Perla Tabares Hantman of Miami Lakes, who served 26 years on the Miami-Dade County School Board, died March 4.
She was 88 and was surrounded by her family when she passed away at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, her son Michael Hantman said.
A Champion for Children
Tabares Hantman was a leader in education whose peers on the school board chose her as chair for an unprecedented 14 terms.
Friends and mourners called Tabares Hantman “a force of nature” and “a stabilizing presence” on the board where she advocated for children and teachers.
Accolades about her life posted on social media came from many leaders, including a teachers union president, former colleagues and superintendents and elected officials.
She represented District 4, which included Miami Lakes, much of the City of Hialeah, Hialeah Gardens and unincorporated Miami-Dade County to the Broward County line.
School Board Member Dr. Steve Gallon III served seven years with Tabares Hantman and was vice chair with her for three years. He said he will most remember his friend’s preparedness, bravery and style.
He described a board decision to reject a book for the health and sex education curriculum, which had been criticized as not being appropriate for the age of the students.
“That was something she initially supported, then she called a subsequent meeting and reversed the initial rejection of a textbook,” Gallon said. “That took a lot of courage and compassion. The decision was something predicated on the politics at the time and the culture wars in July 2022 … She changed her vote and did the right thing. The book was approved.”
Said her son Michael Hantman, “At your peril, you would try to intimidate my mother. She was a lifelong Republican, but her best friend was [Democrat] Bob Graham. She didn’t swing with the political winds and did what she thought was right.”
He said during the pandemic, the board was pressured to not close schools or enforce the wearing of masks.
“But she listened to the doctors,” Hantman said. “Right or wrong, popular or unpopular, she felt people elected her and trusted her judgment and she was going to exercise her judgment.”
Gallon described how Tabares Hantman could be “tough as nails,” but in a polite way.
“She had an uncanny recollection of the history of the district that was unmatched,” he said. “She’d quietly pull out a color-coded tab from 15 years ago, 20 years ago. And she would say, ‘The written record doesn’t allow one to rewrite history.’”
He said she had an “incredible sense of humor” and called them unlikely friends, he being from Liberty City while she lived in Miami Lakes. But they shared a love of education, local politics and fashion and would tease each other about trips to Aventura Mall.
And though she’d been retired for three years, he said Tabares Hantman continued to watch live streams of school board and committee meetings and weigh in on decisions.
“We’d watch [“This Week in South Florida” with] Glenna Milberg every Sunday and analyze the show, during and after it aired,” he said.
They texted often and their last exchange was Feb. 26.
“Six days later she was gone,” he said. “I know she read it. I will miss her.”
Ana Lara, Tabares Hantman’s former chief of staff, joined the board of the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Miami fundraising walk, an awareness campaign that her boss championed.
“When I was selected to serve … she told me with heartfelt conviction, ‘Ana, this is a cause that truly matters. I am so proud that you are continuing the fight,’” Lara said in an email. “Her impact was profound, her presence unforgettable and her mission clear.”
A Life in Miami Lakes
Tabares Hantman lived in five different homes Miami Lakes, three of them in the Loch Lomond neighborhood. She and her late husband, businessman Arnold Hantman, raised their children in a property once owned by William Graham, who founded and developed the town. Tabares Hantman helped her neighbor, the late Bob Graham, and his wife Adele during Graham’s early political campaigns. Tabares Hantman was godmother to their daughter Kendall; their daughter Suzanne’s wedding was held at the former William Graham home.
In 2019 she told The Miami Laker about her “close-knit neighborhood,” “Loch Lomond is truly one of the jewels of the Town of Miami Lakes.”
“Perla and Arnold were a wonderful part of our young life with our children,” Adele Graham said. “We followed her career in public service. She was an amazing public servant for the public schools.”
Graham said they considered the Hantmans “an extended part of our family and enjoyed many holidays together.”
Tabares Hantman worked to get a school in town named as the Bob Graham Education Center.
“That was a great honor for Bob,” Graham said.
Stuart S. Wyllie, president and chief executive officer of The Graham Companies, knew Tabares Hantman for 50 years. He called her “quite a lady” and “a good friend” who got resources for schools in the area.
“Perla really was a force of nature,” Wyllie said. “She dedicated her life to education and made a very significant impact in all that she did, for all the years that she did it.”
Wyllie said “nobody worked harder” on the school board.
“There was never a scent of any impropriety or scandal,” Wyllie said. “She really defined the concept of public service. It was true service to her. She wasn’t looking to make money from it, and she didn’t have any competing business interests that were advanced by her involvement. We need more people like Perla.”
The leader will be remembered March 9 when one of her favorite events, renamed the 2025 Perla Tabares Hantman Miami National College Fair, is held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Miami Airport and Convention Center. Thousands of students will meet representatives from nearly 200 colleges.
A Career of Firsts
“She was a trailblazer as the first Hispanic woman to be elected as school board chair … A champion for safe schools, bilingual education, and academic excellence. Her legacy will endure for generations,” Supt. Jose L. Dotres said in part on social media.
There were other firsts: She was the first Hispanic woman on the Florida Board of Regents, now called the Board of Governors that oversees the state’s public universities, her family said in an obituary. Also: She helped install the district’s first Cambridge Academy, at Miami Lakes Educational Center, helped to transform Barbara Goleman Senior High School into a mega-magnet school with federal funding, and supported charter schools and the South Florida Autism Charter School that opened in 2021 in the northwest corner of the county.
When she retired in 2022, Tabares Hantman told The Miami Laker she was also proud of converting Jose Marti Middle School into Jose Marti MAST 6-12, which focuses on STEM education. Strengthening curriculum and raising standards helped keep kids enrolled and graduating, she said then.
Among the five superintendents she worked with was Alberto Carvalho, who currently leads the Los Angeles Unified School District. They knew each other for many years, from when he was a teacher.
“I have a great deal of respect, friendship, affinity and affection for Perla, from before my superintendency to all the way through my superintendency,” Carvalho said in 2022. He and Tabares Hantman helped turn Miami-Dade into an A-rated district with no failing schools, an accomplishment he called “pretty stunning.
After her death he wrote on social media that she was “a passionate advocate for education but also a pillar of support to me and so many others.”
Her commitment to students and families was unwavering, he said.
“I will miss her wisdom, dedication, and friendship. I take comfort knowing her impact and legacy will be felt for generations,” Carvalho said.
Anna M. Hernandez, principal at M.A. Milam K-8 Center in Hialeah, said Tabares Hantman was a mentor and friend during her career as a teacher and administrator.
“It’s a great loss to me,” Hernandez said. “She really loved this school and attended our annual show for 18 years that celebrates Cuba’s independence from Spain.”
Tabares Hantman would invite the superintendent and his cabinet and senior staff to the production.
Tabares Hantman donated “a substantial amount of money” to pay for a new sound system and lighting in the cafeteria, which serves as the school’s theater.
“We’ll always remember her generosity,” Hernandez said. “I honestly believe she always tried to do what was right for kids and educators.”
In 2014, the Miami Lakes council gave Tabares Hantman the key to the town to recognize her dedication to education and tireless advocacy for schools in the district.
Perla Tabares Hantman was born in Havana, Cuba and was in her early 20s when she arrived in the United States. She was educated at the University of Havana and earned a bachelor’s degree from Barry University. An early job was as a foreign attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, her family said.
She received honors that included the 2019 National Association for Bilingual Education’s Lifetime Member Award; recognition from the College Board for raising advanced placement test scores of Hispanic and Black students and getting more than $18 million in federal dollars for Safe Routes to School Infrastructure Projects, her family said.
A Private Farewell
In addition to her son Michael Hantman and his wife Amy, she is survived by three other children and their spouses: Francis Baguer (Enid), Alina Van Katwyk (David), Claudia Arko (Michael), eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, as well as a sister, Miriam Tabares Seiglie. She was married to Arnold Hantman for 50 years before his death in 2019.
Funeral arrangements, including cremation and a celebration of her life, will be private, per her wishes, Michael Hantman said. She will be buried next to her husband at Vista Memorial Gardens in Miami Lakes.