Robert Runcie's Big $754,900 Payout Paves Way For Departure

Miami FL

13 May, 2021

10:38 AM

Description

By Bianca Marcof After weeks of negotiating his exit, the Broward County School Board approved a $754,900 separation agreement Tuesday for Superintendent Robert Runcie, making Aug. 10, 2021, his final day. Next month, the district will be naming an interim superintendent. In a narrow 5-4 vote, the deal was agreed upon on Monday between Runcie's attorney, Sherry Culves, and Board Chair Rosalind Osgood. The figure includes a 90-day transition period and 20 weeks of severance pay, including a payout of unused vacation and sick time, retirement savings plans and attorney fees for the separation agreement. The district agreed to pay Runcie's legal fees, but if he is found guilty of his felony charge, he will have to reimburse those monies. General Counsel Barbara Myrick finalized her separation from the district during a school board meeting May 6, 2021./Broward County Public Schools Runcie and General Counsel Barbara Myrick offered to step down last month after a statewide grand jury indicted them on felony charges while investigating the aftermath of the Parkland, Fla., shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. Runcie was indicted last month on a perjury charge, accused of contacting a witness in a grand jury criminal case and then denying it during his own testimony. Myrick was indicted on a charge of sharing information outside of the grand jury. Myrick received a separation package from the school board last Thursday. She will leave with 20 weeks of severance pay, totaling $226,349. The money includes unused sick time and retirement. The board also agreed to pay for her legal expenses. "You are losing two highly dedicated individuals," she told the board last week. "Whether you like everything we've done, whether you like us as individuals, it doesn't matter. Mr. Runcie and I have worked tirelessly, and you all know that, to improve this district and to see that it continues to operate in a professional manner for the children." After 21 years of working for the school district, Myrick's final day will be June 30. Runcie oversaw the nation's sixth-largest public school district for nearly 10 years. During Tuesday's meeting, board members wanted to move his final date earlier, to June 22 or June 30 instead of Aug. 10. Both motions failed since most board members were concerned that moving him out sooner would be a breach of his contract with the district. Only Debra Hixon, Sarah Leonardi and Nora Rupert voted yes. "Ninety days really puts us at a precarious time in the district where it's around the first day of school, around the time when teachers are going back, and I just think that would be a distraction to have a transition at that time," Leonardi said at the meeting. The board discussed next steps for choosing an interim superintendent and general counsel Tuesday afternoon at a workshop. Osgood said she wants to appoint Marilyn Batista, deputy general counsel, as interim general counsel. Batista may not be applying for the permanent position. As for interim superintendent, Osgood said she did not want to suggest anyone just yet. "I actually have a couple of names that I could mention, but I thought about where we are, I thought about summer school coming up and not disrupting many of the things that we have that are working well," she said. The school board hopes to appoint an interim superintendent on June 15. It is seeking internal district candidates who must submit a letter of interest for the position by June 1. Once someone is appointed, Runcie will transition from his superintendent position to a consultant role until his final day with the district. The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.