The Miami-Dade County school board named two finalists as it searches for its new superintendent.
The two finalists are South Florida locals who already work in public education. Ernie Lozano is chief human resource officer of Broward County Public Schools and Rafael Villalobos is the south region superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
The candidates to replace current Superintendent Jose Dotres are the last standing in a months-long process. Dotres has less than a year left in the seat, as laid out by his contract. His tenure is planned to end Feb. 14, 2027.
In a special meeting on Tuesday, the eight School Board members voted one by one on whether to advance each of the six semifinalists they were eyeing for the role.
Candidates needed 5 or more votes to advance.
Villalobos was unanimously moved forward. Lozano received six "yes" votes, with only board members Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall and Roberto Alonso casting "no" votes.
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Board member Luisa Santos said she was "disappointed" in having only two finalists. She said she wanted to see more candidates move forward to give the public a chance to question and interact with the eventual leader of the state's largest public school system.
" I personally do not feel like we are doing right by our community's request of us to be able to be a part of that process," Santos said. "Of course, they gave us input, but they have not seen any of these finalists answer any questions."
The board will set a date for a special meeting to publicly interview the two finalists.
"I know we've been listening to public input as much as we can do so," Rojas said. "I have never witnesses as much public input in this process as I have in this board."
Board member Joseph Geller said allowing the public to pose questions to candidates could create "spectacle."
"I don't think that's the best course," he said.
Rojas said the process the board has used has presented more opportunities for public involvement in the search for a candidate for public office than she's ever seen.
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" I do take a bit of, I don't wanna say offense, but let me just say I don't agree with the statement made earlier that we have not had enough public input," she said, "because I have never witnessed so much public input as I have throughout this process that is taking place right now."
The board has held special meetings throughout the process and early on in the search process sent invitations to union representatives, student government participants, business leaders and more. A website was also created in which all community members could provide feedback about what most matters to them in a strong superintendent.
