School system not faulted

Assistant Public Defender Erin Veit talks with school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz during a hearing Friday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

psychological problems. Scherer said all of Cruz’s actual educational records are among 27 pages of redacted material exempt from disclosure.

Attorneys for media organizations argued the report had to be disclosed under Florida’s broad publicrecords laws.

Cruz, 19, faces the death penalty if convicted of 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The report focused on two instances during Cruz’s schooling in which state law or the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was not followed. These involved a requirement that consent be obtained from either a parent or an adult student before

placement in an alternative school and an improper response by school officials when Cruz requested special services after having them revoked several months earlier.

The exact details of these violations were not provided, but the report makes recommendations on such things as training to make sure the proper procedures are followed and considering “all possible scenarios” in what can be emotionally charged meetings. A number of other general recommendations for improvement of the handling of students like Cruz were also listed.

Defense attorney David Frankel said the independent report appears crafted to defend against civil claims filed by victims’ families, by attempting to show that Cruz’s

mental problems did not rise to a level that caused great concern.

School board attorney Debra Klauber said officials there believe the report is public record that should be released but took no position on its implications for Cruz’s trial. Media attorney Dana McElroy said it does not qualify for any of the exemptions that apply in a criminal case.

The Cruz school report is the latest of several court battles involving media organizations, the school board, prosecutors and defense lawyers over release of evidence and other material related to the mass shooting. Previous requests to unseal video showing the law enforcement response outside the school and Cruz’s post-arrest statement to detectives are under appeal.