A whistleblower lawsuit filed in December 2021 alleges a Broward School superintendent finalist tried to cover up remarks denying the Holocaust made by a Boca Raton high school principal. On Tuesday, the Broward County School Board named four finalists to replace Robert Runcie. Last year, a grand jury indicted Runcie on a perjury charge for testimony given in a school district investigation. Keith Oswald, chief of wellness and equity for Palm Beach County schools, is one of the finalists.

Apparently, Ray And Associates, a Cedar Rapids headhunting firm assisting the Broward School Board, failed to notice Robert Pinkos v. The School Board Of Palm Beach County Florida lawsuit filed on December 23, 2021.

In 2018, Latson came under fire for an email sent to a parent. In the email, Latson said, “I can’t say the Holocaust is a factual, historical event because I am not in a position to do so as a school district employee.” Latson was fired (twice) by the School Board. Last week, Latson appealed his firing to the Florida Supreme Court.

As first reported by Boca News Now, Pinkos alleges Keith Oswald and other Palm Beach School Board officials tried to stymie his investigation into Spanish River High School principal William Latson.

According to the suit, human resources investigator Robert Pinkos was limited in his ability to investigate Latson’s anti-Holocaust comment by other officials who feared Pinkos’ investigation would implicate senior school leaders. Among the claims: Deputy Superintendent Keith Oswald, Human Resources Chief Gonzalo LaCava, Professional Standards leader Vicki Evans-Pare, Instructional Superintendent Dr. Glenda Sheffield, and others attempted to cover-up or ignore the comments, then mitigate fallout by attacking Pinkos, reassigning his work location, and disciplining the investigator for workplace issues that never took place. Several senior school district officials also allegedly treated Latson like a hot potato: throwing the controversy to other administrators while claiming it wasn’t their own problem to deal with.

The whistleblower lawsuit just filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court additionally makes the stunning claim that Deputy Superintendent Keith Oswald knew about the comments for months before they became public, then looked for a loophole —suggesting that Florida permits educators to question whether the Holocaust was real.

“Mr. Oswald continued by explaining that the study of the Holocaust was a State mandate but there was also an “opt-out” provision in State Statute that not many people knew about. Mr. Oswald stated that although he knew of the Holocaust comments for several months, it was incumbent upon the South Regional Superintendent, Dr. lan Saltzman, to have notified HR of the wrongdoing.

You can read the full report here.

How did Ray and Associates and the Broward School Board miss a finalist’s role in a high-profile case in a neighboring district?

Did Oswald advise Ray and Associates and the Broward School Board about the lawsuit?

Does anyone use Google?

More to come….