Remarks by Mari Teresa Rojas
77 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 3 of 4
- Play at 6:31:58
“No, I just want to make a comment through the chair. Thank you. I just want to thank our general counsel and his team. Very thorough, very comprehensive, and particularly with the one for the state of Florida, Auditor General. This is so critically important. We have regular ongoing meetings with them, and it's imperative that not only we say we're going to do something, but that we actually do it. And so it's come to fruition. It's here. It's documented. And actually, I think within the next week, I have to meet with them again. We have everything documented that their recommendation was…”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Jul 15, 2026
- Play at 6:38:47
“Yes, thank you so much, Madam Chair. H3 is to encourage the superintendent of schools to utilize the district's communication resources to raise community awareness of Florida's back-to-school sales tax holiday, July 20th, 2026 through August 20th, 2026. This is an agenda item that I proffer on an annual basis to the board last year There were two different periods of time when this was being made available this year. It's only during the period of July 20th, 2026 through August 20th, 2026. We're living during difficult times. We've been talking all day today at different times. about the…”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Jul 15, 2026
- Play at 6:42:57
“I'm through the chairman. I conveniently lost my place just to see if we'd adjourn. I know. I'd just like to ask one question. Does anyone have the score?”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Jul 15, 2026
- Play at 4:37:04
“Yes, thank you very much, Madam Chair. No comment, no question, just a comment. I just wanted to thank Board Member Santos. I used to teach the little guys and they really are like magnets. It's unbelievable how much those children learn at a very young age. So anything that is going to enhance our early childhood programs, I'm always going to be 100% behind. So thank you for bringing it forth. At the appropriate time, I would like to be a co-sponsor. Thank you.”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 4:42:28
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 4:44:03
“I would have used my cheerleading voice, but man. Miami High, my first one.”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 3:15:48
“Yes, through the chair. On that particular issue, I'll have plenty to say when the appropriate time does come in reference to that arena that has just been addressed. I spoke... very much about that issue last time around and I will follow up with whatever new comments I may have at that point in time. As far as this document is concerned, first of all, I want to thank everyone involved in the process. This doesn't just happen by clicking your fingers. It's a lot of time-consuming moments that have to take place so that you can get the input from all stakeholders. internal and external, and…”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · May 6, 2026
- Play at 3:40:21
“Yes, he's sitting back there. Quietly. Very quietly.”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · May 6, 2026
- Play at 4:15:38
“Thank you very much, sir. I'm going to be very, very brief. first and foremost again I want to give kudos to everyone involved in this process I alluded to earlier and I'm going to repeat it again you've listened carefully to the stakeholders including us we're just part of a team here teamwork is what makes that dream work like I always say but we've listened to external stakeholders as well as those critical players in our schools our principals our and members of our workforce. Most important to me is the fact that this is the North Star that we're going to be following. And I said it many…”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · May 6, 2026
- Play at 4:28:30
“Thank you very much, sir. And I was reading through this, and I did have a few questions that I wanted to have a little bit clarity on. I did see where it stated that this management agreement is one that we've never done before, ever. So keeping that in mind, I did have a couple of questions. The first one I have is, I'M ASSUMING THAT THIS IS A PRIVATE SCHOOL OPERATING IN ONE OF OUR FACILITIES, CORRECT, THROUGH THE CHAIR? THROUGH THE CHAIR, THAT IS CORRECT. OKAY. THE NEXT ONE IS IN SECTION 3, UNDER PERSONNEL AND SUPERVISION, BASED ON WHAT I HAVE READ, ARE ANY MDCPS EMPLOYEES GOING TO BE…”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · May 6, 2026
- Play at 4:30:07
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · May 6, 2026
- Play at 4:30:55
“With us, but are you cognizant of anything like this happening anywhere? Not with us directly, but with other entities or not? No? Through the chair?”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · May 6, 2026
- Play at 4:31:08
“Are these students going to be MDCPS students or not?”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · May 6, 2026
- Play at 4:31:13
“Okay. The district liaison, are we going to have to hire someone and assign someone to assume this particular role or not? Through the chair. No, we have a person on staff. Thank you. And I did look at the a la carte menu that was listed, and this provided us a... It was provided to us as part of the agenda that I read. And so this menu included practically just about everything that we do for our schools. So can you elaborate on how this is going to work? Again, I know that we do provide some services to charter schools, but in this one, it seems like we're providing everything. So if you…”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · May 6, 2026
- Play at 4:32:56
“Thank you. And lastly, through the chair, who are the students that are going to be served?”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · May 6, 2026
- Play at 4:33:13
“Okay. That's what I wanted to know. Thank you. That's all I have, Mr. Chair. Thank you.”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · May 6, 2026
- Play at 4:44:16
“Chair Rojas. Thank you so much. Board Member Alonso, thank you so very much for bringing this agenda item forth. It's so critically important. As a matter of fact, I had a very, very similar concern, and this goes back to June 21st of 2017. At that point, I proffered a board item, and I titled it Digital Addiction. because of the very same reasons that you have stated even way back then and I said we're culprits look around the room right now stop and everybody's on the phone and that includes us all of us we're all part of this and so going to restaurants as you alluded to seeing that…”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · May 6, 2026
- Play at 4:59:37
“Thank you very much, sir. And I would like to, at this time, bring H4 to the floor, which is school board endorsement commemorating the 124th anniversary of the independence of Cuba, May 20th, 2026. And this is an agenda item which I'm very, very proud of. And it follows a historical endorsement of the school board commemorating, again, the 124th anniversary of the independence of Cuba, which we observe May 20th, 2026. And by the way, to our previous chair, who's no longer with us, this was something that she was so proud of as well, and I would love to go to different events that she held,…”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · May 6, 2026
- Play at 5:02:49
“Yes, thank you. And this is the recognition of the Florida Seal of Biliteracy Program in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. This agenda item before us now recognizes the very successful implementation and continued success of the Florida Seal of Biliteracy Programs within Miami-Dade County Public Schools. This distinction established by the state of Florida honors high school graduates, again, who have demonstrated tremendous proficiency in two or more languages, underscoring the academic, cultural, and economic value of multilingualism. As one of the most linguistically and culturally diverse…”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · May 6, 2026
- Play at 5:08:00
“Right, exactly, absolutely not. Number one, I'm thrilled to see this item in front of us, extremely important. And it truly has been an interesting journey I remember way back when you were not on the board yet, I proffered item H3 at that time. And that was at the meeting of May 8, 2022. And that's when, for the first time, the official endorsement and support for the implementation of the newly adopted Florida House Bill 395, which was Victims of Communism Day. It was the beginning of a journey, truly, that has brought us to this point in time now. where we are today. And learning about the…”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · May 6, 2026
- Play at 5:11:39
“Thank you, and through the chair, I did, I went through every one. I went through the elementary, and then through the middle school, and highlighted each one of the areas, and senior high. When you go to the senior high school, You see there is nothing listed at all. So maybe that's something that we may want to then take a look at.”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · May 6, 2026
- Play at 5:12:07
“Thank you. So back to Board Member Espino's item. I fully support it 100%. And at the appropriate time, I would like to be a co-sponsor. And once again, thank you for bringing this very important item up.”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · May 6, 2026
- Play at 5:23:03
“Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mine is very brief. It's we're fast approaching graduations, and right after that, summer school. Could you please tell us about what is happening with summer school for this particular year?”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · May 6, 2026
- Play at 5:25:32
“Through the chair, thank you so much. That's very comprehensive. I'm sure you probably already have identified the schools where they're going to hold the summer schools and the summer camps. Are we going to get a document related to that soon? Through the chair?”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · May 6, 2026
- Play at 5:26:29
“So through the chair, thank you so much. And I'm sure that you're going to have all nine board member districts with representation, of course. So my last question has to deal with the fact that because of the arena that we find ourselves in fiscally, is synergy still going to take place? And if so, how is that being funded through the chair?”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · May 6, 2026