Lori Alhadeff, who first won a seat on the Broward School Board in 2018 after her daughter was killed in the Parkland school shooting, has announced she will not seek a third term in office.
She is endorsing longtime educator and fellow Parkland resident Sharry Kimmel to replace her for the District 4 seat, which includes Parkland, Coral Springs, Tamarac and North Lauderdale.
Alhadeff told the South Florida Sun Sentinel she plans to devote more time to “Make Our Schools Safe,” a nonprofit she and her husband, Ilan, founded after their 14-year-old daughter, Alyssa, died in the shooting on Feb. 14, 2018.
“Eight years is a meaningful chapter, long enough to lead, make an impact, and know when it is time to step forward in a new way,” Alhadeff said. “This moment calls for my full commitment to Make Our Schools Safe and to advancing school safety nationally, expanding impact, driving change and protecting students across the country.”
She has advocated across the country for legislation requiring school staff to use portable panic buttons to alert emergency officials about active threats. The legislation, known as “Alyssa’s Law” or “Alyssa’s Act,” has been passed in 10 states, including Florida.
Kimmel is a former Miami-Dade and Broward teacher. She was named Broward’s Teacher of the Year in 1996 for her work teaching gifted students at Pembroke Lakes Elementary in Pembroke Pines, according to her bio.
Kimmel, who has a Ph.D., has spent the past 22 years as a professor of teacher education at Broward College.
“Dr. Kimmel’s unmatched experience is exactly what Broward schools need,” Alhadeff said. “As a teacher of teachers, she understands what it takes to recruit and retain excellent educators, while continuing our critical work to improve student safety and prioritize individual student achievement. I’m proud to support her candidacy.”
Kimmel has listed her School Board priorities as “continuing progress in student safety, strengthening efforts to attract and retain high-quality teachers and support staff, and holding administrators accountable for financial mismanagement.”
The district, while improving its letter grade to an A in recent years, has faced numerous operational challenges, including rapidly declining enrollment, budget shortfalls, decaying facilities and leadership shakeups.
“I would really like the opportunity to try to help the district get back on track and even thrive eventually,” Kimmel told the Sun Sentinel. “It’s a challenge, and I like a challenge, and I’m ready.”
During her time on the School Board, Alhadeff has worked with four permanent and two temporary superintendents. One of her early board requests was to fire then-Superintendent Robert Runcie, saying he showed poor leadership in the wake of the Parkland tragedy as well as in executing an $800 million voter-approved bond. The School Board voted 6-3 in March 2019 to keep him.
Runcie ended up resigning in 2021, after a statewide grand jury indicted him on a perjury charge. Prosecutors later agreed to drop the charge.
The same grand jury recommended that Gov. Ron DeSantis remove School Board members who had supported Runcie. He removed and replaced four in August 2022, the same month Alhadeff was easily reelected to a second term. In November 2022, Alhadeff was elected chairwoman of the board, a position she held for two years.
For the past five years, Alhadeff has been one of two School Board members who lost family members in Parkland. Debbi Hixon, whose husband, Chris, was killed, was first elected in 2020 and reelected in 2024.
Kimmel, 60, is married and the mother of two grown children. So far, she is the only candidate who has filed to run for the seat. The election is scheduled for Aug. 18.