Tragedy gives school board race new focus

The coming school board election could set a new course for Broward schools after months of rebuke, largely the result of the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February.

Five of the board’s nine seats are open, meaning a new majority could take control. Fifteen candidates — including two parents whose children were killed in the shootings — qualified for the ballot before the deadline Friday.

A new majority could push changes in security, discipline, finances and hiring — all issues that have brought the district criticism.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel has reported that a culture of tolerance in Broward schools has allowed some students, including Stoneman Douglas shooter Nikolas Cruz, to escape severe punishment for behavior that could be criminal. The newspaper also revealed that many crimes at schools never get reported to the state as required.

Many families blame the school board, which has faced a tumultuous series of meetings since the Feb. 14 shootings, which killed 17 students and faculty and in-

jured 17 more. The families criticize the board for an ineffective response and say the board has focused on Stoneman Douglas to the detriment of other campuses.

Superintendent Robert Runcie has been the focus of ire for huge cost overruns in the district’s school renovation program, funded mostly with an $800 million bond referendum approved by voters in 2014.

The School Board election will be Aug. 28. If one candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, that candidate wins that seat. If not, the top two vote-getters go onto the ballot for Nov. 6.

Some School Board candidates announced their plans to run before the shootings, while others were motivated by what they saw as a failure to take security precautions before Feb. 14 and to take responsibility afterward.

“On Valentine’s Day, my life was changed forever when my daughter was murdered at Stoneman Douglas High School,” said Lori Alhadeff, mother of Alyssa.

Alhadeff, 43, a former teacher in New Jersey, is running for the seat being vacated by board member Abby Freedman, who decided not to run again. Alhadeff will face two challengers: Michael Joseph Kottler and Tennille DoeDecoste, whose son’s best friend, Joaquin Oliver, was killed.

“Joaquin was like a son to me, and my son is like a son to the Olivers,” said DoeDecoste, 41, whose three children have attended Stoneman Douglas.

Ryan Petty, whose daughter, Alaina, was killed, is running for an at-large seat held by School Board member Donna Korn. Also running in that race is Elijah Manley, 19.

“Every parent in Broward County deserves to have their child come home to them safely,” Petty said last month.

In District 7, which includes Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach and Coconut Creek, school board chair Nora Rupert faces two challengers, Hubert St. Clair and Mike Olbel.

District 6 incumbent Laurie Rich Levinson will face Richard A. Mendelson. That district includes Weston, Cooper City and Davie.

Incumbent Ann Murray faces the largest field, with three challengers. They are Natalia Garceau, Veronica Newmeyer and Jim Silvernale. The district includes Hollywood, Hallandale Beach and Dania Beach.

A new majority could push changes in security, discipline, finances and hiring.