Broward schools PR chief under district probe for Runcie rally
A top-level Broward schools administrator is under school district investigation for organizing a rally for former Superintendent Robert Runcie during school hours on school district property after he was arrested on a felony charge.
The review of Chief Communications Officer Kathy Koch’s actions will be conducted by the district’s Special Investigative Unit, Interim Superintendent Vickie Cartwright told the South Florida Sun Sentinel Friday morning.
The move comes after prosecutors with the state Attorney General’s Office revealed this week in court documents that Koch had been subpoenaed about her aggressive but secret attempt to save her former boss’s job after he was indicted on a perjury charge.
Her efforts, detailed in notes she wrote to herself, were first reported in a Sun Sentinel story on July 18.
A transcript of her July 29 interview with state prosecutors and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is included in evidence prosecutors sent to Runcie’s lawyers in his criminal case.
“I have not read the (attorney general’s) report so I can’t comment about what’s in it. I can tell you there is an investigation underway.” Cartwright said Friday morning.
Koch will remain in her current role for now during the investigation, Cartwright said, declining to give more details.
Koch could not be reached for comment Thursday or Friday, despite attempts by email and phone. Runcie’s cellphone had been disconnected, and his lawyers couldn’t be reached for comment.