This superintendent candidate got support from every Miami-Dade school board member

With the Miami-Dade school board set to move forward in their selection of the next superintendent Tuesday, district documents reveal that there is one candidate that was supported by all eight school board members as a semifinalist.

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According to emails and memos from school board members obtained by the Miami Herald through a public records request, South Region Superintendent Rafael Villalobos was selected by all eight members of the school board for the district’s short list of semifinalists to advance in the process. Only four of the district’s six semifinalists were chosen by more than one school board member. Jose Bueno, chief of staff to Superintendent Jose Dotres, was selected by four of the eight school board members as a semifinalist.

Background checks for each of the semifinalists were completed last week but with finalist picks and interviews still outstanding, the process is far from over. Board members’ selection of Villalobos in this step of the process represents their desire to move him along, not necessarily their final selection for the role.

At a special board meeting Tuesday, the board could advance a number of the semifinalists as finalists for the role and set dates on public interviews as well as the final selection for the role.

Board members were permitted to pick up to three names to advance as semifinalists out of 21 applicants. Eight candidates were found to have met all minimum requirements for the role as laid out previously by the school board, according to a district analysis.

The six semifinalists include:

• Dotres’ Chief of Staff, Jose Bueno
• Ernie Lozano, Broward County Public Schools chief human resources officer.
• Sylvia Mitchell, a former Miami charter school principal and charter school network executive in Texas.
• Carlos Perez, a charter school principal in West Palm Beach and the former executive director of the Education Reform Project, a nonprofit organization based in Miami Beach.
• Christopher Ruszkowski, a former secretary of education for New Mexico who is now overseeing the state of Texas’ takeovers of a large school district and charter school network.
• Villalobos, MDCPS’ south region superintendent.

Though there are nine school board districts, the District 1 seat in North Dade is currently vacant, as former board member Steve Gallon left his position for a seat on the Miami-Dade County Commission.

Here’s a breakdown of which board members supported each of the six semifinalists:

• District 2 Board Member Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall: Bueno and Villalobos
• District 3 Board Member Joe Geller: Lozano and Villalobos
• District 4 Board Member Roberto Alonso: Bueno, Ruszkowski and Villalobos
• District 5 Board Member Danny Espino: Mitchell and Villalobos
• District 6 Board Member, Chair Mari Tere Rojas: Bueno, Lozano and Villalobos
• District 7 Board Member Mary Blanco: Perez and Villalobos
• District 8 Board Member, Vice Chair Monica Colucci: Lozano and Villalobos
• District 9 Board Member Luisa Santos: Bueno, Ruszkowski and Villalobos

Dotres was hired to lead the district Jan. 2022, replacing Alberto Carvalho. Dotres’ contract is scheduled to end Feb. 14, 2027.

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Some board members put additional commentary or information in their emails and memos sent to Walter Harvey, the district’s lead attorney.

Rojas wrote in a memo that she held telephone interviews with Bueno, Villalobos, Lozano and Mitchell as well as Jeffery Mosley, an administrator with Chicago Public Schools, before selecting her three names.

Santos wrote that she wished the pool were more diverse.

“I would have liked to see a more robust candidate pool with more diversity of lived and professional experience (e.g. qualified women leaders and experience outside of Florida), but I know that’s not in your control,” Santos wrote to Harvey.

Geller wrote that he prioritized familiarity with South Florida in his picks, Lozano and Villalobos.

“We have a number of excellent candidates, and the choice has been difficult for me… As I have said previously, I think familiarity with South Florida is a major plus factor for doing the job of Superintendent,” Geller wrote.

The candidates with the highest number of board member selections — Bueno, Lozano and Villalobos — all have close ties to South Florida.

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