With Miami-Dade Superintendent Jose Dotres’ contract ending in February 2027, school board members are now looking to have his replacement by August.

Dotres has served as the superintendent for the third-largest school district since 2022. The school board started the search for his replacement in April.

More than 20 people applied for the position, but now only six have secured spots as semifinalists.

Here’s a closer look at who Miami-Dade’s superintendent might be:

Jose Bueno

With roughly 33 years of experience within Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Bueno currently serves as Dotres’ Chief of Staff.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Bueno’s tasks include coordinating and implementing major projects “that have significant district-wide impact on the goals of the district and involve coordination of other divisions and offices.”

He started as a teacher within the country back in 1993 and is a Florida International University and Nova Southeastern University graduate.

Ernie Lozano

Lozano is currently Broward County’s Public Schools Chief Human Resources Officer.

His passion is creating a safe and secure environment for both students and staff.

“He has been recognized for his contributions to the District’s safety and security initiatives, receiving accolades for his exceptional leadership and commitment to student and staff well-being,” according to a bio on the site for the National Student Safety and Security Conference & Workshop.

Before his career in human resources, Lozano served within education as a teacher, assistant principal and more.

Sylvia Mitchell

Hope builder, executive leadership coach and seasoned superintendent are all descriptions Mitchell has on her LinkedIn.

Living in Houston, Texas, Mitchell is familiar with the Sunshine State since she was a principal at Charter Schools USA in Fort Lauderdale back in 2012.

She has also served as superintendent twice in Texas and is currently Executive Vice President, Curriculum, Design & Development for Per Scholars.

Carlos Perez

Perez is 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.

According to the nonprofit, Perez has over 25 years of experience within education, mainly in New York, but now in Florida.

Perez has also been an assistant superintendent in the past, as well as taking part as an Executive Board Member for the New York State Association of School Personnel Administrators.

Christopher Ruszkowski

Currently based in South Carolina as CEO of South Carolina’s Children’s Fund, Ruszkowski has moved all over the country, and Florida will be no exception.

According to his LinkedIn, he served as New Mexico’s Secretary of Education back in 2019. Before living in South Carolina, he was a conservator for the Texas Education Agency. A conservator oversees the state’s takeovers of large school districts and charter school networks.

Getting his master’s at Stanford, Ruszkowski was a Distinguished Policy Fellow at the Hoover Institute located within the university.

Rafael Villalobos

Since 2022, Villalobos has been the South Region Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Before that, he was a principal for over ten years.

The Nova Southeastern alum has been in Miami for most of his life, even graduating from South Miami Senior High School in 1990.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Thursday that his office has opened an investigation into Ready to Register and other third-party organizations after reports that voter registration mailers were sent to deceased Georgians and other ineligible recipients.

According to the Secretary of State’s Office, election officials have received numerous complaints about voter registration solicitations being mailed to people who have died. In one unusual case cited by the office, a deceased family dog reportedly received one of the mailers.

State officials said they are reviewing whether the mailings violate Georgia law or otherwise undermine confidence in the state’s election system.

The Secretary of State’s Office said third-party voter registration groups frequently conduct mass mail campaigns ahead of major elections but often rely on commercial databases that can contain outdated or inaccurate information, unlike Georgia’s official voter registration system.

“Groups like this highlight the unreliability of commercial data,” Raffensperger said in a statement. “Georgia maintains one of the cleanest voter rolls in the nation through continuous list maintenance and citizenship verification. These outside organizations don’t use those standards. Instead, they flood mailboxes with inaccurate solicitations that confuse voters and waste election officials’ time.”

Raffensperger also thanked voters who alerted his office to the mailings.

“I want to thank the voters who have flagged the inaccurate mailings and sent them to our office,” he said. “Whether checking their ballots for accuracy or keeping their own registration information up to date, voters are a crucial line of defense in election security.”

Georgia officials said the issue mirrors problems recently identified in North Carolina, where election officials warned residents about similar mailings from Ready to Register. According to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, North Carolina officials said the organization mailed registration forms to deceased individuals, used outdated forms, listed incorrect election office addresses and included QR codes that raised privacy concerns.

Raffensperger criticized the mass mailing campaigns, saying they create confusion while increasing the workload for local election offices.

“Whether intentional or simply reckless, these mail campaigns operate like a grift — raising money and generating activity while shifting the costs onto taxpayers, election officials, and voters,” Raffensperger said. “Georgia taxpayers should not have to clean up the mess created by organizations that prioritize volume over accuracy.”

The Secretary of State’s Office is encouraging Georgians to verify their voter registration through the state’s My Voter Page and says voters who are already registered at their current address should disregard unsolicited voter registration mailers.