A ballot measure to supplement teacher pay and other priorities is creating friction among Broward School Board members, who disagreed Tuesday on how to allocate the money and whether the public trusts the district enough to even approve it.
The referendum, which Broward voters will consider during the Nov. 3 election, would renew a tax increase of $100 per $100,000 in assessed property, which voters previously approved in 2022.
The last referendum was used to help fund safety and security officers, mental health counselors and employee supplements. The 2026 referendum is expected to generate about $358 million a year, with about $75 million going to charter schools and $283 million going to district-run schools, according to a district presentation.
Three board members — Adam Cervera, Nora Rupert and Allen Zeman — wanted the entire district portion of the 2026 referendum to be used to boost pay for teachers and other school-based employees.
“One hundred percent of the money should go to those professionals who every day help our children grow in this county,” Rupert said.
Zeman said mental health and safety and security should be paid for with regular state dollars, not with referendum dollars. If the district’s full share went to school-based employees, it could result in teachers being paid 40% more by 2031, he said.
“That is a tectonic shift. That is a shift that very few school boards get the opportunity to take advantage of,” Zeman said.
Most other board members wanted to continue funding safety and security and mental health, noting those were on the ballot in 2022 as well as 2018 when voters approved a smaller tax.
“I think that you have to get the entire county and there’s going to be different things that are important to different people, and I don’t think we can underestimate safety and security or mental health,” Board member Maura Bulman said.
But board members couldn’t agree on how much should go into each category. Several suggested using 75% for employee supplements and 25% for the other areas, while board member Debbi Hixon suggested 90% for employee pay.
Some board members also voiced concern about the possibility of the referendum money, which comprises about 17% of the district’s operating budget, failing to get approved by voters this year due to concerns over how some of the 2022 referendum dollars were spent.
The school district acknowledged in December that most of the highest-paid administrators in the district received annual referendum supplements of up to $14,000, even though it was pitched to help teachers and lower-paid staff.
Since then, the School Board has been making adjustments, which started with a Jan. 6 vote to end referendum bonuses for the highest-paid staff.
Amid some legal advice, the board declined to try to recoup about $500,000 that had already been paid.
The School Board also asked the district auditor to conduct a review and referred it to the county’s Office of Inspector General for possible investigation.
The district deprived “the teachers out of a lot of money and gave it to people in this building who it was not intended for. Now, I know this board has taken some steps to correct that, but the reality is the public is still upset about it,” Board member Adam Cervera told the board. “We have major trust issues with the public because what this district did with the last referendum apportionment.”
Cervera, a Gov. Ron DeSantis appointee and the only Republican on the board, said school district officials “kind of suck at budgeting,” because the district “is operating at a $100 million deficit.”
His comments about the budget drew rebukes from Superintendent Howard Hepburn and several other board members.
“Our budgeting does not suck,” Hepburn responded. “We are correcting many wrongs of systemic past practices that have gotten us to the point of the tough decisions that myself and this board has to make, so it’s not the results of many of the people that are sitting in front of you today.”
Board member Rebecca Thompson disputed Cervera’s suggestion that the public doesn’t trust the school district.
“The people of Broward County do trust us,” she said. “The majority, they trust us based on where they’re going to school. Four to one, people go to Broward County schools in this county. If you go to a parent in a school and say, ‘Do you trust your teachers? Do you trust the principal? As your kids safe there? Yes. 100%, or at least a very high percentage would say yes.”
Hixon said there are trust issues, but she blamed that on comments such as the ones made by Cervera that rehash the administrator bonus issue.
“To be able to get the referendum to pass in this district, we have to be sure our message is the same going forward,” Hixon said. “The more board members say we’re mismanaging money, of course no one’s going to trust us. There was something that happened. It was addressed immediately, and we did ask for an investigation.”
It’s still unclear which employees would qualify for referendum money in the future. Board members agreed that school-based employees would qualify, including teachers, teacher assistants, cafeteria workers, maintenance workers, bus drivers, principals and assistant principals.
Hepburn has proposed district-level employees who are directors or higher would be prohibited from receiving the money, but district-level employees such as assistant directors, specialists and coordinators would be eligible. Some board members say they’d like to limit the pool to school-based employees.
Board members are expected to make a final decision on how the money will be distributed at a special meeting scheduled for April 21.