FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Broward County Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie and General Counsel Barbara Myrick were arrested Wednesday as part of a statewide grand jury probe into the district.
Runcie was arrested on a charge of perjury in an official proceeding, a third-degree felony. Myrick was arrested on a charge of unlawful disclosure of statewide grand jury proceedings, also a third-degree felony.
Agents of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested Runcie, 59, and Myrick, 72, for their testimony before the grand jury, which was impaneled to investigate possible failures in following school-related safety laws and mismanaging funds solicited for school safety initiatives.
According to Broward sheriff’s records, Runcie was arrested at 600 S. Andrews Ave. and released later in the morning on his own recognizance. Myrick was still in jail as of 1 p.m.
The FDLE has been handling investigations for the grand jury, which has been impaneled since 2019. Details about the allegations against Runcie and Myrick are sealed because grand jury proceedings are secret.
Superintendent of Broward County Public Schools Robert Runcie was arrested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and charged with perjury on Wednesday, April 21, 2021, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office booking website.
The grand jury’s primary focus was to review school safety in the wake of the Parkland school shooting, but it has expanded its scope to include corruption and mismanagement in district operations.
Former Chief Information Officer Tony Hunter was arrested in January, charged with bid rigging and bribery. Prosecutors say he directed a $17 million technology contract to a friend. Hunter has pleaded not guilty and denies wrongdoing.
Runcie has been superintendent since 2011 and makes $356,000 a year. Myrick has been general counsel since 2016 and a district employee since 2002. She makes $220,000.
“I was very surprised when I learned about it this morning,” said School Board member Nora Rupert, a longtime Runcie critic. “The School Board is obviously still in control of the district, and we will be in conversations with our attorneys about how we move forward.”
School Board Chairwoman Rosalind Osgood issued a statement Wednesday saying the district would “operate as normal under the District’s leadership team” right now.
The School Board “will provide transparency, accountability and integrity as we continue to focus on delivering the highest quality educational experience for our students, teachers and staff,” she said.
The statement did not say whether Runcie and Myrick will remain in their jobs for now.
Runcie’s indictment says he gave untruthful testimony before the grand jury, and it lists four areas the panel was focusing on whether:
Refusal or failure to follow the mandates of school-related safety laws, such as the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act, results in unnecessary and avoidable risk to students across the state.
Public entities committed — and continue to commit — fraud and deceit by accepting state funds conditioned on implementation of certain safety measures while knowingly failing to act.
School officials committed — and continue to commit — fraud and deceit by mismanaging, failing to use, and diverting funds from multimillion-dollar bonds specifically solicited for school safety initiatives.
School officials violated and continue to violate state law by systematically underreporting incidents of criminal activity to the Department of Education.
Myrick’s indictment says she “did knowingly and unlawfully publish, broadcast, disclose or communicate to another person outside the statewide grand jury room any of the proceedings and/or identify persons referred to or being investigated by the statewide grand jury,” a violation of state law.
Runcie did not attend Tuesday’s School Board meeting, which was rare for him.
———
(Staff writer Brittany Wallman contributed to this report.)
