FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Two coaches criticized for their inaction during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas massacre won't be returning to the Broward County School District this fall.
Assistant baseball coaches Andrew Medina and David Taylor initially were recommended to be reappointed to their full-time jobs as security monitors. But on Tuesday, Superintendent Robert Runcie told the School Board he was removing their names from the list of district employees who will be rehired for the 2018-19 school year.
That means they won't have jobs with the district as of Sunday, when the new fiscal year starts.
Medina, who was not armed, was the first to see killer Nikolas Cruz walk onto the Parkland campus. He told investigators shortly after the shooting that he didn't confront Nikolas Cruz or lock down the school. Instead, Medina said he radioed ahead to warn Taylor that a suspicious kid was headed his way. Taylor hid in a closet.
Both were reassigned after a video of Medina's testimony was released.
Tuesday's action avoided what was likely to be a heated conversation over the district's handling of another disciplinary matter involving Medina.
In February 2017, he was accused of sexual harassment by two 17-year-old high school students. One of the accusers was Meadow Pollack, who died in the Feb. 14 shooting.
The district's investigation of Medina concluded that he asked out one female student and whispered to another: "You are fine as f---." He offered to take one of the students out for drinks, the investigation said.
"Both students became so uncomfortable with Mr. Medina's comments and actions, they sought out different routes to their classes in an attempt to avoid him," says the report, prepared by Robert Spence, a detective with the district's Special Investigative Unit.
A discipline committee of district employees recommended he be fired, but Human Resources Chief Craig Nichols, acting as Runcie's representative, instead gave Medina a three-day suspension. District officials said Nichols consulted with the district police department and legal department when he made the recommendation.
The School Board approved the move in December, although both Runcie and several School Board members said they didn't know the details of the case when they agreed to the discipline.
The school district said recently the 7-0 decision by the committee to fire Medina was reversed because "there was no direct evidence to distinguish between the conflicting statements provided by the students and the employee, and there were no previous records of discipline for the employee.
A second statement released last week, added another reason: There was "no inappropriate physical contact."
Philip Schentrup, whose daughter Carmen was killed at Stoneman Douglas, tweeted he was "horrified" by the district's response.
"Release says since the girls were smart enough to avoid Medina's predatory behavior, Medina only got three days," he wrote. "Had one of the girls actually been abused ... he would have been fired. So much for preventing a tragedy. Reckless and cowardly."
The proposed reappointment of Medina, which was included on the agenda released Thursday, generated anger on social media.
"Last time they voted to overrule the discipline committee. They said it was on consent and not properly explained. If the Broward School Board approves Monitor Medina after he harassed students, offered them alcohol, told them to cover up, and failed to do job on 2-14, they are nuts," tweeted County Commissioner Michael Udine, former mayor of Parkland.
The school went through another shakeup among its coaching staff last week when the district reassigned head football Coach Willis May. The district said it had nothing to do with the Feb. 14 massacre but declined to give a reason.
