Records: Superintendent lied to jury investigating massacre

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The superintendent of the Florida school district where 17 students and staff died in a 2018 high school massacre was arrested Wednesday after investigators said he lied to a grand jury investigating events surrounding the shooting.

Broward County Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie was arrested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement at district headquarters and charged with perjury in an official proceeding, which is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

According to an indictment issued by the grand jury last week and released after Runcie’s arrest, the superintendent lied when he testified before the panel three weeks ago, but it gave no specifics about the alleged falsehood. The jury is investigating whether districts are following school safety laws, including those implemented after the Feb. 14, 2018, slayings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland.

The grand jury, which was empaneled two years ago, is also investigating whether:

— Public agencies are using state safety grants for other purposes.

— Broward school officials misappropriated millions of dollars from a bond measure partially aimed at improving campus safety.

— Officials intentionally underreported on-campus crimes committed by students. Since the shooting, Runcie and district administrators have been accused by critics of lying about school crime rates and discipline problems.

To prove perjury, prosecutors must show Runcie knew his statements to the grand jury were false and not just a mistake.

Attorneys for Runcie, 59, released a statement Wednesday afternoon saying he plans to plead not guilty.

“We are confident that he will be exonerated and he intends to continue to carry out his responsibilities with the highest level of integrity and moral standards, as he has done for nearly ten years in his role as Superintendent,” the statement said.

Jail records show Runcie has been released on his own recognizance.

Rosalind Osgood, chair of the Broward County school board, issued a statement Wednesday saying the district “will provide transparency, accountability and integrity."

The statement did not say whether Runcie has been suspended and the district's media relations office did not immediately know the answer to that question. Broward County is the nation’s sixth-largest school district with more than 270,000 students.