FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — During an emotional public meeting on Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale, School Board members discussed the possibility of hundreds of job cuts.

Superintendent Howard Hepburn said the proposed job cuts were a response to Broward County Public Schools student enrollment’s $80 million budget shortfall.

“We are not just cutting, we also have to change the service model as well,” Hepburn said during the meeting.

Hepburn said the proposal focused on school or district employees who support the educational environment without providing direct classroom instruction.

The proposal cuts 856 positions, including 300 occupied positions, 159 vacant positions, and 53 support positions to save $40 million.

Some of the BCPS employees in the list of 300 attended the meeting and asked school board members to reject the proposal. There were tears in the audience.

School Board member Sarah Leonardi said it wasn’t easy to hear all of “the heartache” that the cuts have caused.

School Board member Maura McCarthy Bulman said she was concerned about the cuts’ impact on veteran staff who were close to retirement.

School Board member Nora Rupert said she recommends prioritizing BCPS employees over consultants.

“Impose a 10% salary cut for all those positions ... If that could save people’s jobs, do it,” Rupert said during the meeting about high-paid positions.

This is a developing story.

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