Quote:Broward County school officials are facing scrutiny after redacted statements reportedly reveal the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter's request for special education services was not followed through by officials.

According to the Sun Sentinel, Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer ordered the release of a redacted report by the Collaborative Educational Network of Tallahassee, which was paid for by the district.

The publication claims, “the blacked-out text became visible when pasted into another computer file.”

It reportedly explains how the shooter required special education beginning at age three and claims the school failed in two major ways during the last two years he was a student.
Misstating options

The report indicates Marjory Stoneman Douglas school officials suggested the gunman be transferred to a special education school that would help him with his specific needs, but the report claims he became extremely angry:

“Upon entering the room and seeing the Cross Creek representatives, the student immediately became upset and verbally aggressive. He refused to sit at the table, angrily repeating that he would not go back to Cross Creek and that he wanted only to stay at Stoneman. He intended to graduate from the school.”

Douglas staff ultimately required the shooter to sign a document stating he would be treated like a general student, although the staff did not disclose that he had the option to keep his special education status at the school.
“Fumbling” requests

The second way the school system reportedly failed was when two months after the shooter was kicked out of school, his mother claimed he wished to continue his education at the Cross Creek school.

“She said he had come to realize that the only way he would achieve his goal of graduating from high school would be to return to Cross Creek,” said the report.

Despite having years of paperwork on the student, the school “fumbled his request” and it “went nowhere.” He received no counseling or special education services in the 14 months leading up to the tragedy.
School District Patterns

The conclusion of the report is that the school district must re-evaluate the way they handle similar cases in order to prevent future tragedies after failing to properly handle the shooter when he was a student.

Some Florida lawmakers are also questioning why the school district has at times failed to be transparent about his participation in another school program.

“I was repeatedly told that the Parkland shooter was never in the Promise Program I was asking questions about. Now it turns out that in fact he was,” Senator Marco Rubio tweeted.