Officials backtrack on Cruz discipline history

The Broward County School District now says that gunman Nikolas Cruz was once referred to a program that provides alternatives to arrests, contradicting earlier statements made by Superintendent Robert Runcie.

School district spokeswoman Tracy Clark said in a statement that, on Friday, the district analyzed data and confirmed that while Cruz attended Westglades Middle in Parkland in 2013, he was referred to the district’s Promise program for a charge of vandalism or destruction of property of less than $1,000. The offense happened in a school restroom, officials said.

Critics of the program say it’s part of a culture of lax discipline that allowed Cruz to escape arrests and easily buy an AR-15 rifle that he used for the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, where

he killed 17 and wounded 17 others.

While the district has been closed-lipped about most aspects of the Cruz investigation, Runcie had repeatedly said Cruz was not part of the Promise program. On Monday night, after some accused Runcie of lying, the superintendent said he thought the information he had initially given was correct.

“I don’t think anyone gave me misleading information,” Runcie said. “I gave the best information I had at the time. Maybe I should have qualified it further. That’s a mistake I made. But it was done trying to be as transparent as possible.”

The Promise program was rolled out in 2013 after statistics showed the district was arresting far more black students than others for the same crimes.

The district also had the highest arrest rates in the state. Students with certain misdemeanor offenses like vandalism, disorderly conduct and fighting were allowed to enroll in Promise and receive psychological and behavioral help rather than going to jail.

It was touted as a success, with a sharp drop in kids getting arrested and an increase in graduation rates. The program started receiving scrutiny shortly after the Stoneman Douglas tragedy, particularly among conservatives who disagreed with the focus by Runcie and many Parkland students on gun control.

Many questioned why Cruz was able to buy a gun, despite reports by the Broward Sheriff’s Office that he threatened on Instagram to shoot up a school and claims by students that he brought knives and ammunition to school. They attributed it to a lenient discipline culture in the district.

With the referral to the Promise program, Cruz was scheduled to attend Pine Ridge Alternative Center in Fort Lauderdale.

However, “while our records indicate that Cruz underwent an intake interview/process at Pine Ridge on November 26, 2013, it does not appear that Cruz completed the recommended three-day assignment/placement,” Clark said.

Clark said the school district still was reviewing records to find out why Cruz was referred to the Promise program but didn’t complete it.

School discipline records obtained by the South Florida Sun Sentinel show Cruz continuously got into trouble at Westglades Middle.

Cruz was suspended for using profanity, disobeying staff and being disruptive. His record also includes fighting, vandalism, bringing prohibited items to school and breaking rules on the bus. At times, he committed two infractions on the same day. The documents don’t include details of the incidents.

The district has a system of escalating consequences for each type of violation. But viewed chronologically, Cruz’s history shows him zigzagging between serving in-school suspensions of varying days, then out-of-school suspensions — only to return later to face detention or more suspensions of different degree and type.

From May 2012 to January 2014, Cruz was suspended at Westglades for at least 67 days, 28 of them out of school, discipline records show. He was suspended at Stoneman Douglas for six days between February 2016 and January 2017.

Finally, in February 2014, Cruz left Westglades and started attending Cross Creek, a school in Pompano Beach for students with emotional and behavioral disorders.

A psychiatrist’s memo written shortly before Cruz started at Cross Creek said he had difficulty at Westglades following rules and often was “disruptive by screaming, using profanity and making sexual gestures. He is defiant of authority and destructive of property.”

It was while at Westglades that he was referred to the program called Promise, an acronym for Preventing Recidivism through Opportunities, Mentoring, Interventions, Support & Education.

Students who complete Promise avoid being arrested. Cruz never was arrested, despite not completing the program.

Runcie said at a news conference Feb. 28 that Cruz had no connection to the program.

“This particular individual was never a participant in the Promise program. He wasn’t eligible for it,” Runcie said at the time. “There’s no connection between Cruz and the district’s Promise program.”

The school district’s acknowledgment that Cruz was referred to the program came as a shock to Ryan Petty, whose 14-year-old daughter, Alaina Petty, was killed in the shooting.

“I was stunned. The assumption I was making along with everyone else is that he had not been part of the program,” Petty said Monday night, adding that it raises questions about the district’s honesty on other matters related to the investigation. “It was never about the Promise program. It’s about the actions and inaction of the School Board and the lack of oversight of the administration.”

On Monday night, Runcie said he thought the previous information was correct then.

He said the district at that time had reviewed only Cruz’s records from Stoneman Douglas and Cross Creek, where he attended for part of his middle school years.

“Our district’s and superintendent Runcie’s previous comments were an honest effort to respond with what was believed at the time to be correct information,” Clark said. “The district has now learned new details — and that information is being shared — proof of the district’s ongoing commitment to transparency.”

School Board member Rosalind Osgood said she was told that the change was made by the committee at Westglades who reviewed the Individual Education Plan that Cruz received as a special-needs student. The committee often includes teachers, a special education coordinator, an administrator and the child’s parent.

Cruz was described in public documents as having several conditions, including emotional and behavior disorders and autism.

“It’s my understanding that his IEP committee determined not to place him in Promise,” Osgood said. “The committee has the right to alter how you progress if they think another means would be better for you.”

She said she didn’t know what alternate discipline Cruz may have received.

Clark said she couldn’t confirm that. She said the district is reviewing records to determine whether the change was made by a school administrator or the team that worked on Cruz’s education plan.

She said the facts should be known early next month after a Tallahassee consultant completes an independent review of Cruz’s history in the district, which Runcie asked for March 6. “Rather than speculate about the possible reasons for his not returning, we feel it’s important to wait until we have the facts associated with his specific circumstances,” Clark said.

Osgood said the district needs to clarify where the information came from that Cruz had no involvement in the program. She said she thinks Runcie received incorrect information.

“If you don’t have accurate information going to the superintendent and board, we live in a culture where you’re automatically accused of lying or hiding something,” she said. “I know that was not my intent, and I don’t think it was Mr. Runcie’s intent.”

Meanwhile, a panel of speakers all voiced support for the Promise program at a meeting Monday night at Piper High in Sunrise.

They emphasized that the program isn’t for felonies, which are still handled by law enforcement.

“It’s not about ignoring bad behavior. It’s about addressing it appropriately,” said Maria Schneider, a Broward assistant state attorney in charge of the juvenile division. “It’s to not over-criminalize minor behavior that could potentially affect the rest of a child’s life when there are better and more appropriate ways to deal with it.”

Gordon Weekes, chief assistant public defender, said, “We have to create an environment that allows children to make mistakes so they aren’t outcasts who are never able to re-enter society.”

Runcie,