On Friday (August 26), four members of the Broward County School Board were suspended by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis after reviewing a report about the Parkland school shooting by a grand jury.
Ann Murray, Donna Korn, Laurie Rich Levinson, and Patricia Good were the four board members suspended for “incompetence, neglect of duty, and misuse of authority” after DeSantis signed an executive order.
DeSantis replaced the four suspended board members with Torrey Alston, Manual “Nandy” A. Serrano, Ryan Reiter, and Kevin Tynan.
In a statement by DeSantis, the Florida Governor said, “It is my duty to suspend people from office when there is clear evidence of incompetence, neglect of duty, misfeasance or malfeasance.”
DeSantis pointed to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas School Safety Commission, stating the findings of the Commission was affirmed by the Statewide Grand Jury.
He also expressed gratitude for “the members of the jury who have dedicated countless hours to this mission and we hope this suspension brings the Parkland community another step towards justice.”
He added that the suspension “is in the best interest of the residents and students of Broward County and all citizens of Florida.”
Although the Twentieth State Grand Jury issued several reports, the final being 130-pages, focused on fraud and misuse that amounted to millions of dollars of state dollars.
Members of the Grand Jury noted that the report would “get very specific” and “name names… [and] point to specific acts on specific dates.”
The Grand Jury noted it would do this “in an effort to provide the taxpayers in these school districts with a clear picture of what is happening in their schools, who is causing it, and why.”