Broward Student
Lays Out Devastating Case Against School Board For Neglecting School Safety
ByJames Barrett
April 27, 2018
On Thursday, Broward County student Kenneth Preston, 19,
published the findings of an in-depth investigation
he has conducted over the last two months that has uncovered some alarming
details about how the Broward County School Board neglected school safety
leading up to the Parkland massacre.
Preston confronted the school board two weeks ago and
gave his account of what he'd learned to The Hill. In
his initial findings, Preston said that he believed that since 2014, the school
has only spent around 5% of the over $100 million available to it specifically
for school safety. In his new report, he details ways that the failure to
invest in school safety may have led to the deaths of some of the students in
the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting. The school board's embrace of
progressive programs, including The Promise Program and the Behavior
Intervention Program, Preston maintains, has protected problem students — like the
student who eventually slaughtered 17 people in February — shielding them from
effective disciplinary measures and thus allowing them to remain threats to
their peers.
"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 based on the evidence provided below," Preston writes.
"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."
In a series of tweets Thursday, Preston provided key
details from his investigation (h/t Twitchy):
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