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Because Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis meddled, the Broward School Board has changed out four superintendents in three years. His actions create a sense of instability—a lack of continuity.
It’s been three years since Florida Governor Ron DeSantis set up a mock grand jury to rid himself of Broward, Superintendent of Schools Robert Runcie. The king of gentrification governor, who believes in shooting first, then asking questions later, has remained mum on the case.
His silence is deafening since a Miami judge ruled against the trumped-up charges of his white supremacist grand jury.
After his hullabaloo, the governor said nothing about his grand jury indictment of Runcie. Instead, he has moved on to other fights with other Floridians.
On Tuesday, April 16, Dr. Peter Licata, the third Broward Superintendent in three years, abruptly resigned. Dr. Licata gave health issues as the reason for his sudden retirement. Dr. Licata held the top post for only ten months.
Because Ron DeSantis meddled, the Broward School Board has changed out four superintendents in three years.
Dr. Howard Hepburn: A Rising Star
The School Board commissioners did not waste time naming Licata’s replacement.
In a near-unanimous 8 to one vote, the Commission named Dr. Howard Hepburn, the 4th superintendent in three years since Robert Runcie’s forced resignation.
 Before his new appointment, forty-five-year-old Dr. Howard Hepburn was the former deputy superintendent for teaching and learning under Dr. Peter Licata.
Dr. Vickie Cartwright
In April 2021, the Broward County School Board fired Runcie because of his grand jury indictment and subsequent arrest.
They accused Runcie of lying under oath to Ron DeSantis’ grand jury.
Governor Ron DeSantis assigned a grand jury to look into the details of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting on February 14, 2018.
The shooting, which fellow student Nikolas Cruz carried out, left 17 students and faculty members dead. On November 2, 2022, a judge sentenced Cruz to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Dr. Vickie Cartwright was appointed as the new leader of Broward schools after Robert Runcie left. Dr. Cartwright brings the number to two superintendents in a year.
At first, Dr. Cartwright acted in the position under the auspices that she would not accept the position as a permanent replacement.
When the Superintendent position opened up, Dr. Cartwright reneged on her contract and applied for the position. The Board hired her, making her superintendents one and two after Runcie.
After they forced Dr. Cartwright out, the Board assigned Dr. Valerie Wanza as acting superintendent. The Board also appointed Dr. Earline Smiley as interim superintendent.
DeSantis quickly removed four Broward School Board members and replaced them with his loyalists. Soon, Dr. Cartwright’s seventeen-month tenure would end. The governor’s loyalists ousted her from her superintendent position.
Cartwright’s ouster came after Ron DeSantis’s grand jury audit made claims of financial misconduct by Dr. Cartwright. The Ron DeSantis’ school board voted 5 to 4 to remove Dr. Cartwright as the top leader of the 6th largest school district in the nation.
Clinton Franklin is a formally trained Computer Scientist and a writer at heart. Clinton is an avid observer of nature and a lover of people and diverse cultures. He adheres to the adage, “Think globally, but act locally.”
It is crucial to be forward-thinking but not a forward person. “Be kind to everyone you meet because each carries his heavy burden…” Plato.
Embrace the three Constants: Change, Justice, and Rightness.
The thought police are busy at work trying to suppress free speech — if allowed their march to madness — they will arrest your very thoughts.
