Our choices in the three School Board runoffs

Three veteran members of the Miami-Dade School Board chose not to seek reelection in 2020, leaving a game-changing number of open seats on the board, just as it is facing the new reality of schooling in a COVID-19 world.

In the August primary, the only veteran board member Lubby Navarro won her seat outright with 50 percent of the vote, plus one.

The races the three open seats sent six candidates into runoffs as they seek to join the ninemember board that oversees a $5 billion budget, 392 schools, 345,000 students and 40,000 employees.

Here are the Miami Herald runoff recommendations:

DISTRICT 3

Teachers Lucia Baez-Geller and Russ Rywell want to replace departing board member Martin Karp, who for 16 years represented the district — which extends from North Miami Beach to northernmost Aventura and encompasses Miami Beach and a tiny portion of Miami.

The two candidates both happen to teach at Miami Beach High, where they also are floor neighbors. We can’t recall the last time that happened. BaezGeller

was the top voter-getter in the primary.

The Editorial Board recommended Rywell in August. And it still does in the runoff. It was a tough call. Both candidates are capable and knowledgeable as to the needs of the district, students and teachers. They have frontline knowledge.

But as we said in our primary recommendation, Rywell’s thoughtful demeanor, institutional knowledge, eye-level engagement with students and dedication to ensuring their success in school give him the edge. He would bring this student-first perspective to the board. Rywell, who previously had a career in finance, says he went into teaching to make a difference and vows to be a champion for the kids. That’s what they need.

“We cannot classify kids based on past experiences,” he told the Editorial Board. He tells students, “This is what you have to do, and you can do it.” Simple but effective.

There are challenging times ahead for the district and all who learn and labor there. With his strong focus on helping students pull through, the Herald Editorial Board recommends RUSS RYWELL for Miami-Dade School Board District 3.

DISTRICT 5

The two candidates vying for the seat vacated by Susie V. Castillo are well-versed in the needs of the district, which includes Doral, Miami Springs and Hialeah.

Christi Fraga is the vice mayor of Doral. Mara Zapata is an FIU educator and former Miami Springs council member.

Zapata

Rywell

Fraga, who has school-age children, says that, in a pandemic world, parents with children who struggle at school are sometimes are lost in the district maze.

Zapata says that she has dedicated her professional life to education and supporting both teachers and students. She is associate director of the FIUTeach program in the STEM Transformation Institute. She has served as an Instructional Supervisor for Miami Dade County Public Schools in the division of Human Capital Management, where she supported and mentored many beginning teachers; many of whom are current teachers in the field.

Prior to this, she served as an administrator in Curriculum & Instruction for Miami-Dade County Public Schools, overseeing the implementation of several federally funded district wide programs and initiatives.

The disparity in the district is a burning issue, the candidates agreed. “We can give students all the computers we want, but there is a reality in their lives,” Zapata told the Board. “For some underprivileged kids, if they don’t eat lunch and breakfast at school, they don’t eat.” She believes increased parent involvement will make a difference.

Both candidates are knowledgeable and prepared. We recommended Zapata in the primary and do so again for her thoughtfulness and vow to focus on underprivileged students, pushing them to bring their parents into the education dialogue.

The Herald Editorial Board recommends MARA ZAPATA

in School Board District 5. DISTRICT 9

Although we originally recommended seasoned educator Nancy Lawther in this race to replace board member Lawrence Feldman, veteran Miami-Dade Commissioner Dennis Moss, the top vote-getter in the primary, and newcomer Luisa Santos both make solid cases for what they can bring to the School Board.

Moss himself is a seasoned elected official, with years of experience on a dais. He knows what it takes to get things done, and he has. Santos is full of ideas and has what she calls “lived experience” as a low-income, first-generation student who went through the public school system.

Moss, term-limited on the County Commission, has run an alternative program to help minority students in South Dade who were suspended from school, helping them return to the classroom.

Both candidates say School Board members should flex their muscles more.

“I think the School Board should be more proactive and ask harder questions of the superintendent and staff,” Santos said. “We are policy makers, and

Moss at the end of the day we’re accountable for what happens in our schools.”

Moss says the district should have had a plan to deal with cyberattacks that crippled its pandemic online-learning program last month.

He says the School Board was left out of the loop. The School Board needs to be more engaged, he says.

Moss also says churches should be brought into the education fold to help parents with struggling students. He proposes a summer session at the end of this school year to shrink the learning gap that is occurring. Both are good ideas.

Santos is an entrepreneur who owns Lulu’s, an cream shop. She is a Georgetown-educated businesswoman who worked with the undersecretary of education in the Obama administration and was an assistant fourth-grade teacher. She says she has attended School Board meetings and teacher bargaining negotiations. Santos called the struggles the district experienced in reopening “unacceptable.”

If elected, she would fight to strengthen the district’s digital infrastructure, implement a learning-management system and fight to end food insecurity among students.

Ultimately, Moss has the heft the district needs at this time, for instance, knowing his way around Tallahassee when it comes to working with lawmakers to bring home benefits.

For School Board District 9, the Herald Editorial Board recommends DENNIS MOSS.