PLANTATION, Fla. – Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie and a panel of school board officials came under intense criticism at a forum on improving student safety Wednesday in Plantation.
Some raised questions over the handling of incidents involving threats and guns at different schools after the Valentine’s Day mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 people dead.
Dozens of parents, teachers and students waited for more than an hour to ask about the district’s disciplinary programs and how the school district handled the behavioral problems of gunman Nikolas Cruz before the shooting.
"To be clear we don’t have any knowledge of Mr. Cruz being referred to the behavior intervention program," Runcie said.
Runcie told the crowd he is waiting on an independent review on Cruz’s file to be completed. He said the report would be released in May.
School board officials said they are conducting a risk assessment study, implementing single points of entry at schools and installing a standardized surveillance camera system countywide.