The superintendent of Broward County Public Schools has been arrested and charged with perjury, according to several reports.
“Broward County Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie was arrested Wednesday morning by Florida’s top law enforcement agency, according to records,” The Sun-Sentinel reported. “The sole charge is listed as perjury in an official proceeding.”
Runcie was taken into custody by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), a statewide agency.
He is accused of perjuring himself during a grand jury inquiry between the dates of March 31 and April 1.
FDLE has been handling a grand jury investigation into Broward County Public Schools’ safety practices since the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, which left 17 dead.
The grand jury is investigating whether the school district has refused to follow new safety mandates implemented after the mass shooting, whether it has committed fraud by knowingly mismanaging funds that were granted to the district for the purposes of school safety, and whether it has systematically underreported incidents of criminal activity within the district to the Department of Education.
FDLE has also expanded the scope of its investigation “to include corruption and mismanagement in district operations,” according to the Sun-Sentinel report.
According to WPLG, School Board attorney Barbara Myrick was also arrested. She has been charged with unlawful disclosure of statewide grand jury proceedings.
It is illegal to “knowingly and unlawfully [make] public, broadcast, disclose or communicate to another person outside the statewide grand jury room any of the proceedings” of a grand jury.
Earlier this year, Former Broward County Public Schools Chief Information Officer Tony Hunter was arrested for alleged bid rigging and bribery. Authorities say he gave a $17 million technology contract to a friend. He pleaded not guilty, and denies any wrongdoing.
Broward County has the sixth-largest school district in the country.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Florida Capital Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
