a pleasure getting to know you. I know you have a bright future ahead, whether it was that Hawaii Zoom at five in the morning, or the other ways that you've shown you are a very committed individual and very grateful for your interest in serving our district this way. Best of luck to you. Thank you to our community for staying incredibly persistent in demanding transparency and access I'm very grateful for that. As I mentioned last meeting, there have been such great improvements from the last time I was part of this process and the way that our community was engaged this time around. I always say this, we've come a long way, we've got a long way to go, but I'm very grateful for everyone who has been a part of the process. um and now to you mr villalobos it has been such a pleasure to get to work with you over the last few years and i am thrilled and excited for growing that partnership and for the many places amazing things that will be accomplished the many places will take your leadership as our superintendent i know during graduations when you approached me and said hey i want to give you the heads up I will be applying, you know, I joked about the speech, but I think you're embodying so much of what I said in that speech and so much of what is the ethos of every student that comes through the doors of MDCPS, including yourself, that no matter where we come from, we can accomplish great things. Your vision, your understanding of our challenges and your ability to be decisive in the face of those challenges will create incredible opportunity for all students. I'm excited to see the way that you will bring our community into the process in deeper and deeper ways, the ways that you will continue to build on our ability to communicate to our community, bring them along in these hard moments that will get us through a much brighter future. so thank you to you to your family um and and i'm very excited for what's ahead thank you to my colleagues as well for uh making this process one that at many points there were so many disagreements and yet look at us here unanimously um bringing in a superintendent i'm very proud of that and grateful to my colleagues for their partnership in that process too thank you madam chair thank you so much and now that everyone has spoken it's my turn and we have landed the plane

It's been a process, but an extremely wonderful process. And I am so very proud after having served for the past five decades in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. as an aide, as a teacher, as an assistant principal, as a principal, as a region director, and as an assistant superintendent, an assistant to a board aide, and then a board member, and now here as a chair of this amazing board. Only in America can this happen to a young girl that came at six years of age here to Miami, didn't speak a word of English, just like so many of our students today. And so I want to start first and foremost by thanking all of my esteemed colleagues on the board. This has been, as stated by some of my colleagues, democracy in action, but I take it a step further. Not only a democracy, I am so very proud to lead this district together with a group of professionals who are so respectful We can agree to disagree respectfully. And we are the ones whose students will emulate. And when you see boards all over the country and you see some of the lack of respectfulness that you see here, thank goodness for our students to emulate. It's something that we're really proud of because nowadays a lot more love needs to be given in that particular arena.

So I wanna start off with that.

I want to say that throughout all these years that I have been in the district together with Dr. Bendros-Mendingel and others, I've never witnessed ever the selection of a superintendent to be as deliberate, as thoughtful, as transparent. We have never seen this before, at least I haven't. And I am so very proud because of all of the board members that are sitting here, not just the board members, but also everyone who was involved in this process. Our general counsel, sir, thank you to you. You have been tremendous guidance throughout the process. I want to thank all of the members of our district personnel, who have been involved, Dr. Baglos and the entire team, under the supervision of an amazing superintendent of schools that I also proudly voted for many, well, I won't say many years ago, a few years ago. And thank you because we are now thriving in Miami-Dade County Public Schools with an A-rated district for now the seventh year with graduation rates never seen before because of the joint leadership that has been provided by you together with the board and together with all of the members of the Miami-Dade County Public School family, thank you. I want to take a moment to thank every single applicant. Not just the ones that got to this stage, but all those that started from the beginning. And then the semi-finalists that I had the opportunity to speak with. I thank them because truly I believe that every single person that applied has their heart in the right place. We are here for one reason and one reason only. We are passionate about educating our children and truly giving them what I pointed to several times today, the world. Those words are real. And I am so blessed to see, it was very difficult because we have two amazing candidates that are sitting in front of us today. And now we have a new superintendent to be, but both of you have been just beyond exemplary. Dr. Lozano, I did not know you, sir, but I got the opportunity to speak with you when I selected you as one of the semifinalists. I asked you a plethora of questions. By the way, the same questions to all the candidates that I spoke with. We were on that phone for one hour at least. and I can tell Broward County, they are so fortunate to have someone like you at the helm of their schools right now. You have a tremendous future ahead of you, sir, and I wish you much luck, and I know that great things will be coming your way. Thank you. I cannot say enough about

our new superintendent designate.

I have known you for so many years, and I know that you are a person who truly has that passion, that compassion, the dedication, the grit, the perseverance that is needed to be able to succeed. You have interpersonal skills that are second to none. I know that. I've witnessed that throughout the years. You care about children. You care about parents. You care about teachers. You care about our principals. You care about our bus drivers, our cafeteria employees, and all members of the Miami-Dade County public school family. And I know that just as it's been done by Superintendent Dutris, you will be following footsteps showing that you are truly here for the right reasons. So selecting the next superintendent of schools is indeed the most consequential decision that we can make as a board. and I think we truly have made an exemplary one. And I just cannot wait to see how much more Miami-Dade County Public Schools is gonna flourish under your leadership, sir. I want to thank every parent that I have met with, I have spoken to, I wanna thank the members of our unions, I met with all of you, listened to you carefully, as did my colleagues on the board. We've all spent so much time listening to the community. I thank those that went into our websites, that gave us their opinions. I listened carefully to what the needs of our community, which have been expressed in different ways to me and to my colleagues. And I want to say to our students, to our children, When I met with you and I spoke with you, I was flabbergasted because you shared unbelievable, I mean, the recommendations you made were just fabulous. And I listened real closely, but there was something that all of you who I spoke to told me. They want a superintendent that they're going to be able to meet with regularly, to see in person. A lot happened after COVID and a lot is done, you know, not in a person to person type of scenario. They want that. That was the one thing they asked for. We want more person to person meetings with whomever is at the helm of the schools. And I know that the superintendent does that as well. So I want to just end by saying thank you to all of the members of our community, our business community. Please know that we are listening to you as well, and we know that your partnerships are critically important. Please know elected officials at the local, the state, and the national levels that we know we have to work collaboratively with all of you and our superintendent of schools, the current and the incoming will be doing that, I am sure of it. because there is to all of us one priority and that is to be able to provide our students the very best education possible anywhere in this nation and that's what I heard from our superintendent again to be. Thank you, I know you are going to do a superb job and having the board vote unanimously is beyond commendable. So congratulations to you and to your beautiful wife. Good luck. Because today we celebrate. But tomorrow, Everyone on this day is, not just me, all of my colleagues included, but I can assure you I'll probably be the first call you're gonna get, will be calling you so that we can meet and we can address all of our areas that we all feel are critically important. to be able to communicate with you and have a collaborative relationship. Again, like the one I've had with our superintendent of schools, Dr. Jose L. Dodris, who's very used to me calling him. Now, I will give you one advice. I've given it to him. He hasn't done it yet. Special ring when I call. He hasn't done it, but he'll do it for his beautiful wife. So anyways, I said congrats. I said to you good luck because he will be spending a lot of time away from family because he will be with his extended family. but we know that the spouses understand. So thank you. God bless everyone in this room. And by the way, to our media, thank you for being here because you are the ones who share with our community the voices expressed by all of my colleagues on the board. and all of you can now officially introduce our new superintendent, designate to the rest of this community. So sir, I would like to give you the opportunity to say a few words to your board, to your community, now being the designate to become the next superintendent of schools.

Well, I am completely and utterly humbled by this process. I am grateful, and I'm ready. I am ready to serve the children of Miami-Dade County, the families and the communities, and everyone that touches indirectly or directly our school system. But I first want to thank God for my prayers to him, for everything in my life. And then I want to thank my wife.

Yes.

Because without her, this would not be possible. And my children. Pepe, my uncle, that's here as well. Thank you, sir. And then I want to thank all of those individuals. And you know who you are that have been supporting me throughout this process and always supporting me as an educator throughout my career. I am grateful and I'm ready to do, and I know many of us talk about it, God's work in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. I'm excited, I'm riveting, ready to go, and I would be remissed if I did not thank you, Dr. Dotris, for your belief in me. For you, because of you, I am here today. So thank you for all that you've done.

Thank you. Thank you so very much, and we are strong believers in succession management, and you are evidence of that. Succession management going up through the ranks all the way to the level that you're at. You're a great example for so many others that are out there who will probably want to follow those footsteps. At this time, first I am going to ask that we now vote on agenda item first, SP1. I need a motion to approve SP1.

Madam Chair, if I may, I have an amendment.

Second. I'm sorry?

Just a point of order. I wanted to amend the motion, if I may. My proposed amendment, so obviously we conducted the interviews. It's not really an action item we have to take. So action item number one would be to select Mr. Villalobos as our superintendent. and replace number three with the following. Authorize the school board chair to negotiate the terms and conditions of the employment agreement for the next superintendent utilizing the same or substantially similar process previously used to negotiate superintendent contracts and to return a proposed draft of the contract including any unresolved terms to the board for consideration and potentially approval at a special meeting to be called on August 19th. So essentially, instead of doing a special meeting followed by another session, it would be you begin negotiations right away, and bring us any unresolved terms that we decide and deliberate upon at that special meeting on the 19th. That's the motion.

Okay, we are going to open up first and then I'll make a comment. Go ahead, Vice Chair Calucci, you wanted to say something? No, I was just gonna second the motion. Okay. And the only area that I would like to make sure of is, I have no problem with it whatsoever, but I do want to make sure that we don't have any conflicts. We have the opening of schools and a lot of things happening. Do we have someone who has a calendar to make sure that there is no conflict on that particular date? Madam Secretary, are we free, do we do not have any? Through the Chair, August 19th would work for the Board. It would work? Thank you, okay, then I have no problem. What was the date? Yes.

Thank you, Board Member. One further minor amendment, can we say 11 a.m. on that date?

I'm sorry?

I was gonna say, can we, since we're picking the date, can we also say 11 a.m. on that date?

We can have a time, however, if you'd rather have 11 or you'd rather have 1 p.m., it's open to whatever the board would like.

Vice Chair Calucci? Through the chair, that day I'm leaving out of town in the evening. If it's possible in the morning. We'll do it in the morning. Yes, if it's, you know, if the board is okay with that. Does 11 a.m. work for you? Yes, it works for me.

Okay, so we'll make it 11 a.m. That's fine, I have no problem with that. So I'm going to need then a vote.

I had a comment.

Excuse me, sir?

I had a comment.

Oh yes, go ahead.

Thank you so much. And my only feedback would be is, as we send you off on discussing contracts and terms, do you have all the information that you need? I know we're looking at past contracts, but being that this is a superintendent-designate and we have still months to discuss, I mean, there was gonna be a discussion on what the path, how we were gonna envision this, and what the next steps were gonna be. So if it's just contract, and we'll talk about that after, I'm fine with it. And if you're just looking at that standpoint, then I think we're okay. I just wanted to make sure that as we looked at everything, that we looked at the full picture, because that was what the next meeting was going to be. But if we want to just have her do contract in the meantime, so that way the next meeting when we talk, the contracts are going to go, I'm good with that with no issues.

And thank you for that clarity because I am a stickler about following through with what we have on our recommends. Because listening public has to know that we are being transparent every single step of the way. So we're good with that clarity. So at this time, first, I am going to need a vote on agenda item SP1. I HAVE A MOTION, PLEASE. SECOND? AS AMENDED.

THERE WAS ALREADY A FIRST AND SECOND.

WE'RE GOING TO GO TO AS AMENDED AFTER IT'S FINISHED.

MADAM CHAIR, IF I MIGHT, JUST A FINAL COMMENT THROUGH THE CHAIR. I JUST WANT TO ECHO THE COMMENT THAT BOARD MEMBER ALONSO MADE. DEAL WITH THAT WHEN WE DEAL WITH IT, BUT JUST NOTED. THANK YOU.

Right, thank you so much. And so back again, I have a motion, I have a second. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed, nay. Seeing none, motion passes. And then now I would like a motion on agenda item SP1 as amended. Move it. Second. Do I have a second? Second. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed, nay. Thank you so much. So we still have an order of business. Yes, yeah, a comment. Yes, ma'am.

Thank you. Madam chair. Thank you. My original plan was to be out through all of August. And so I would ask 1 more time to have the option to participate remotely. Hopefully I can make it in, but just to be sure. Yes, 2nd.

All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed, nay. Of course, we shall honor you and we hope you're taking care of that beautiful new baby boy. We're waiting to see what he looks like. So, looking forward to the next meeting, getting to meet him. Now, we want to take pictures with our new superintendent, whatever we decide to call him. I made up a couple of names already. and our current superintendent, and of course, Dr. Lozano, you as well, with the board, and then we have a follow-up meeting that we have to have, so will my colleagues prefer to take a 30 minute break or an hour break? It is up to you, whatever your pleasure may be. Hour. Hour? All right, do I have a second for an hour? Okay, all in favor say aye. We're now gonna go downstairs to take pictures. Without any further business, we are adjourned.