Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has suspended four school board officials in Broward County after reviewing the grand jury investigation into the Parkland school shooting.
The shooting took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.
In an executive order, DeSantis followed the recommendation of the grand jury and suspended Patricia Good, Donna Korn, Ann Murray and Laurie Rich Levinson.
The order asserted that the sheriff’s office will accompany them to retrieve their belongings from the school board building.
“It is my duty to suspend people from office when there is clear evidence of incompetence, neglect of duty, misfeasance or malfeasance,” said Governor DeSantis in a statement. “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.”
DeSantis’ office said that the final report of the Grand Jury found that a safety-related alarm that could have possibly saved lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School “was and is such a low priority that it remains uninstalled at multiple schools,” and “students continue to be educated in unsafe, aging, decrepit, moldy buildings that were supposed to have been renovated years ago.”
On Tuesday, the majority of DeSantis-endorsed school board candidates won their elections — flipping several counties that were previously led by liberals.
Out of the 30 school board candidates the governor endorsed as being “committed to the student-first principles of the DeSantis Education Agenda,” 21 of them won. Four will be heading to runoff elections and just five have lost.
Two of the largest districts, Miami and Jacksonville, both now have conservative majority school boards.
The full grand jury report can be found here.
