Report: Officials fumbled Parkland shooter’s request

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.— A report released Friday suggests the Broward County School District mishandled the case of student Nikolas Cruz, the Parkland school shooter, during his final two years in school.

Cruz had requested to return to the special education program in the Broward schools, the report reveals for the first time, and the district did not respond properly.

As he awaits trial, questions swirl about whether school employees did everything they could — and everything legally required — to prevent the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

A consultant, Collaborative Educational Network of Tallahassee, found that the school district largely followed the policies and laws in place when educating Cruz, but it failed on two occasions.

Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer ordered the 46-page report released Friday. Much of the content was blacked out at the school district’s request, apparently including any details that would explain the district’s mistakes.

The report suggests the district did not follow laws or policies in place when school employees attempted to transfer Cruz, then a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, back to a special education campus.

Cruz refused and removed himself from the special education program. The report reveals for the first time that at some point afterward, he changed his mind and asked that his special education services be restored. The district did not respond properly to his request, the report says.

Cruz’s attorneys said the report is a “whitewash” commissioned by the school district to absolve it of responsibility for how it handled Cruz’s complex psychological problems.