Broward student publishes damning evidence proving Broward school officials neglected school safety

Broward County student journalist Kenneth Preston published the findings of an in-depth investigation on Thursday that uncovered damning evidence proving Broward County school officials slacked on school security in the years leading up to the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14.

The findings also refute the mainstream media’s claim that firearms, specifically the AR-15, are to blame for the massacre.

What did Preston uncover?

Preston discovered that in 2014, an $800 million bond was allocated to Broward County Public Schools, with more than $100 million earmarked directly for school safety. However, many of the planned safety upgrades to county schools were delayed due to concerns over costs.

One of the delayed projects was an improvement to MSD’s fire system “that allows a delay to determine if there’s an actual fire before the alarm triggers,” according to Preston. If that improvement had been made, seeing that the murderer pulled the fire alarm, students’ lives could have been saved because they wouldn’t have left their classrooms as there was no actual fire.

In all, Preston discovered that only $5,584,512 — or about 5 percent — of $104,325,821 allocated for school safety in 2014 has been spent on it since.

But that’s not all. Preston learned that Obama-era school behavioral programs, like The Promise Program and the Behavior Intervention Program, led troubled students, like the massacre’s perpetrator, to escape punishment.

“After weeks of research, searching through thousands of pages of government documents, and speaking with dozens of officials, I have come to the conclusion that Superintendent Runcie and members of the school board have failed at their essential role in keeping our students safe. Whether that’s because of incompetence or the incentive of federal dollars is for you to decide,” Preston wrote in an article outlining his findings.

“Ultimately, no matter what laws pass, the extent, or how infrequent these shootings become, if the people who were complicit in facilitating an environment in which something like this could occur don’t face consequences, then there is no justice,” he wrote.

How did Broward County Schools react?

According to Preston, superintendent Robert Runcie called his meticulously sourced investigation “fake news.”

“Superintendent Runcie called an article referencing this report ‘fake news’ and recommended anyone interested in facts should look to Florida TaxWatch, an independent organization tasked with overseeing the distribution of the money. I reached out to Florida Taxwatch, and Vice President of Research Robert Nave has told me that my numbers are correct,” Preston wrote in his article.
Preston also outlined his findings in a tweet thread:Read More HERE