School shooting victim’s dad named to Florida school board

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The father of a student slain in Florida's 2018 high school massacre is being appointed to the state Board of Education.

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that he has appointed Ryan Petty to the board that oversees education policy in the state. Petty’s 14-year-old daughter Alaina was one of 17 people killed in the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

Petty already serves on the state commission investigating the shooting and has been an outspoken critic of policies that he believes allowed Nikolas Cruz, who is charged in the shootings, to attend the school in 2016 and 2017 despite a long history of emotional and behavioral problems. Petty ran for the Broward County school board in 2018, six months after the shooting, but lost to an incumbent.

He is a senior vice president for a wireless communications company. His appointment must be approved by the state Senate and is for a four-year term.