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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) suspended four elected school board members on Friday after a grand jury found they had acted negligently and incompetently in implementing safety measures at the county’s schools of Broward and recommended its withdrawal.
The grand jury investigation was prompted by a 2018 shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people. In its report, released last week, the grand jury said the Broward school board had mismanaged an $800 million bond-funded program and failed to deliver on promised projects, including safety improvements to their schools
“It is my duty to suspend people from office when there is clear evidence of incompetence, dereliction of duty, embezzlement or embezzlement,” DeSantis said in a statement. “We are grateful to the members of the jury who have devoted countless hours to this mission, and we hope that this suspension will bring the Parkland community one step closer to justice.”
Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale, is the sixth largest school district in the country and is responsible for about 260,000 students. The rare decision to forcibly remove elected officials from office was praised by families of victims of school violence, but also led to accusations of political overreach.
DeSantis suspended Patricia Good, Donna P. Korn, Ann Murray and Laurie Rich Levinson from the board. (The panel also recommended the removal of a fifth board member, who has since been elected to the state Senate.) Although school board positions are nonpartisan, all elected officials that DeSantis removed are registered as Democratic voters. Several of his replacements worked in Republican politics.
“What country is this? What Governor DeSantis did is un-American and un-democratic,” Levinson said, according to the Miami Herald. “Because you may disagree with local policy decisions is not a reason to remove someone from elected office.”
Earlier this month, DeSantis also fired a Democratic county attorney elected for refusing to prosecute certain cases related to abortion and gender-affirmation care; the official has asked for his reinstatement.
DeSantis, who is seen as a possible contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has made a name for himself in conservative circles by intervening on issues such as the teaching of racial and LGBTQ issues in schools. Earlier this week, conservative candidates who support his education agenda won more than a dozen local contests.
The governor’s intervention “is very unusual,” said William Bainbridge, an expert on educational institutions in Florida. “My concern is whether the nefarious activity going on here is an excuse for Ron DeSantis to appoint like-minded people.”
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Family members of victims of the 2018 shooting applauded DeSantis for holding officials accountable. “They directly affected the decisions that led to a lack of discipline and allowed our children and spouses to be killed,” said Tony Montalto, president of Stand With Parkland, an advocacy group made up of victims’ families. “Not doing their job contributed to the deaths that occurred. … This is not political.”
After the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the Florida Supreme Court empaneled a grand jury at DeSantis’ request. The panel was asked to investigate whether school districts accepted state funds to improve safety measures without properly implementing them. The report found that promised projects were delayed and significantly more expensive in Broward County than the school board had originally estimated.
“Students continue to be educated in unsafe, aging, decrepit and moldy buildings that were supposed to have been renovated years ago,” the investigation found.
“District officials often act as if they have no interest in even knowing the reality of their schools, reminding us of nothing more than the proverbial herd of ostriches burying their heads to avoid facing reality ” the grand jury wrote.