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South Florida

Miami-Dade School Board ยท District 1

Who owns Katrina Wilson?

Follow her donors, in 2½ minutes. Turn your sound on.

Vote Tuesday, November 3. Miami-Dade County Public Schools, School Board District 1 runoff.

Katrina Wilson: the full record, her boards and her donors, with sources →

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Transcript

Who owns Katrina Wilson? Charter-school and real-estate donors are helping fund her campaign.

Jeb Bush picked her to run Liberty City Charter, Florida’s first charter school. The School Board closed it in 2008 over its finances. Its debt had grown to $1 million. The New York Times later called the empty campus “a ruin baking in the Miami sun.” Now she wants a seat on that same board.

State filings list her as president of The Charter School of Excellence, and vice president of the Florida Consortium of Public Charter Schools. That group’s filing lists Fernando Zulueta as its treasurer. Her campaign reports show $1,000 from the very same Fernando Zulueta, who listed his job as CEO of Academica, and $1,000 from Ignacio G. Zulueta. WLRN reported that Fernando Zulueta and his brother Ignacio built charter networks that contract with Academica, including Mater Academy. In all, donors with real-estate and school-industry jobs gave $13,350: 38% of the money from other people.

Miami-Dade’s public schools lost about 13,000 students last school year. A 2025 Florida law lets charter operators called Schools of Hope move into public schools with underused or empty space. They pay no rent. By November 2025, the district had 90 notices from operators who want in. 81 came from Mater Academy. One PTA member put it this way: “Public schools close, charters move in.”

When the School Board approved Success Academy’s move into five high schools in April 2026, board member Danny Espino said: “We’re required to make a vote with a gun to our head.” One of those five is North Miami Senior High, right here in District 1, the seat she wants. Success Academy is set to open inside it in 2027. The board votes on these deals. Charter companies want public school buildings rent-free, and her donors are counting on her vote.

Keep Katrina Wilson off the School Board. The District 1 runoff is Tuesday, November 3rd.

Sources

  1. Donors with real-estate and school-industry jobs gave $13,350: 38% of the money from other people. One donor, Fernando Zulueta, listed his job as CEO of Academica. Miami-Dade County Elections, Wilson campaign treasurer’s reports. Source [15].
  2. Jeb Bush picked her to run Liberty City Charter, Florida’s first charter school. Its debt grew to $1 million. Washington Post, Nov. 1, 2015. Source [1].
  3. The School Board closed it in 2008 over its finances. Miami Herald, reprinted by the Center for Education Reform, Mar. 7, 2015. Source [3].
  4. “A ruin baking in the Miami sun.” New York Times, Mar. 8, 2015. Source [2].
  5. President, The Charter School of Excellence. Florida Department of State, 2026 annual report. Source [13].
  6. Vice president, Florida Consortium of Public Charter Schools. The same filing lists Fernando Zulueta as treasurer. Florida Department of State, 2026 annual report. Source [14].
  7. The Consortium’s board page lists Fernando Zulueta as treasurer and president of Academica Corporation. Florida Consortium of Public Charter Schools, captured Sept. 26, 2026. Source [24].
  8. Fernando and Ignacio Zulueta built charter networks that contract with Academica, including Mater Academy. WLRN, Aug. 2019. Source [21].
  9. Miami-Dade public schools lost about 13,000 students last school year. Success Academy is set to open inside North Miami Senior High in 2027. The Miami Times, June 23, 2026. Source [23].
  10. The 2025 Schools of Hope law. Success Academy’s move into five high schools, approved April 2026. “We’re required to make a vote with a gun to our head.” WLRN, Apr. 24, 2026. Source [18].
  11. No rent. 90 notices by November 2025, 81 from Mater Academy. The board votes on these agreements. Miami Herald, reprinted by Pineapple Report, Nov. 18, 2025. Source [20].
  12. North Miami Senior High is in School Board District 1. Miami-Dade County Public Schools, District 1 map, 2024–25. Source [25].
  13. The District 1 runoff is Tuesday, November 3. The Florida Trib, Aug. 19, 2026. Source [12].