FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. \u2014 Broward County Public Schools employees braced for job cuts amid fiscal pressure from student enrollment declines. <\/p>\n
After dealing with school closures<\/a>, Superintendent Howard Hepburn has the tough task of proposing a new job-cuts plan. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are a bit overstaffed, and so we have to work at looking at this complex challenge and finding any cost savings possible,\u201d Hepburn said. <\/p>\n School Board members voted 6-3 on Tuesday<\/a> to direct Hepburn to come up with a plan to cut \u201cat least 1,000 positions per year for three consecutive years\u201d by July 1, according to the item on the agenda<\/a>. <\/p>\n School Board members Lori Alhadeff, Nora Rupert, and Sarah Leonardi dissented.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile I understand we are overstaffed, I think some of that doesn\u2019t 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,\u201d Leonardi said. <\/p>\n The item, brought by School Board member Jeff Holness, directed Hepburn to start his plan \u201cby aligning staffing levels proportionally with projected student enrollment declines\u201d and \u201coperational needs,\u201d according to the item on the agenda<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cWe have not reduced our non-teaching staff,\u201d Holness said during the meeting. <\/p>\n The school district had more than 40,000 fewer students in ten years and projected an additional 9,000-student loss during the 2026\u201327 school year.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is to make up for 10 years of not doing this,\u201d School Board member Allen Zeman said during the meeting. <\/p>\n