Slain student’s father picked for education board

Pollack hopes to accomplish ‘accountability’

The father of a student shot and killed during the Parkland school massacre has been appointed to the state Board of Education, Gov.

Rick Scott announced Friday evening.

For 52-year-old Andy Pollack, it is all about accountability.

“That word has haunted me since my daughter was murdered,” Pollack, of Coral Springs, said Friday night.

His daughter, Meadow, 18, a senior, was shot nine times during the Valentine’s Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Meadow ’s body was found in a third-floor hallway. She was lying on top of the body of 14-year-old freshman Cara Loughran, as if protecting her.

Pollack’s term on the board began Friday and ends Dec. 31, 2022. The appointment is subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.

Ex- st u d e n t Nikolas Cruz has confessed to killing 17 and wounding another 17 that day.

“What I hope to accomplish is accountability at a local level, to hold school boards accountable and superintendents accountable,” Pollack said.

Pollack has emerged as a politically outspoken voice since the shooting, advocating fiercely for school safety, and rubbing shoulders with powerful Republican politicians.

Among his other objectives, Pollack said, will be better pay for teachers and close scrutiny of how money for schools is spent.

Pollack, a property manager for Pollack Trust Rental Properties, was one of seven parents of students killed in school shootings across the nation featured on the cover of Time magazine last month.

Pollack met with President Donald Trump numerous times last year and even celebrated Hanukkah with him at the White House.

Pollack has also frequently appeared at Gov. Scott’s side at official government events and political gatherings.

In April, when Scott formally announced his Senate candidacy in Orlando, Pollack was there, standing immediately behind him. Pollack also was featured in a television ad stumping for Scott’s successful election to the U.S. Senate.

“We developed a relationship over the last 10 months and he knows what I’m capable of doing,” Pollack said of the outgoing governor’s confidence in him.

Pollack