Newly elected Broward School Board members sworn in, elect new chair
FORT LAUDERDALE - Two returning Broward School Board members along with three new members were sworn in on Tuesday, but one newly elected member was not.
Rodney Velez, who was elected on November 8th, has dodged questions regarding his eligibility to serve due to a felony conviction, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
In 2020, his voting rights were restored, but that didn't guarantee other rights, including holding public office. Velez said he has to wait until the Clemency Board makes a decision and his lawyers were working on it.
A complaint has been forwarded to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement alleging Velez committed a felony by swearing in June he was qualified to run, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
Velez was at the ceremony but not sworn in.
The three other newly elected board members are Allen Zeman, Jeff Holness, and Brenda Fam. They join returning board members Nora Rupert and Lori Alhadeff who won re-election.
Holness was sworn in virtually since the person administering the oath of office could not be there in person.
The swearing in came after the previous board fired Superintendent Dr. Vicki Cartwright.
After the ceremony, the board held its first meeting. The first order of business was to appoint a new chair.
The new chair is Lori Alhadeff and the new vice chair is Debra Hixon. Both women lost loved ones in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
A big question that is looming is will the new board members decide to reinstate Cartwright.
"So one of the things that's very important to me is I have always said and always will say I am a woman of faith. I have lifted it up to prayer and whatever his will be, will be done," said Cartwright.
Cartwright wouldn't say much else about the matter other than keeping her faith through this time.
Fam, who received a standing ovation after getting sworn in by a cheering crowd hold signs that read "we need change," said the board needs to move forward.
"There's been so many mistakes that have been duplicated or covered up. Let's look the other way, or it doesn't really matter. No more. Accountability. And also transparency. I want them to hold our feet to the fire. We have to. We have to function not as a dysfunctional board but as an extraordinary board. We are playing catch up right now," she said.
In October, the previous board had given Cartwright 90 days to fix concerns they had. However, at a meeting a week ago, they went back on that and decided to take a vote to fire her.
The vote to terminate Cartwright came after members discussed audits that were critical of two district vendors. It was then that board member Daniel Foganholi made the surprise motion.
The vote was split between the five members appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis; Foganholi, Ryan Reiter, Kevin Tynan, Manuel "Nandy" Serrano, and Torey Alston, and the four elected members; Lori Alhadeff, Debbi Hixon, Sarah Leonardi and Nora Rupert who voted against it.
Four of the board members were appointed by DeSantis after a grand jury report identified mismanagement and possible corruption. The fifth member, Foganholi, was appointed by DeSantis to fill the seat vacated by Dr. Rosalind Osgood who is now a state senator.
Before the meeting of the new board got underway Alston, the former chair, said he stood by the comments he made about the ousting of Cartwright. He said he too is looking forward.