Sources: School Board Member Being Probed
BY BUDDY NEVINS
State investigators are looking into a School Board member for misuse of power, according to several sources.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents have questioned numerous witnesses in the preliminary stages of a potentially wide ranging probe, sources say.
Agents have yet to determine whether the Board member broke any criminal laws. Or whether the member is just over zealous and innocently crossed the boundaries of proper conduct.
The investigators are acting on complaints that the Board member has been:
* Interfering in the administration of schools.
One allegation concerns a coach who allegedly made improper sexual comments to students. The Board member is accused of “protecting” the coach by interjecting themselves into the situation, according to one source.
There are other allegations concerning the Board member allegedly calling principals about teachers and students.
* Interfering in business relationships by telling prospective customers not to finalize purchases of houses because of an alleged shortage of school facilities in the area. This is alleged to be an attempt to squeeze more money out of developers for schools.
“I can see where this type of conduct could be construed as racketeering. It’s like telling a store owner, ‘This is a very dangerous neighborhood unless you play ball with me,’” one lawyer and source told Browardbeat.
Several sources say principals and the official of a development company have been questioned over the past month,. The questioning was described as informal and preliminary at this point, with at least one set of interviews taking place in a restaurant rather than an office with a court reporter.
News that investigators are active again in Broward sent the higher ups at the School Board into bunker mode.
“They are panicking that if this comes out, it will damage chances of a bond issue,” one source said.
Superintendent Robert Runcie, who is pushing for a huge bond referendum as early as next year, could not be reached for comment.
November 15th, 2013 at 10:17 am
Buddy, I have noticed that you often misuse the word developer when speaking about construction companies or construction contracts in the public sector. Developers rarely are given turn key projects with public agencies. In Broward, the government agency is most often the developer that contracts a construction firm to do the work.
FROM BUDDY:
This story concerns a home developer, not someone who are “given turn key projects with public agencies.”
November 15th, 2013 at 10:20 am
Crossed the “boundaries” of proper conduct —
How punny of you Buddy.
November 15th, 2013 at 1:43 pm
This can only be one board member – Freedman.
November 15th, 2013 at 2:45 pm
Here it goes again. Interference with schools and developers, contractors and sub-contractors is exactly what the Grand Jury said was wrong with the Broward School Board.
November 15th, 2013 at 8:17 pm
And they want a bond on the ballot next year?
Try it.
November 16th, 2013 at 12:53 pm
All the school board members need to be investigated. They all interfere in the day to day operations of the school system. The staff at KCW spends the majority of their time dealing with board member requests.
The district needs to go back to county wide election of board members.
Maybe the State needs to come in and run the district.
November 18th, 2013 at 1:14 pm
I wonder if the Abby Wagon…I mean, Paddy Wagon, is going to be coming to town soon for one of the SB Members.
And don’t play this off as “innocent overreach” — Buddy, you wrote very eloquently about the Grand Jury’s conclusions about SB members butting in and micromanaging the day to day activities of the district a few weeks ago.
This “unnamed” SB Member allegedly being “probed” should know where the line is, and if she’s repeatedly crossing it, she should be removed from her position.
Misfeasance, malfeasance, dereliction of duty, or criminal conduct — all grounds for suspension of a government official. Which of these has this SB member engaged in, and do we need all of them before action gets taken?
November 24th, 2013 at 3:31 pm
The School Board is too large for ethics. So it iis too large for it’s primary mission: the education of children. Our children read this stuff and poor examples or worse is what they see as adults in charge! No wonder.