DeSantis ally at center of federal investigation into Florida Department of Education
Jack Birle
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Federal investigators are reportedly looking into the Florida Department of Education over an alleged bid-rigging scheme for control of a school district in northern Florida.
A federal grand jury sent out subpoenas to officials at the Jefferson County School District in June over the Florida DOE’s alleged attempts to maneuver a contract for control of the district toward a company tied to former Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, per the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times.
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The subpoena seeks all communications from officials from the Jefferson County School District between lobbyists, school district officials, and officials in the Department of Education from 2021.
The company believed to have been linked to Corcoran, MGT Consulting, was attempting to secure a contract to transition the school district back to a regular school district after a year of operating under the control of a charter company. The plan would have used $4 million in coronavirus relief funds to pay for the consultants to help with the transition.
The Department of Education decided against the plan in the end, but not before two officials in the department resigned. The two officials, Jacob Oliva and Melissa Ramsey, were investigated by the inspector general of the Florida DOE, but no action against the two came out of that investigation.
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Corcoran ended his term as education commissioner in 2022, and Manny Diaz Jr. is currently serving as the state’s top education official.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Florida Department of Education for comment.