Broward Schools Superintendent Vickie Cartwright exits the Kathleen C. Wright Administration Center after Florida Gov.Ron DeSantis suspended four Broward County School Board members. As Cartwright left the building, she made her way past a black bulletin board only displaying the five remaining members on Friday, Aug. 26, 2022, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. On Tuesday, four new board members were sworn in.
The four new Broward School Board members appointed last Friday by Gov. Ron DeSantis were sworn in Tuesday morning and vowed to bring change to the school district, despite three of their terms ending in just a few months.
Ryan Reiter stepped into District 1, Torey Alston into District 2, Manuel “Nandy” A. Serrano into District 6 and Kevin P. Tynan into the countywide at-large seat in district 8. All of them will be replaced by newly elected officials after the Nov. 8 runoff election, except for Alston, who will stay until former board member Patricia Good’s term ends in 2024.
The four new members replaced the four that DeSantis ousted on Friday: Board Chair Laurie Rich Levinson, Board Vice Chair Patricia Good and longtime board members Donna Korn and Ann Murray. Korn is still on the Nov. 8 ballot. She is facing Allen Zeman, as both garnered about 30 percent of the vote in the Aug. 23 primary, failing to meet the 50 percent plus one vote margin to win.
READ MORE: DeSantis suspends four Broward County School Board members, appoints replacements
In announcing the board members’ suspensions, DeSantis cited a grand jury report that chronicled what it said was “incompetent management” and “neglect of duty” by the board and former Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie over the cost overruns of a $1 billion school-safety program.
The four new members of the nine-person board —along with a fifth DeSantis appointed at the end of April — Daniel Foganholi, who replaced Rosalind Osgood, now a Florida State senator — have transformed the board from an all-female and Democratically aligned body four months ago to a majority-male and majority-Republican one.
School boards, funded by local property taxes, are nonpartisan. Board members are elected, usually not appointed by a governor.
As its first order of business, the nine new members unanimously elected Alston as its next board chair. He will replace former chair Rich Levinson.
They also unanimously elected Lori Alhadeff, the District 4 representative, as the next vice chair. She will replace Good. Alhadeff won her seat in the Aug. 23 primary with about 60 percent of the vote.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated soon.
