Miami Herald: Broward Teachers Union asks for probe into transportation department
Dec 10, 2009
The Miami Herald pblished this article on December 10, 2009.
BY PATRICIA MAZZEI
Following the removal of two top Broward schools transportation officials from their posts, the Broward Teachers Union on Thursday asked Gov. Charlie Crist and Attorney General Bill Column to investigate and audit the school district’s transportation department.
The district reassigned Ruben Parker, transportation services director, and Lucille Greene, director of student transportation, last month pending an internal investigation.
In a letter sent to Crist Thursday, BTU President Pat Santeramo questioned the credibility of a district-run probe.
“Due to the ongoing corruption investigation of Broward schools by the FBI, a federal grand jury and a `blue ribbon commission’ appointed by Superintendent Jim Notter and School Board members, any investigation conducted by the school district and its officials of themselves will not render a result that voters, taxpayers and employees can trust,” Santeramo wrote.
Notter could not immediately be reached for comment. District officials typically say little about open investigations.
A federal corruption probe involving the district’s construction program led to the arrest and suspension of board member Beverly Gallagher in September. Since then, Notter appointed a commission of three outsiders — former Attorney General Bob Butterworth; Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler, who served as a state legislator for eight years; and attorney W. George Allen, who filed the lawsuit that forced the district to desegregate nearly four decades ago — to look into how the school system does business.