FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ The Broward school district is conducting an internal review of what went wrong with the education plan for Nikolas Cruz and what steps will be taken to better serve students with behaviors that could be warning signs of danger.
The review will focus on students such as Cruz who are under a federally protected Individual Education Plan, which outlines how a special needs student should be educated and disciplined. Cruz killed 17 people at Stoneman Douglas High on Feb. 14.
""We want to continue to improve how we serve students who are in this particular situation," Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie said.
Runcile plans to provide a status report at Tuesday's School Board meeting.
Runcie said that while he was still waiting on information, he hasn't seen any evidence that the district failed to contact law enforcement when it had information of possible criminal behavior involving Cruz.
The district hasn't confirmed reports that Cruz brought knives and ammunition to school. Runcie said he doesn't think the district was aware of an Instagram post where Cruz threatened to "shoot up" a school. The post was reported to the Broward Sheriff's Office, and the deputy who responded is under investigation related to his handling of the tip.
Runcie said the district's Promise program, which provides interventions that allow students to avoid getting arrested for certain misdemeanor offenses, was not a factor in what went wrong. He said Cruz was not a participant in the program.
Cruz's Individual Education Plan was drafted by a team of specialists and approved by his mother, officials said. Although these plans may require lighter discipline than regular students for some infractions, school officials are expected to call police if students bring weapons to school, Runcie said.
He said the district has been criticized by some who feel the district's zero tolerance for weapons policy is too extreme in the other direction. A student at Silver Trail Middle in Pembroke Pines was suspended for six days and referred to police in 2016 after she brought a butter knife to school to cut a peach, according to WPLG-Channel 10.
"The parents were adamant we had gone too far and appealed it to the School Board, but we stayed true to what we recommended. This was what the policy said," Runcie said. "We take weapons infractions very seriously. There are no exceptions."
