Governor Ron DeSantis has suspended four Broward County School Board members from office, citing a statewide grand jury investigation made public on August 19 that alleged “acts of incompetence ad neglect of duty .”
In a press release Friday, DeSantis announced he had removed from office Board Chair Laurie Rich Levinson, Board Vice Chair Patricia Good and Board Members Donna Korn and Ann Murray — effective immediately.
The decision comes just days after Korn won the plurality of votes in a reelection bid, advancing to a runoff in November against business consultant Allen Zeman.
The grand jury investigation was launched in February 2019 at the request of DeSantis and came one year after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
The probe was meant to examine whether school districts were failing to follow state laws in a way that endangered school safety — and whether they were misusing public funds relating to school safety initiatives.
“It is my duty to suspend people from office when there is clear evidence of incompetence, neglect of duty, misfeasance or malfeasance,” DeSantis said in a written statement.
“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,” he said. “This action is in the best interest of the residents and students of Broward County and all citizens of Florida.”
DeSantis appointed four people to replace the board members:
- 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
- Kevin Tynan, Attorney with Richardson and Tynan, who previously served on the Broward County School Board and South Broward Hospital District
DeSantis has now appointed a majority of the members of the elected school board in one of the state’s most Democratic-leaning counties.
In April 2022 , he appointed Daniel Foganholi to replace out-going member Rosalind Osgood, who was elected to the State Senate. The grand jury had also recommended that Osgood be removed from her position as a school board member.
The board will also now be majority male when just months ago , it was entirely made up of women.
Editor’s Note: this is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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