DeSantis suspends 4 Broward school board members after grand jury safety report

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis this week suspended four members of the Broward County School Board after a grand jury report found that the members acted with "malfeasance" and "neglect of duty" in carrying out safety-related policies in the school district.

DeSantis had asked the state supreme court to convene the jury in early 2019 to review statewide school policies related to safety. The year before, gunman Nikolas Cruz had murdered 17 individuals at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. 

The grand jury finished its report in April 2021, though school board members fought against its release before losing this month. 

In an executive order announcing the suspensions, DeSantis said the grand jury found that four members of the school board "each committed malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, and incompetence" in managing a "multilmillion-dollar bond specifically solicited for school safety and renovation initiatives."

The grand jury's report determined that students in Broward County "continue to be educated in unsafe, aging, decrepit, moldy building that were supposed to have been renovated years ago" as part of a county improvement program. 

The order directs law enforcement to "ensure that no files, papers, documents, notes, records, computers or removable storage media" are taken by the suspended school board members upon their departure.