Former Broward School Board member Torey Alston violated no state ethics laws related to the approval of a $120 million settlement to county charter schools, some of which did business with his wife, a state ethics panel has concluded.
The Florida Commission on Ethics found that Alston, who was recently hired as president of Broward College, sought guidance from the school district’s general counsel and the ethics commission, both of which advised him this didn’t pose a conflict of interest and he was not required to abstain from voting.
Still, he recused himself out of “an abundance of caution” on three votes to settle with charter schools and filled out a memorandum of voting conflict form, satisfying any potential ethics concerns if there was a conflict, the commission found.
During the commission’s closed-door session Friday, it voted to find no probable cause for any violations. It publicly released its findings Wednesday.
“It’s unfortunate that anyone can file a frivolous and arguably political complaint,” Alston told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I’m proud that the process worked as I was transparent from the start and the commission saw through the sham. I will continue to demonstrate integrity in everything I do, as I always have.”
The complaint came last July from Allen Zeman, a Broward School Board member who often clashed with Alston.
The complaint relates to a series of votes the School Board took after being hit with a series of lawsuits from different charter schools in the fall of 2023.
The charter schools were trying to recoup money from a 2018 voter referendum to pay for teacher salary increases, safety and security and mental health. The School Board at the time decided not to give charter schools a proportional share of the revenues collected based on student enrollment.
The district was trying to negotiate a settlement with the charter schools when the state Board of Education got involved, determining the district was out of compliance with state laws and court rulings and must resolve the issue quickly with charter schools or the state may withhold funds.
On March 20, 2024, Alston asked the School Board to approve a motion “to take any and all actions necessary to ensure the school district’s immediate compliance” with the state’s demands on charter schools. A modified version of the motion passed unanimously. Alston voted on this and did not publicly state any potential conflicts in that meeting. Zeman said in his complaint that Alston also advocated for the settlement in at least five closed-door meetings.
But when the School Board agreed to an initial settlement on April 16, Alston recused himself and said he would fill out a voting-conflict form. He didn’t say the specific reason.
“While there is no direct conflict, and out of an additional abundance of caution, including my communication with counsel in closed session, I will abstain and not vote on the item coming before the board,” Alston said prior to the April 16 vote. “I will file the appropriate document and step off the dais at this time.”
Alston acknowledged in a voting-conflict form that his wife, who runs a home health care agency, does business with some charter schools that received settlement money.
He also abstained from voting on May 21 and June 18, when the board voted to settle with more charter schools and filled out voting-conflict forms for each.
Alston had asked General Counsel Marylin Batista prior to the April 16 vote whether his vote on the matter may pose an ethical conflict, and she said no, but he “decided to avoid even the appearance of impropriety and abstained from participating in the specific portions of the meetings” where charter school payments were discussed, the investigation said.
“While Respondent may not have needed to abstain from the votes, he did and there is insufficient evidence to reflect that he failed to substantially disclose the nature of the conflict,” the investigation stated.
The Ethics Commission was supposed to consider the complaint at a meeting scheduled for Jan. 24, but it was canceled due to winter storms in Tallahassee. As a result, the issue was still not resolved when Alston was hired as Broward College’s president. But Alston shared with trustees that the Ethics Commission staff had made a recommendation “in my favor” and he expected the commission to do the same.
