Embattled former Miami-Dade School Board Vice Chair Lubby Navarro was nabbed earlier today. Facing allegations of siphoning school district funds for her own use, as reported by Local 10. Navarro, who served the board since her appointment in 2015 by then-Gov. Rick Scott, is accused of a serious breach of trust, with sources close to the matter revealing her arrest warrant spills over a near hundred pages detailing financial improprieties.
According to 7News, Navarro's arrest, occurring at 8:40 a.m., is the fruit of a deep-dive state attorney investigation into possible public corruption -- a dark shadow cast over the face of a body meant to safeguard the education of our youth. While currently the charges are stated to come from actions in 2022, the scope of the investigation remains broad, active and could potentially unearth deeper issues upon further scrutiny.
Navarro was booked at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, with the sordid details of her alleged misuse of school funds for personal expenses yet to fully come to light. Just a month ago, she declared an end to her tenure on the school board — a move succeeded by a federal judge's decision against a new state law aimed at preventing politicians from maintaining lobbying gigs, the timing of which now seems more than coincidental. Navarro, until recently, was a registered lobbyist for the South Broward Hospital District.
Following her resignation from the school board in December 2022, arrested on charges concerning the mishandling of dollars meant for our children's education, Navarro's actions have raised many an eyebrow. The state attorney's office has a scheduled news conference for later Thursday afternoon, promising to shed light on the allegations. The Miami-Dade School Board, in the middle of grappling with this public relations nightmare, has been approached for comment.
