FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Broward County Public Schools employees braced for job cuts amid fiscal pressure from student enrollment declines.
After dealing with school closures, Superintendent Howard Hepburn has the tough task of proposing a new job-cuts plan.
“We are a bit overstaffed, and so we have to work at looking at this complex challenge and finding any cost savings possible,” Hepburn said.
School Board members voted 6-3 on Tuesday to direct Hepburn to come up with a plan to cut “at least 1,000 positions per year for three consecutive years” by July 1, according to the item on the agenda.
School Board members Lori Alhadeff, Nora Rupert, and Sarah Leonardi dissented.
“While I understand we are overstaffed, I think some of that doesn’t take into account ... state laws that have passed and the security measures we put in, as well as the necessary mental health professionals that we hired,” Leonardi said.
The item, brought by School Board member Jeff Holness, directed Hepburn to start his plan “by aligning staffing levels proportionally with projected student enrollment declines” and “operational needs,” according to the item on the agenda.
“We have not reduced our non-teaching staff,” Holness said during the meeting.
The school district had more than 40,000 fewer students in ten years and projected an additional 9,000-student loss during the 2026–27 school year.
“This is to make up for 10 years of not doing this,” School Board member Allen Zeman said during the meeting.
The measure aims to save $250 million. The Sun-Sentinel reported that some BCPS employees received a district e-mail on Feb. 20 to notify them of June 30 job cuts that would be announced by late spring.
Ana Fusco, the president of the Broward Teachers Union, said she was skeptical about the cuts not impacting teachers.
“I know that’s not possible,” Fusco said.
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- Broward School Board votes to cut thousands of jobs: ‘We are a bit overstaffed’
- Broward superintendent talks about direction to close 6 schools
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