MIAMI – The Superintendent of the Broward County, Florida public school district was arrested Wednesday as part of an extensive criminal investigation that began in the tumultuous months following the mass shooting at a Parkland high school.
Robert W. Runcie, the superintendent, was charged with perjury, a felony, for lying to a grand jury set up to investigate “possible failures in complying with school-related safety laws and mismanagement of funds solicited for school safety initiatives.” , according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Authorities also arrested Barbara J. Myrick, the district’s general counsel. She was charged with unlawful disclosure of statewide grand jury proceedings, which is also a felony. Both Mr. Runcie, 59, and Mrs. Myrick, 72, were released shortly after being incarcerated in prison.
The two high-profile arrests are the latest turmoil surrounding Broward County’s top leaders since the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that killed 17 students and staff and injured 17 others in 2018, sparking a national wave of activism to curb guns. . violence. Florida tightened gun laws and enacted school safety requirements after the shooting – and allowed some teachers to carry guns in school.
In Broward County, the shooting cast a long shadow over the sheriff’s office for its failed response to the massacre, and the school district for how it had previously dealt with the suspect, Nikolas Cruz, a former student of Stoneman Douglas, and other students with disturbing behavior in school. (Mr. Cruz is in prison awaiting trial for capital murder.)
In a statement, lawyers for Mr. Runcie said he would plead not guilty and would continue to exercise his role as overseer. They said that Mr. Runcie had “fully cooperated” with law enforcement during the grand jury’s investigation, and that the charges against him “do not shed any light on what false statement allegedly made.”
“It’s a sad day in Broward County and across Florida when politics becomes more important than the interests of our students,” said the lawyers.
Mrs. Myrick did not respond to a request for comment.
The families of some of the victims of the school shooting have sued the sheriff’s office and the school district, claiming negligence and possibly seeking millions of dollars in damages. Some families also led a failed attempt to get Mr. Runcie fired. The school board now numbers two relatives of victims: Lori Alhadeff, who lost her 14-year-old daughter Alyssa, and Debra Hixon, who lost her husband Christopher, who had been Stoneman Douglas’ athletic director.
Tony Montalto, the president of Stand With Parkland, a group of single families, said in a statement Wednesday that the families were grateful for the work of the grand jury.
“The grand jury is doing its job by holding those responsible for the safety of our children and staff to account,” said Mr. Montalto, who lost his 14-year-old daughter Gina in the shooting. “We know Mr. Runcie’s poor leadership contributed to the Parkland tragedy.”
Former Sheriff Scott J. Israel, a Democrat, was removed from office by Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, shortly after the governor took office in 2019. Mr. Israel ran to sheriff again last year, losing to Gregory Tony, who was Mr. DeSantis had appointed to take the place of Lord Israel.
Aside from his investigation into the school district, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is also investigating Sheriff Tony, according to court records. That investigation stems from revelations during last year’s campaign that Mr. Tony, a Democrat, had shot a man as a teenager in Philadelphia and lied about an affidavit to become a sheriff.
Broward County Public Schools, the nation’s sixth largest district, has a long history of mismanagement and corruption scandals, many of which are linked to the construction of schools. More than a decade ago, a school board member was in prison after taking bribes from undercover agents posing as contractors.
The latest arrests concern a grand jury born after Mr. DeSantis requested it in February 2019.
As the one-year anniversary of one of the darkest days in Florida history approaches, it is clear that there is still more to be done, he said in a statement at the time.
A state commission has also investigated the shooting and has continued to meet periodically.
In January, authorities arrested Tony Hunter, the district’s former Chief Information Officer. The grand jury, which is based in Broward County, accused him of sabotaging bids and unlawful compensation from a government official after he was charged with sending a $ 17 million technology contract to a friend. He pleaded not guilty.
The Grand Jury was ordered to investigate possible misconduct in school districts statewide, even if the refusal or failure to comply with school safety laws would endanger students; when districts have committed fraud by accepting government funds that depend on security measures without introducing them; and when districts have diverted funds from school safety bonds for other purposes.
The grand jury was also given the authority to investigate where districts “systematically under-report” incidents of criminal activity in schools, a claim made by some parents of Parkland students after the shooting. Mr. Runcie, who was hired by the school board in 2011, was in favor of ending the so-called zero tolerance policy that resulted in the suspension and exclusion of many colored students.