The Florida supreme court has ordered a statewide grand jury with a broad mandate to investigate school safety.
In addition, the panel will investigate whether school districts or other agencies fraudulently accepted state school safety money, then failed to act, and whether school officials illegally underreported criminal incidents to the state.
The court acted in response to a Feb. 13 request from Gov. Ron DeSantis, who asked for the grand jury the day before the one-year anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre.
The focus of the grand jury’s work is broad, but its intent is clear. In the aftermath of the Stoneman Douglas massacre, in which 17 people were killed and 17 injured, family members of those killed have pushed for more accountability than they say has been shown by the Broward County school board and Superintendent Robert Runcie.
