Facebook factors into School Board race

A comment from a School Board candidate’s Facebook account has turned up the heat in a race that could lead to the first Puerto Rican woman on the Orange County School Board.

“The one who needs English lessons is her,” reads the comment, published from the official account of Jacqueline Centeno, directed at her opponent, Johana López.

The comment was posted on a Facebook Live stream of López’s official campaign launch for the District 2 seat on the Orange County School Board.

“For me, it was very disappointing, because I’ve been trying to work very professionally with my students,” López said.

Centeno and López are both of Puerto Rican descent and are both bilingual. The east Orange County district they are hoping to represent is an increasingly Hispanic community.

Centeno says her account was hacked when the message was sent, and she has since reported the incident to the social media platform.

But López argues that the comment is not the first attack she has fielded from Centeno’s campaign.

In a series of posts from the personal account of Centeno’s former treasurer, Jose Bosque, López is shown with a phrase that reads “Dividing the Latino Vote” in pink letters over her photo.

Another image shows a stock photo of a woman wearing rollers and holding a blow-dryer. It reads “Rollers or Blow-dryer,” a reference to a Puerto Rican saying that means a person should choose one thing or another.

However, López — who has curly hair — took the message to be a racially charged comment about her roots.

“It’s insulting,” said López. “My hair is the representation of my freedom. And it also represents my African-Caribbean heritage.”

Bosque said the message was not intended to be insulting.

“It refers to a group of leaders who say they will build a community and that their goal is to bring together the Latino community, but their actions are not in accordance with unity,” said Bosque, who is no longer involved with Centeno’s campaign.

Orange County’s public school system is the fourth-largest district in the state. More than 44 percent of students are Hispanic, yet there are no Hispanic representatives currently on the board.

López, the first Latina recognized as Teacher of the Year in Orange County in 2017, announced her candidacy last month. She has taught at Colonial High School for almost 20 years.

“The students, many teachers and even community leaders would tell me, ‘When are you running?’ because I truly did community work with my students,” said López.

Centeno, who was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in New York, has two decades of experience as a teacher and principal. She currently coordinates the special-education department at a school in Osceola County.

“I’ve spent 20 years working for the school system. Not just in Orange but also in Osceola. What drives me is the dynamic between the schools, the board and the community,” Centeno said.

Sara Au, David Michael Grimm, Chadwick Hardee and Demetrius Vashawn Smith are also running for the same School Board seat.