Superintendent Howard Hepburn will be expected to cut up to 1,000 jobs not just this year, but the following two years as well, under action the Broward School Board approved on Tuesday.
The board voted 6-3 to approve a request by School Board member Jeff Holness to deal with budget cuts caused by declining enrollment. The proposal, which officials said would not involve cutting teacher jobs, is estimated to save about $250 million a year, officials said.
“Whenever we have decline in the number of students, we automatically reduce the number of teachers,” Holness told the board. “The problem is we have not done the same with non-teaching staff over the past 10 to 15 years. … We are heavily overstaffed. Our school district is currently facing significant financial challenges due to years of not intentionally aligning staffing levels with declining student enrollment.”
The district has lost nearly 39,000 students over the past decade, but the number of district employees has only dropped from 21,835 to 20,847, according to data prepared by the district’s finance office.
Board member Allen Zeman said that the number should be 4,702 had the district reduced staff at the same rate as student declines. He said the cuts are necessary if the district wants to ensure it has money to increase teacher pay.
“You either stop talking about paying people well or you start doing things so we have money to do that. It’s just that simple,” Zeman said. “I want to pay teachers more.”
The board directed Hepburn to bring the three-year plan back in June.
Hepburn had already announced a plan to cut about 1,000 jobs for the current school year. Employees received an email Feb. 20 email saying they would be notified in late spring if they are affected, and their last day would be June 30. Officials said at the meeting employees should be notified in April.
Since Hepburn was already doing this, she questioned the need for Holness’ request. Board member Lori Alhadeff said the district first needs to see the affect of the initial cuts.
“He’s doing the job, so let him do the job. Don’t dictate year one, year two, year three,” Alhadeff said. “He needs that flexibility not to have his back against the wall to a plan that was set today on March 10th, 2026. Things are going to change.”
Alhadeff opposed the motion, along with Board member Nora Rupert and Chairwoman Sarah Leonardi. Rupert said she’d rather a plan with dollars cut rather than a certain number of jobs.
“You can cut 1,000 people who are making $20,000 a year or you could cut 1,000 people making $100,000 plus a year,” Rupert said.