The highest-paid administrators in Broward schools will no longer receive bonuses of up to $14,000 from a referendum that was intended to help teachers and staff members afford to live in South Florida.
The School Board also agreed to ask the district’s chief auditor to investigate why the most senior employees were added in 2024 to the pool of employees who qualified for dollars from a referendum Broward voters approved in August 2022. A district spokesman had said the School Board took action in July 2024 that led to the payouts, but board members say they never intended to approve these payments and that they had received incomplete information from district staff.
Board members also agreed to contact the Broward Inspector General’s Office, which the district is contracted with, to investigate any potential fraud, waste or mismanagement. But they didn’t want to rely solely on that office, saying the office doesn’t provide a timeline for completing any investigations. Board members hope to ask Broward voters to renew the referendum in November, and they say they need to fix anything that went wrong.
“Our teachers, our principals and (assistant principals), the people who have direct daily impacts on our kids, benefit immensely from this referendum, and the voters knew that when they entrusted that with the money,” Board Chairwoman Sarah Leonardi, who initiated the board action, said at Tuesday’s meeting. “I urge my colleagues to keep this in mind during our discussion today. We have to go back out in less than a year to ask voters to support our schools once again.”
The change will affect about 40 employees who had received supplements ranging from about $7,500 to $14,185, district officials said. The employees had been receiving the payments spread out over 20 paychecks a year, and they will not have to repay money already received, officials said. The change will save the district about $500,000 over the next 18 months, officials said.
The School Board decided to discuss the issue at a special meeting on Tuesday after the South Florida Sun Sentinel raised questions about why the school district had decided to add the highest-paid employees to the recipients of referendum dollars in 2024 without any public discussion.
The Sun Sentinel learned about the payments when the newly hired general counsel, Kathy Dupuy-Bruno, was told during negotiations that she would receive a 5.5% referendum supplement, which would have been $14,300. A representative for Dupuy-Bruno told the School Board on Tuesday that Dupuy-Bruno didn’t ask for the supplement and wasn’t seeking it.
The board first voted in a meeting in August 2023 on how to allocate the supplements for employees. Teachers were given supplements ranging from $500 to $12,000, while principals, assistants and most non-managers were allocated 5.5% of their base salaries.
Members of the Broward County School Board listen to public comments on referendum bonuses during a meeting at the Kathleen C. Wright Administration Center in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
This included some employees who belong to the Educational Support & Management Association of Broward, or ESMAB, which represents non-school-based employees. But the agreement approved by the board specifically said it would be for employees who were at the director level or below. Left out were executive directors, chiefs and associate, regional and deputy superintendents, who have the highest salary ranges.
But when referendum supplements for these employees came up again in July 2024, the language had been changed to say all eligible ESMAB employees would get the supplements, without specifically explaining that this meant expanding it to the highest-paid employees. The board agreed to extend the 5.5% referendums for three years.
Leonardi asked Superintendent Howard Hepburn if the School Board had ever directed him to expand the money to the highest-paid employees.
“Not that I recall,” Hepburn responded.
The supplements were also available for Hepburn, Chief Auditor Dave Rhodes and General Counsel Marylin Batista and some other lawyers, even though none are members of an employee group specifically approved for supplements. This is due to language in their contracts that say they get the same pay increases as other administrative staff.
Hepburn said he declined his supplement, which would have been nearly $20,000 per year. The district confirmed Batista received $14,185 for 2024-25 and $6,574 for a prorated share of 2025-26. Rhodes received $10,725 last school year and $4,971 so far this year.
Other high-level employees who received large supplements for the 2024-25 school year include Angela Fulton, deputy superintendent of teaching and learning ($12,463); Valerie Wanza, chief of strategy and innovation ($12,342), Chief Information Officer Trey Davis ($12,180); Chief Financial Officer Romanier Johnson ($12,180); Chief Operations Officer Wanda Paul ($12,180) and Chief Communications Officer John Sullivan ($11,302).
Sullivan, who also is the district spokesman, told the Sun Sentinel last week that the supplements had been expanded to high-paid staff to “maintain competitiveness and retain key leadership talent.”
He said last week that unlike some large districts, Broward school administrators “are not members of special state retirement classes that provide enhanced benefits, placing the District at a competitive disadvantage. These supplements provide market parity and help prevent the loss of experienced leadership, which would result in increased costs, operational disruption and lost opportunities for students and families.”
But Hepburn said on Tuesday that he doesn’t support the highest-paid employees receiving the money and recommended the School Board make the change.
“This reflects my personal belief that voter-approved funds should prioritize school-based and frontline staff who have the most direct impact on students and daily operations,” Hepburn said. “Directing these resources to those roles enhances our ability to attract and retain personnel directly supporting teaching, learning, student safety, and essential services while ensuring that referendum funds remain focused on the district’s core mission.”
Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Howard Hepburn speaks about referendum bonuses during a School Board meeting at the Kathleen C. Wright Administration Center in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Board member Adam Cervera, who was not on the School Board when the supplements were approved, said this is the latest in a string of missteps that reflect poorly on the district.
The district has also recently faced unrelated legal action, and had to take emergency actions related to issues in the district’s operations department.
“This whole fiasco is unacceptable,” Cervera said of the supplements. “This needs to be fixed today.”