Governor Ron DeSantis has ousted four elected members of a school board in Florida over a damning grand jury report into the Valentine’s Day 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
The governor filed an executive order on Friday suspending Patricia Good, Donna Korn, Ann Murray and Laurie Rich Levinson from Broward County School Board with immediate effect, accusing them of fraud and mismanagement.
“It is my duty to suspend people from office when there is clear evidence of incompetence, neglect of duty, misfeasance or malfeasance,” he said in a press release announcing the suspensions.
Mr DeSantis said that the move marks a “step towards justice” for the Parkland community and is “in the best interest of the residents and students of Broward County and all citizens of Florida”.
The statewide grand jury released its long-awaited report into the Parkland mass shooting on Friday, finding that the four officials displayed “deceit, malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty and incompetence” in their handling of a campus safety program.
Its investigation into the events surrounding that day found that a simple safety alarm could have saved lives but that it hadn’t been installed at the high school as of 14 February 2018.
Even now, more than four years on, the grand jury found that the alarms continue to be uninstalled at many schools across the county.
“Students continue to be educated in unsafe, aging, decrepit, moldy buildings that were supposed to have been renovated years ago,” read the 122-page report.
The grand jury, which was launched in 2019, in the aftermath of the attack, called on the governor to remove the officials from office.
It also cited a fifth person – Rosalind Osgood – but she no longer works on the school board. Ms Osgood is now a member of the Florida state Senate.
The Florida governor, who is rumoured to be planning a 2024 White House run, appointed Torey Alston, Manual “Nandy” Serrano, Ryan Reiter and Kevin Tynan to replace the four suspended board members.
Ms Levinson, the board’s chairwoman, condemned the report calling it a “political hatchet job” orchestrated by Mr DeSantis.
“What country is this? What Governor DeSantis did is un-American and undemocratic. He doesn’t care about democracy and overturned the will of the voters,” she told CNN.
“This is all about political retribution for not firing Superintendent Runcie. It’s about blaming the Superintendent, and any school board members who supported him, for the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting. All four board members were elected by the people multiple times, including post tragedy. My heart will always go out to all the families and community.
“Because you may disagree on local policy decisions is not a reason to remove someone from elected office…. This action is authoritarian-like and has no place in the United States of America where the voters decide who represents them.”
Broward public schools superintendent Robert Runcie resigned from his position last year after he was indicted on charges of lying to the grand jury during its probe. He is currently awaiting trial on the charges.
This marks just the latest official elected by the people of Florida that Mr DeSantis has ousted from their roles this month.
State prosecutor Andrew Warren was removed from office by the governor after he said he would refuse to enforce laws banning abortion and critical gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
Mr Warren responded by suing the governor.
The move comes at the same time that the sentencing trial of the Parkland gunman is under way in a courthouse in Broward County.
Nikolas Cruz was 19 and a former student at the school when he entered the freshman building armed with an AR-15 and carried out one of the worst school shootings in American history.
In October, he pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder.
A jury will now decide whether he is sentenced to life in prison without parole for his crimes or sentenced to death.
