A grand jury finalized the report in April 2021, but it remained sealed while school board members named in the report opposed its release. Last week, the state Supreme Court denied a board member’s final appeal to have his name removed from the report, and the report went public.
As it happens, the publication of the report coincides with the sentencing of the shooter, Nicolas Cruz, who faces the death penalty or life in prison with no possibility of parole. His legal team began presenting sides in the case on Monday.
Two family members of those killed have been elected to school boards since the shooting. Lori, who lost her 14-year-old daughter Alyssa, Al-Hadef was elected in her 2018, and Debra Hickson, who lost Alyssa, was elected. The grand jury found Ms. Alhadev, Ms. Hickson, and her two other board members to be the school’s athletic directors, either because they performed their duties better or because they hadn’t been on the board for too long. I judged. district failure.
Earlier this month, DeSantis suspended Andrew H. Warren, the Democratic chief prosecutor elected in Hillsborough County, where Tampa is located, for vowing not to prosecute people who seek or offer abortions. It made national headlines for what it did. The suspension, which Warren is contesting in court, has shocked political commentators across the state. This is because criminal charges were not preceded, as there have been in the past with the suspension of elected officials.
In contrast, Mr. DeSantis’ action Friday to suspend a member of the Broward County School Board was not unexpected because of the recommendations of the grand jury report.
The governor also nominated four Republicans to replace the suspended board members. He named five Republicans to the board after appointing members to fill Mr. Osgood’s former seats in April. The board has now gone from nine Democratic women to a majority of Republican men. Electing conservatives to school boards was one of DeSantis’s priorities this year. Because the cultural battle in education is key to the Republican political movement.