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Front Page » Education » School Superintendent Jose Dotres lays out plans to hit ground running

School Superintendent Jose Dotres lays out plans to hit ground running

Written by on February 1, 2022
  • www.miamitodayepaper.com
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School Superintendent Jose Dotres lays out plans to hit ground running

When José Dotres steps in as school superintendent Feb. 11 after his contract negotiations with the school board, he has a game plan: “I will focus on unfinished learning within the student body, supporting the teachers to be equipped in the classroom and making sure the resources that the leaders will need so that teaching, learning and emotional support are readily available.”

Mr. Dotres was chosen on a 6-3 vote by the Miami-Dade County School Board to replace outgoing Alberto Carvalho, who served 14 years and is headed to Los Angeles. Mr. Dotres is leaving his current role as deputy superintendent of Collier County Public Schools.

The pandemic taken a toll on teachers and students’ academics. Mr. Dotres did not have to step in for a teacher with covid in Collier County, but the faculty did need help in other places. “I served for two days in Spanish Lake Elementary in the cafeteria,” he said. “The classrooms were covered, so I was assigned to the cafeteria. When I was a principal, I loved being there to interact with the kids.”

Mr. Dotres made it clear in an interview with Miami Today that the entire staff in schools needs assistance during the pandemic. “You need assistance at certain times of the day that is additional personnel.”

One of his goals on returning to Miami-Dade, where he began in 1988 as a teacher, is to “equip teachers with the ability to support level of instruction, because each level is unique, and we have to do it appropriately. We can’t forget the principals and leaders.” He said he is determined that they have the resources necessary to provide the best teaching and learning conditions not only during the pandemic but all the time.

Faculty and teachers need to be able to attend to students’ mental needs as well as academic. “Social and mental health issues can completely interfere with their learning,” said Mr. Dotres. “What sometimes worries me is that these mental health issues can be hidden from adults because the children don’t know how to articulate how they feel.”

The staff must have resources to provide the best teaching and learning conditions, he said.

Unfinished learning and gaps in education are prominent because of the pandemic.

“There has been a greater loss in math than reading,” he said. “That is worrisome because we know that it is a gatekeeping subject that can hold students back in middle school, high school and from graduation.”

The Education Fund, a non-profit that works to help students in Miami-Dade reach graduation, is beginning a hands-on math program to help fill the learning gap with elementary age children. Before covid, roughly 70% of students passed the fifth grade math exam. Last year, 40% passed it.

Unfinished learning is not educational loss, according to Mr. Dotres. “If you don’t have the instruction needed, you end up unfinished.”

Another of his goals is recruiting teachers.

“The number of graduates from college looking into teaching is diminishing,” he said. “We are an employer of talent. We can rethink the prep programs and have the ability to advocate that state level for greater flexibility, eligibility and incentives like forgiveness loans, to attract talented individuals into teaching.”

Mr. Dotres said he is looking to recapture individuals who might not have considered teaching as a career.

“My background in human resources has me seeking ways for the state to have greater resources and funding,” he said. “Teachers who never intended it develop career changes. But we need the funding.” The current chief of police for Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Edwin Lopez, was previously a physical education teacher, Mr. Dotres noted.

“I was in private business, became a teacher and made this my career,” Mr. Dotres said. “We must find ways to lift the interest level, like increasing the salary based and the options for college students to have different pathways.”

Mr. Dotres said he wants to follow Mr. Carvalho’s rising graduation rates, from a 2007 rate at 58.7% rising to 90.1% in 2021. “I want to follow up with students after graduation while they pursue colleges, tech colleges and career tracks so they’re successful beyond high school.”

Mr. Dotres said he hopes to finish what students didn’t finish academically, ensure that teachers and faculty can help students not just academically but with mental health, recruit new talent, and keep up with students for at least five years after graduation to track Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ success.

One Response to School Superintendent Jose Dotres lays out plans to hit ground running

  1. Move Now

    February 12, 2022 at 12:19 am

    Dotres needs to move close to his new School Board office. Dotres living 90 minutes away in Broward County is a terrible idea and an insult to Miami-Dade County taxpayers.

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