‘Evidence of incompetence’: Gov. DeSantis suspends 4 South Florida school board members

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended four Broward County school board members on Friday citing “evidence of incompetence.”

In a statement, the governor said he suspended Patricia Good, Donna Korn, Ann Murray and Laurie Rich Levinson following the recommendation of a grand jury reviewing the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.

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The governor’s office said the grand jury’s final report said a safety-related alarm that could have possibly saved lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School “was and is such a low priority 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.”

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“It is my duty to suspend people from office when there is clear evidence of incompetence, neglect of duty, misfeasance or malfeasance,” DeSantis said.

To replace the suspended school board members, DeSantis appointed the following members to the board:

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• Torey Alston, former commissioner of the Broward County Board of County Commissioners and president of Indelible Solutions;
• Manual “Nandy” A. Serrano, member of the Florida Sports Foundation board of directors, and CEO and founder of Clubhouse Private Wealth;
• Ryan Reiter, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and director of government relations for Kaufman Lynn Construction; and
• Kevin Tynan, attorney with Richardson and Tynan, who previously served on the Broward County School Board and South Broward Hospital District.

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