DeSantis appointee ousted as Broward School Board chair; Parkland parent replaces him
The Broward School Board’s political allegiances changed Tuesday morning when the board elected incumbent Lori Alhadeff as board chair, replacing Torey Alston, a Gov. Ron DeSantis appointee who was elected chair in August.
The vote was 6-2, with incumbents Alhadeff (District 4), Debra Hixon (Countywide At-Large Seat 9), Sarah Leonardi (District 3) and Nora Rupert (District 7) joined by new board members Allen Zeman (Countywide At-Large Seat 8) and Jeff Holness (District 5) in voting for Alhadeff.
Alston (District 2) and new board member Brenda Fam (District 6) dissented. Fam motioned to keep Alston as chair, but that became moot when Alhadeff, who was reelected in the Aug. 23 primary with 61 percent of the vote, was elected chair.
“I believe we are the new school board that can set a new path forward to bring leadership, integrity, healing, stabilization, and respect back to this board,” Alhadeff said amid a wave of applause. “Don’t get me wrong: We have a lot of work to do. And I know we might not always agree on items, but I know we’re all here with our hearts and our minds laser focused on the success of our students.”
The new board also elected Hixon as vice chair unanimously in a voice vote.
Both Alhadeff and Hixon lost loved ones in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland. Alhadeff’s 14-year-old daughter Alyssa was killed, as was Hixon’s husband, Chris, the school’s athletic director and wrestling coach.
READ MORE: ‘We’re at risk as an independent school system,’ new Broward school board member warns
Board to decide whether to rehire Cartwright
One of the board’s first decisions will be to decide whether to rehire Broward Superintendent Vickie Cartwright, whom the board hired as superintendent in February as the district’s first woman superintendent.
Late last Monday, the board voted 5-4 to oust Cartwright after an audit revealed two vendors overcharged the district and parents at least $1.4 million, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported earlier this month.
The five who voted for her termination were the five board members whom DeSantis had appointed: Alston, Kevin Tynan, Ryan Reiter, Manuel Serrano and Daniel Foganholi.
DeSantis appointed Alston, Tynan, Reiter and Serrano in August when he suspended four sitting board members: Former board chair Laurie Rich Levinson, former vice chair Patricia Good and longtime board members Donna Korn and Ann Murray
DeSantis removed the four after a statewide grand jury recommended their removal over what the grand jury report said was mismanagement of the district’s $800 million school construction bond issue, which has ballooned to more than $1 billion.
READ MORE: DeSantis suspends four Broward County School Board members, appoints replacements
DeSantis appointed Foganholi in April to replace Rosalind Osgood, who resigned to run for state Senate and is now in the state Legislature.
After the Nov. 8 election, the only one of the five DeSantis appointees who remains on the board is Alston, whose District 2 seat is not up for election until 2024.
Shortly before the board’s closed session, Alhadeff said she hasn’t spoken with board members on whether they will decide to keep Cartwright as superintendent.
“I don’t know what their thoughts or feelings are on the superintendent,” she said. “Whether this new board wants to take a different direction, we haven’t had the opportunity to have that conversation yet.”
Alhadeff cast the only dissenting vote in February when the board voted 8-1 to hire Cartwright as superintendent.
Meeting to fire Cartwright was ‘rushed,’ new board chair says
Alhadeff noted that the board’s meeting to fire Cartwright — which happened around 10 p.m. last Monday — was “rushed” and believed the firing wasn’t in accordance the state’s sunshine law.
The law mandates that the school board, as a governmental body, posts on its agenda items it intends to discuss at its board meeting. In the case of Cartwright’s termination, the board had posted an item related to the audit, not an item related to Cartwright’s possible firing.
Courts have ruled that items not properly noticed by a governmental body have to be thrown out and redone.
Cartwright’s contract mandates that she receive a 60-day notice of termination, so she will stay on for at least two months. She’s also entitled to severance pay totaling 20 weeks of her $350,000 salary, plus any unused sick and vacation days, per her contract.
Earlier Tuesday, Alhadeff, Rupert, and three newly elected board members — Zeman, Holness and Fam — were sworn in, replacing the four DeSantis appointees.
Velez comments after not being sworn in
Rodney “Rod” Velez was also elected on Nov. 8, but not sworn in Tuesday due to issues about whether he can hold office after he was convicted in 1995 of aggravated battery, a second-degree felony. He was 24 at the time. Amendment 4, passed by voters in 2018, restored the rights of most Florida felons if they served time and paid their fines.
But Marie Murray Martin, who lost to Velez in the District 1 race by a 52-to-48 percent margin, sued Velez, the Broward Supervisor of Elections and Alston, alleging Velez is not qualified to hold office as he did not get an executive pardon or clemency to get his civil rights restored.
In the public comments during the meeting, Velez walked up to the podium, congratulated the board members and said he plans to remain involved whatever the outcome of the board seat.
“I’ve got two kids in this public school system. I’ve got skin in this game,” Velez said. “So regardless of whatever happens to me, I’m still going to be around. You’re not gonna get rid of me. My voice will be heard. We’ve got a lot to do, and let’s do this.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2022 at 1:41 PM.
