FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. \u2014 During an emotional public meeting on Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale, School Board members discussed the possibility of hundreds of job cuts. <\/p>\n
Superintendent Howard Hepburn said the proposed job cuts were a response to Broward County Public Schools student enrollment\u2019s $80 million budget shortfall.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not just cutting, we also have to change the service model as well,\u201d Hepburn said during the meeting. <\/p>\n
Hepburn said the proposal focused on school or district employees who support the educational environment without providing direct classroom instruction.<\/p>\n
The proposal<\/a> cuts 856 positions, including 300 occupied positions, 159 vacant positions, and 53 support positions to save $40 million.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n School Board member Sarah Leonardi said it wasn\u2019t easy to hear all of \u201cthe heartache\u201d that the notifications about the cuts had caused. <\/p>\n School Board member Maura McCarthy Bulman said she was concerned about the cuts\u2019 impact on veteran staff who were close to retirement. <\/p>\n School Board member Nora Rupert said she recommends prioritizing BCPS employees over consultants.<\/p>\n \u201cImpose a 10% salary cut for all those positions … If that could save people\u2019s jobs, do it,\u201d Rupert said during the meeting about higher-pay-grade positions.<\/p>\n School Board member Adam Cervera agreed with Rupert on protecting employees in low-pay-grade positions. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to stand by while high-paid administrators are spared and teachers, counselors, and student support staff are put on the chopping block. Cut from the top,\u201d Cervera wrote on X<\/a>. <\/p>\n School Board member Jeff Holness said he was worried about the impact of reducing pay on morale and on attracting talent. <\/p>\n School Board member Debra Hixon said they needed to continue to discuss the proposal during another workshop. Hepburn recommended voting next week. <\/p>\n