No swift firing likely after arrests of superintendent, attorney
The arrests of Broward County’s school superintendent and the district’s chief lawyer may not enough to get them fired, at least not without a big payout.
A majority of the School Board could fire Superintendent Robert Runcie and Chief Counsel Barbara Myrick under the terms of their contracts. But if board members want to avoid paying hefty severance packages, they’d have to fire them for good cause, which would require more than an arrest.
Their contracts say they can be removed without severance for being convicted of a crime. Board members also can use immorality, misconduct in office, incompetency, gross insubordination or willful neglect of duty to fire them. Otherwise, board members must fire them “without cause,” which entitles them to 20 weeks of severance pay.
Runcie makes $356,000 a year and would be entitled to $137,000
in severance. Myrick, who is paid $220,000 a year, would be in line for $84,615.
Runcie, 59, was arrested Wednesday on a charge of perjury before a statewide grand jury formed after the Parkland school shooting in 2018. Myrick, 72, was charged with leaking information about the grand jury’s proceedings. Both face third-degree felonies.
The School Board will discuss their cases during a meeting scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Board member Lori Alhadeff, whose daughter Alyssa was killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, tried to fire Runcie for cause in 2019, citing willful neglect of duty in his handling of Parkland, school safety measures and services for special needs students. The vote failed 6-3, with only board member Nora Rupert and then-board member Robin Bartleman siding with her.
The indictments provide no details regarding the circumstances of their arrests, making it difficult to assess how likely they are to win their cases, board members say. Runcie’s lawyers have alleged that his arrest was politically motivated, engineered by a grand jury appointed by a Republican governor.
“We have no evidence. We have no information to make any decisions on because we don’t know even what the actual charges are other than perjury,” board Chairwoman Rosalind Osgood, who has been a strong supporter of Runcie and Myrick, told NBC 6 Wednesday.
Debbi Hixon, who has been more critical of Runcie, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that she, too, would like to get more information about the arrests and the board’s options in order to make a decision.
Runcie’s chief of staff, Jeff Moquin, is filling in for Runcie through Friday and is expected to return to work Monday, School Board members say. Myrick has not named a designee, and it’s unclear if she has returned.
Moquin said an outside lawyer will review Runcie’s and Myrick’s contracts and attend the meeting Tuesday to answer questions.
Runcie and Myrick are due in court May 12 for their formal arraignment on the charges. They will appear before Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein.
On Thursday, Runcie’s attorney, Michael Dutko, filed a demand for “particulars” — information outlining exactly what Runcie alleged to have lied about in his testimony to the grand jury, which had been meeting from 2019 until just days ago.
Runcie’s alleged perjury came in testimony he gave to the grand jury on March 31 and April 1, according to his indictment. Myrick improperly shared grand jury information between March 31 and April 14, according to her indictment.
After an arrest, arraignment is one of the earliest steps in the prosecution process. The defendants routinely plead not guilty and the attorneys on both sides begin scheduling hearings and other court dates to determine witness lists, depositions and evidence that will be part of the case.