Mari Tere Rojas
School Board Member, District 6
February 2020
A resident of Coral Gables for more than two decades, Mari Tere Rojas has been the Miami-Dade School Board member representing District 6 (which includes the Gables) since 2016. She started as a teacher in 1975, and before becoming a school board member was the principal of several area schools, including most recently Sunset Elementary. Her responsibilities include oversight of 36 schools in her district, including Coral Gables High School, for which she aggressively campaigned to increase funding from the General Obligation Bond – from $11.2 million to $26.2 million – so the school could add a new building with art labs, classrooms, computer labs, a gym & dance room, a dining area, a resource room, a drafting and design lab, and JROTC rooms.
Latest Achievement
In addition to increasing the initial county grant to rebuild Coral Gables High School by $15 million, she has more recently secured an additional $3.5 million to renovate and upgrade the remaining buildings on campus.
What She Says
“Education has been my passion all my life. If I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t be in this seat right now,” says Rojas. “I go to every single one of the schools that I represent. I am a very hands-on school board member.” As for her campaign to increase funding for CG High School, she says, “The school is an icon, an institution that so many are proud of. The academic portion has been doing an excellent job, but you have to have a physical plant that compliments the academic success.” Rojas credits “all the stake holders” for helping save Coral Gables High School, including the PTA, the school’s administrators, the Friends of Gables High, local business leaders and City officials. “Teamwork is what makes the dream work,” she says.