TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A grand jury will investigate how Florida school districts are complying with school safety laws.
- Grand jury will meet for a year
- Will look into whether school districts are committing fraud
- Grand jury is in response to the 2018 Parkland school shooting
- COMPLETE COVERAGE: Florida Government Guide
The Florida Supreme Court announced Monday that it would impanel a jury based on Gov. Ron DeSantis's request.
The 18-member jury will meet for a year to look at the following issues, according to the Supreme Court's order:
- Whether public entities committed fraud by accepting state funds meant to implement certain safety measures in schools and knowingly failed to act;
- Whether school officials committed fraud by mismanaging, failing to us, and diverting funds from multimillion-dollar bonds solicited for school safety;
- Whether school officials violated state law by underreporting criminal activity to the state dept. of education;
- Whether failing to follow the mandates of school safety laws results in unnecessary and avoidable risk.
DeSantis called for the grand jury earlier this month. It was a recommendation from the task force that probed what led to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018, in which 17 people died.
The grand jury will be able to call witnesses and return indictments.
Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report.