Replacement Broward School Board members begin duties
MIAMI - Starting Tuesday, four replacement Broward School Board members, appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis, will assume their duties.
For the time being, the selections will step in to act in the place of the board members DeSantis suspended August 26th through an executive order, following the findings of a scathing Grand Jury report.
Now, some of those who are contenders for the board seats in November are making their case for why they are the next person for the job.
"Our community wants students to come first again. Our students deserve better then what they have received from some Broward School Board members," said Dr. Allen Zeman.
He is in a runoff election against incumbent Donna Korn, who was one of four board members suspended.
In a press conference, Zeman received the backing of Parkland Mayor Richard Walker, Broward County Property Appraiser Lori Parrish, and current School Board member Lori Alhadeff.
"We had a previous superintendent, Mr. Runcie, and they did not hold him accountable for doing his job," said Alhadeff about the suspended members. "We have a SMART bond program that is grossly over budget by millions of dollars, and, as a school board member, it is our job to hold the superintendent accountable, and she didn't do that," she said in reference to Korn.
This comes after the findings of a 122-page Grand Jury report, which claims they "each committed malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, and incompetence" in regards to, what it calls, the "mismanagement the SMART Program, a multimillion-dollar bond for school safety initiatives."
The Governor said Friday: "The findings of the Statewide Grand Jury affirm the work of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas School Safety Commission. We are grateful to 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. This action is in the best interest of the residents and students of Broward County and all citizens of Florida."
Those suspended were Patricia Good, Donna Korn, Ann Murray, and Laurie Rich Levinson.
"Removing these board members lets us know we need to take care of business, but will it remedy what's going on? There are so many policies, procedures, and systems in place that have to be remedied, that it will take a lot more than just removing these four from office to do it," said Marie Murray Martin, daughter of suspended member Ann Murray.
She is running for her mother's seat, who was not seeking re-election. She said she will stand by the findings of the report, but believes there is more to look into.
"There's a lot of people who are responsible for what happened in that report," she said. "I think we need to take a more thorough look, which the Superintendent is doing right now."
Murray Martin's race will go to a runoff with Rodney Velez in November. Korn and Zeman's race is also headed to a runoff.
The Governor's replacements are Torey Alston, former Commissioner of the Broward County Board of County Commissioners and President of Indelible Solutions; Manual "Nandy" A. Serrano, member of the Florida Sports Foundation Board of Directors, and CEO and Founder of Clubhouse Private Wealth; Ryan Reiter, a U.S. Marine Corps Veteran and Director of Government Relations for Kaufman Lynn Construction; and Kevin Tynan, Attorney with Richardson and Tynan, who previously served on the Broward County School Board and South Broward Hospital District.