Superintendent overseeing Parkland schools offers resignation after perjury charge

The superintendent of the school district overseeing Parkland schools has offered to resign amid a perjury charge.

Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie offered to resign during a school board meeting Tuesday evening amid scrutiny over his handling of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 17 students.

“If the environment is not as such that I can do my very best, I’m willing to discuss a path to a mutual agreement of separation,” he said during the meeting.

He made the comment in response to board member Lori Alhadeff. According to The Associated Press, her daughter Alyssa was one of the students killed in the 2018 shooting.

“I know you’ve been in enormous amounts of pain that none of us can ever imagine, and I guess I’m probably part of the source of that in some way,” Runcie told Alhadeff.

“And so, if it’s gonna give you peace and it’s gonna give you and those other parents who remain angry because I don’t see how there’s anything else I can do. If it’s gonna give you that, I will step aside so that you can have the peace that you are looking for,” he said.

Barbara Myrick, general counsel for the school district, also offered to resign during the meeting, citing pressure she faces every time the board meets.

“I too cannot continue under the scrutiny of every time we have a board meeting, one of you sending an email about all the mistakes I made, in preparation for my upcoming evaluation,” Myrick said.

Runcie and Myrick were both arrested last week as part of a statewide grand jury investigation into whether the district was following safety laws and if officials mismanaged bonds used for school safety initiatives.

Runcie was charged with perjury in an official proceeding, and Myrick was charged with unlawful disclosure of statewide grand jury proceedings.

Prior to his resignation, Runcie issued a video statement claiming he would be “vindicated.” 

“I am confident that I will be vindicated and I intend to continue to carry out my responsibilities as superintendent with the highest level of integrity and moral standards as I’ve done for nearly ten years,” he said.

Runcie entered a not guilty plea to his charges on Wednesday, according to the Miami Herald.