Broward School Board torn on whether to investigate fellow board members

It’s not easy to investigate fellow board members, the Broward School Board discovered Tuesday.

Board members appeared stumped or divided as to how to handle allegations that two board members, Brenda Fam and Allen Zeman, may have engaged in inappropriate touching.

The school district has detailed policies and procedures on how to deal with employees who are accused of inappropriate conduct, but nothing on School Board members, district officials said Tuesday.

Just a week ago, all nine board members verbally agreed at a workshop to hire an outside investigator, but when it came up for a formal vote Tuesday, they decided to delay the matter until April 18, largely because General Counsel Marylin Batista, who was familiar with both matters, was absent.

Fam, who wasn’t at Tuesday’s meeting, and Zeman didn’t participate in the vote to delay the matter.

[ RELATED: 2 Broward School Board members face review after accusations of touching ]

“I think there are holes right now,” said Board Chairwoman Lori Alhadeff, who had proposed the investigations. “We need to be able to look at this with confidence and then make a final decision.”

Fam and Zeman have secured high-powered defense lawyers, and supporters of both board members asked the board not to investigate either. Two board members, Jeff Holness and Sarah Leonardi, wanted to investigate Fam, whose alleged incident involved an 18-year-old student, but not Zeman, whose incident involved a district staff member.

That led to accusations of politics since Leonardi, Holness and Zeman are all Democrats while Fam is a conservative Republican who is often at odds with the more liberal members.

“Some cannot rise past the partisan or political fray,” said Board member Torey Alston, a registered Republican.

Leonardi and Holness denied politics was a factor, saying the cases were different because the staff member in the Zeman case said he didn’t want to file a complaint, while the student in the Fam case had made a written statement.

Several board members appeared frustrated during the two-and-a-half-hour discussion, as Batista was out of the country and the lawyer filling in, Kathelyn Jacques-Adams, couldn’t provide details about what happened in either incident.

Board member Daniel Foganholi proposed dropping both matters.

[ RELATED: Inappropriate-touching allegation against School Board member clouds superintendent’s departure ]

“This whole thing is a mess,” he said. “We’re up here playing Clue.”

If the school district proceeds with the investigations, the proposal calls for alerting Gov. Ron DeSantis of the results. He has suspended many elected officials in Broward in recent years, including former Sheriff Scott Israel and four former School Board members.

Some board members questioned why the board is just now being asked to take action on the Zeman incident, which happened in December.

A staff member reported to then-Superintendent Vickie Cartwright that Zeman hit him on the buttocks at a December meeting while he was talking to a School Board member on the dais during a break. The staff member told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that he didn’t wish to file a complaint and didn’t want Cartwright to pursue it.

The issue became public in February when Cartwright’s lawyers brought the matter up during the superintendent’s separation negotiations. Zeman told the Sun Sentinel in February he didn’t remember hitting the employee on the butt, but said both were athletes and there was nothing inappropriate about it.

Last week, Zeman told the Sun Sentinel that he meant to hit the employee on the back as a friendly gesture and missed.

“It was a mistake, an inadvertent thing. It was no big deal,” Zeman said last week, declining to comment after Tuesday’s meeting.

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In the Fam case, an 18-year-old student allegedly reported to the district that Fam had touched him on the buttocks at a school district event March 27 at the Signature Grand in Davie.

Fam sent the Sun Sentinel a text Tuesday night referring questions to defense lawyer David Bogenschutz. He has represented several school district officials in the past, including former General Counsel Barbara Myrick, who was indicted by a statewide grand jury on a charge of improperly disclosing secret information. That case is still pending. Bogenschutz couldn’t be reached for comment.

In an earlier statement, Fam said she inadvertently “brushed against” someone during a photo and said that person acknowledged it was an accident.

Zeman has secured well-known defense lawyer Mike Dutko, who is defending former Superintendent Robert Runcie in a perjury case, and civil lawyer David Di Pietro.

The two sent a letter to Alhadeff last week asking that their client be removed from any possible investigation.

“Dr. Zeman has denied that any inappropriate touching occurred between himself the unidentified adult employee of the Broward County School Board. Moreover, we have it on good authority that the unidentified adult School Board employee purported to have been involved has consistently confirmed to past and present School Board authorities that no inappropriate touching occurred,” the letter said.

The letter said Zeman would cooperate if an investigation proceeds, but he would seek reimbursement of legal fees and “will pursue any and all legal remedies to which he may be entitled as a result of these actions.”