Clay County Bishop Marvin C. Zanders II speaks Dec. 31, 2025, with a group of other regional faith, education and civic leaders. | Livestream of news conference
Published on December 31, 2025 at 3:08 pm
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A Clay County School Board member faces growing calls for accountability after his racial remarks about the Black community sparked statewide criticism.
District 2 Clay County School Board member Robert Alvero said in a Facebook Live video that he had “80% more negative experience with the African American community in this country than with white people.”
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Alvero, a U.S. citizen who is a native of Cuba, went on to say: “I have met a lot of great African American people, and I am still friends with them because they’re good, decent people. But that’s the 20% of the people I have met. They’re African Americans. The other 80%, they’re being nasty. They’re being rude. They’re being problematic.”
The comments were first reported by Clay News & Views. Alvero later apologized, but community leaders say the issue isn’t over and they’re demanding accountability.
Bishop Marvin C. Zanders II of Clay County spoke Wednesday with a group of other regional faith, education and civic leaders at the St. James AME church in Orange Park.
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Zanders said Alvero described African Americans in “sweeping negative and demeaning terms are irresponsible, unacceptable and unbecoming of anyone”.
Racial sensitivity training
Zanders called on the schools superintendent and School Board to continue to take meaningful steps to ensure that “such rhetoric is neither normalized nor repeated.”
Zanders suggested:
- “Reaffirming a clear code of conduct for board members that prohibits discriminatory or demeaning public statements”
- “Mandatory, ongoing training, and cultural competence in implicit bias and anti-racism for all board members and senior administrators”
- “Transparent accountability mechanisms when statements or actions undermine equity and inclusion”
- “Active engagement with African American families, faith leaders and community in all people that they might be heard, that they might be seen as value”
In a letter to Alvero on Dec. 22, Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas wrote that the board member had showed unprofessional conduct when he used “discriminatory” language to describe the African American community.
Kamoutsas has ordered Alvero to explain himself before the State Board of Education at its meeting Jan. 21.
According to Clay News & Views, Alvero was elected to the School Board in November 2024 on a platform that included keeping politics out of the classroom. Alvero represents the Oakleaf section of the county, whose population is nearly 25% African American.
