Broward schools hire former leak investigator
The Broward School Board hired a new security chief whose background includes investigating employees who divulged secrets at Google.
Brian Katz was recommended by Superintendent Robert Runcie for the newly created position of chief of safety, security and emergency preparedness. The School Board voted 7 to 1 to hire him after a 2 1⁄2-hour discussion Tuesday. Board member Lori Alhadeff voted no, saying the district failed to interview other qualified candidates. Board member Ann Murray was absent.
Katz will be paid $192,500 to oversee district safety efforts. According to his job description, he will oversee emergency preparations, risk management and school security officers. He will coordinate the placement of school resource officers with the Broward Sheriff’s Office and local police agencies. Katz is currently the CEO of Lighthouse Global Solutions, which provides business security services for the marijuana industry. From 2011 to 2017, he worked as director of personal protective services at Google, according to his resume. During that time, he was head of leak investigations, tracing how company
information made its way to the public. He will join a school district known for its secrecy. The South Florida Sun Sentinel has reported how the district made a persistent effort to keep people from finding out what went wrong in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre, which killed 17 people.
For months, the district delayed or withheld records, refused to publicly assess the role of employees, spread misinformation and even sought to jail reporters who published the truth.
One of the first — and few — investigations the school district launched was into who leaked academic records of the gunman.
But Katz, reached by phone Monday evening, said he doesn’t expect the job he would be doing to focus on leak investigations.
“There was not any talk of anything about leak investigations during my interview,” he said. “At Google, the focus was on intellectual property” and ensuring there was no information getting out that could create a competitive disadvantage for the company.
He said he doesn’t see that need at the school district. He said the school district was more interested in his work in physical security, including working from 2004 to 2010 as a special agent for the U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service division.
Before that, he spent two years as a special investigator for U.S. Investigations Services, which is contracted to do work for the federal government.
School district administrators praised Katz’s credentials particularly his expertise in risk management.
School Board members debated for two hours whether to hire him with the hesitancy coming from Alhadeff, Robin Bartleman and Nora Rupert. Their concern wasn’t his history of leak investigations but his lack of experience working in schools.
They also complained that their security consultant, Safe Havens International, wasn’t involved in the interview process. Bartleman said the idea for the new position came from Safe Havens. And they said several candidates they felt were more qualified appeared to be overlooked.
Alhadeff tried to postpone his hiring for a week, but other board members said the district often gets criticized for not moving fast enough on safety matters and recommended immediate action.
“I hear about a lack of urgency every day from certain people in the community,” board member Laurie Rich Levinson said. “To ask to delay is incomprehensible. We need to get this moving. This gentleman has outstanding credentials.”
Katz, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, said he grew up in Broward County and has a daughter in school locally. He said he’s excited about the job.
“I saw this as an incredible challenge to work on something [safety and security] everyone is trying to get right and focus on innovative approaches,” he said.