Navarro says her voice is an important one for the school board

Appointed in 2004, incumbent District 5 board member faces her first election

Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Navarro

That’s one reason she is running to retain her District 5 seat on the county school board.

‘‘The primary reason I’m running is because I am the parent of two [Montgomery County public school] students,” she said. ‘‘So I have a stake in the school system and I feel this a wonderful opportunity to give back to the community.”

This is the first election for Navarro, 41, of Silver Spring, who was appointed to the school board to replace Henry Lee in December 2004. ‘‘Two years is not enough for the contributions I’d like to make,” she told Gazette editors in July.

Among Navarro’s top priorities are continuing the focus on academic reforms that began with early childhood and high school programs, by looking toward the next frontier: middle schools. Committees looking at all aspects of the middle school program are expected to report to the board this fall.

‘‘The fact that we’re still not preparing everybody at the level we need to signals that we need to reevaluate and retool if we have to,” Navarro said.

That does not necessarily mean adding to the schools system’s 20,000 employees, whose salaries account for about 90 percent of its $1.8 billion operating budget, she said. ‘‘Perhaps it is an issue of staff development. Perhaps it is an issue of implementing curriculum a certain way ... I don’t necessarily believe that it’s about throwing more and more and more money.”

The biggest contribution Navarro said she can make comes from her experience as founder of Centro Familia, a nonprofit that focuses on quality child care and early childhood education for immigrant Latino families. The organization’s work toward school readiness in the early years preceded the school system’s early childhood initiative by two years, Navarro said.

‘‘My experience, having created this community-based organization from zero ... in communities that usually have low levels of education, etc., has really given me a broad view and an in-depth view of the possibilities in our county,” she said.

It is ‘‘imperative” that her voice, as ‘‘a woman of color” be heard at the board table, Navarro said. ‘‘I think it would be a loss if we didn’t have a voice like mine there.”

Board of Education, District 5

Born: Aug. 15, 1965

Birthplace: Caracas, VenezuelaResidence: Silver SpringFamily: Married; two daughters, 13 and 9Education: bachelor’s in psychology, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1987Experience: Centro Familia, founder and executive co-Director (1998-2004); Board of Education (2004-present); Maryland Multicultural Youth Centers Advisory Board; Montgomery County Gang Task Force

Top issues: continuity of educational reforms (early success, middle, and high school- with emphasis in literacy); enhance the capacity of board members to perform their oversight duties; enhanced parental and community involvement.

Web site: www.navarro4boe.org