Syndicated with permission via Valiant News| Tom Pappert| Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has suspended four members of the Broward County School Board following the recommendation of a grand jury, which cited their “incompetence, neglect of duty, and misuse of authority” when making its decision.
Broward County, a Democratic stronghold in a Republican leaning state, is also home to Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 lives were lost in a 2018 school shooting.
The jury found that the school board was negligent in protecting students at the high school from harm, according to Floridian Press, which reported that the jury found that an alarm that could have saved lives “was and is such a low priority” for the school board “that it remains uninstalled at multiple schools,” and “students continue to be educated in unsafe, aging, decrepit, moldy buildings that were supposed to have been renovated years ago.”
Through his office, DeSantis announced that Broward School Board Members Patricia Good, Donna Korn, Ann Murray, and Laurie Rich Levinson will be immediately suspended from office.
“It is my duty to suspend people from office when there is clear evidence of incompetence, neglect of duty, misfeasance or malfeasance,” said DeSantis.
GREAT NEWS. When public officials are derelict in their duties, Governor DeSantis holds them accountable. https://t.co/hfRJY2uhkl
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) August 26, 2022
roward County is the second most populous county in Florida, and boasted almost 2 million residents in the 2020 census. The county’s median household income was $60,922.
The county holds 596,791 registered members of the Democratic Party and 262,945 members of the Republican Party.
DeSantis fired Soros-backed prosecutor Andrew Warren, accusing him of flagrantly violating his oath of office.
“You have neglected your duty, and you are displaying a lack of confidence to be able to perform those duties,” said the governor in a press conference.
“We are not going to allow this pathogen that’s been around the country of ignoring the law, we are not going to allow that to get a foothold in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said. “We are going to make sure that our laws are enforced and that no individual prosecutor puts himself above the law.”
Prosecutors have a duty to enforce the law, not pick and choose which laws they agree with.
The State Attorney for the 13th Judicial Circuit, Andrew Warren, has instituted nonenforcement policies and has declared that he will refuse to enforce laws he doesn’t like. pic.twitter.com/EbSbCRrLHa
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) August 4, 2022