Official faces firing

He had an affair, exploited position, inquiry finds

A Broward County school administrator could be fired Tuesday after an investigation found he exploited his position while having an extramarital affair with another district employee.

The School Board will decide whether to uphold Superintendent Robert Runcie’s recommendation to terminate Israel Canales, who was hired in 1990. His attorney did not immediately return a call for comment.

Canales has overseen operations at the K.C. Wright administrative headquarters in Fort Lauderdale and frequently drove Runcie to events throughout the area. He is paid $88,095 per year.

Canales in 2015 had an affair with community liaison Cristy Cofer, and gave her a prime parking spot at work and allowed her to use his office during their relationship, according to Runcie’s complaint.

He spent several hours with Cofer in a hotel room paid for by the district at an event he was working and used his district-issued credit card to secure a hotel room on another occasion, according to the complaint. The charges to that card were subsequently reimbursed.

When Canales wanted to end the relationship, he and his co-worker, security director Jerry Archie, told Cofer that Runcie had hired