Local News

Board Questions Superintendent Emails

MIAMI (CBS4) ― As the Miami Dade School Board prepares to vote on a contract for Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, some board members still have questions about emails allegedly sent by him to a former Miami Herald employee.

In the last month, emails surfaced which appeared to link Carvalho romantically to Tania deLuzuriaga, a former education reporter with the Herald. In those emails, Carvalho reportedly wrote phrases like "I love and miss you too" and "Good morning love."   An investigation by the school district failed to authenticate that those messages came from Carvalho.  Carvalho, a married man, has denied having an affair and said someone else created fake emails using his name.

School Board member Renier Diaz De La Portilla says he doesn't believe that.

"He even denied the existence of the emails, but we know these emails exist," said De La Portilla. "It's clear that Mr. Carvalho hasn't been completely forthcoming with us and right now I don't feel like I can trust him."

The School Board will meet Friday to vote on a 3 year, $275 thousand a year contract for Carvalho.

The question of how Carvalho was hired may affect the School Board's decision on whether to approve the contract. Wednesday, an ethics committee ruled that the School Board was unethical in their selection of Carvalho as Superintendent. If the board takes the ethics committee recommendation into consideration, it would have to start the selection all over again.

"I am very much interested in my grandchild's education and every parent should be," said Dora Ham, outside of Miami Shores Elementary Wednesday Afternoon.

Ham was waiting to pick him up from school and said the whirlwind selection of Carvalho surprised her.

"One day I'm listening to the news and Rudy Crew is out, and the next day someone else is. I really don't know who the someone else is," said Ham.

And neither did Charles Viscito, the parent who complained about the way the Miami Dade school board quickly selected the new superintendent.

"I am hopeful they will take the appropriate action," said Viscito.

Carvalho was the Associate Superintendent, who was offered the job just hours after the board negotiated Rudy Crew's buyout.

"Sometimes things can be legal but not up to the standards of ethics," said Buck Thornberg, a member of the Ethics Advisory Board.

Thornberg told CBS4 Jorge Estevez the school board did nothing wrong or illegal. The only problem was the process in which the board selected the 44-year-old.

"Affording the public the opportunity at least to have input we think is important," said Thornberg.

There was no public meeting. In fact, his appointment came in the middle of a board meeting surprising even some board members.

"People that may have wanted to come down or people that may have wanted to put their names in they didn't know," Marta Perez. The ethics committee recommended the School Board look at opening up the process of selecting the next superintendent and maybe adding the public's opinion.

After the ethics meeting was over, we caught up with Charles Viscito, the parent who brought the complaint.

"I am satisfied with the recommendation that they are going to give the board," said Viscito.

And the grandmother who was waiting for her children is also satisfied because after all, unlike other parents she just told you how she felt. "I never had an opinion until now," said Ham.

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