Teacher absences, graduation venues, AI talks lead Broward School Board meeting
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated the current and previous per-case delivery fee paid by Food and Nutrition Services.
The corrected story is below.
The Broward County School Board met on Tuesday to discuss topics including artificial intelligence, the cost of keeping classrooms staffed and upcoming graduation venues.
The meeting, held at the Kathleen C. Wright Building in Fort Lauderdale on April 7, also touched on food service finances and the growing demand the district has seen for substitute teachers.
Here’s a recap of some of the main items.
AI in classrooms
With two items presented by School Board Chair Sarah Leonardi, she pushed for more transparency when it comes to AI use in Broward classrooms.
Leonardi shared insights from recent roundtable discussion with parents and students about digital learning and AI. The goal, she said, is to give families a clearer picture of how these tools are being used during instruction.
“This item is not about necessarily restricting,” Leonardi said. “It’s just bringing awareness to and giving parents access to information about what’s going on in the classroom.”
A broader workshop and action plan are expected in June, including a look at potential costs for things like “age-appropriate training,” Leonardi said.
Graduation venue contracts
The topic of graduations resurfaced following community pushback in January, when the board planned to host some graduation ceremonies inside high school gymnasiums and others on college campuses.
The board approved two venue contracts that show a mixed financial picture for the upcoming 2026 ceremonies.
At the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center, the district will host four ceremonies at a lower cost than last year, with the municipality affording the school board a discount. The total comes out to about $4,415 per ceremony, a decrease of roughly $226 compared to 2025.
At the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, where 14 ceremonies are scheduled, the base cost per ceremony is higher than last year. But district staff said a $36,000 sponsorship credit helps offset the increase and brings the effective cost closer to 2025 levels.
Board member Maura McCarthy Bulman spoke about keeping consistency across graduation venues, with the past discussions about perceived inequities between schools.
“I will look forward to having a plan for next year that addresses that so that everyone is graduating in a similar venue,” Bulman said.
Members also revisited a long-discussed idea to use graduations to generate some districtwide sponsorship money.
Board member Lori Alhadeff pushed for a unified sponsorship strategy, such as a booklet, calling it a missed opportunity to bring money to the district.
“This isn’t the first time that this has been brought up,” Alhadeff said. “We need to start somewhere ... you are reaching thousands and thousands of people in the sixth largest school district in the country. So I believe we start this year and then we just improve year after year moving forward.”
But timing and logistics were part of the concerns raised.
Superintendent Howard Hepburn said it would be difficult to implement a printed booklet before this year’s ceremonies, the first set to take place in roughly 44 days.
Student advisor Landyn Spellberg added that students are more concerned about funding for programs and meals than graduation venues.
The board ultimately directed Hepburn to explore additional sponsorship opportunities and report back on potential revenue, without limiting how those funds could be used.
Food services
Finances were a recurring topic at the meeting, particularly around food programs for students.
The board approved a $36.25 million contract tied to food purchasing through the POWER Buying Group. The agreement, referred to as a “piggyback” contract, in which the district joins an existing deal, sparked some questions from board members about best competitive bidding practices.
District staff said the food and nutrition department is facing a projected $19 million deficit this year, with four consecutive years of operating losses.
Board member Allen Zeman described the proposal as a “shortcut,” noting it did not include much cost analysis. He also emphasized the district should continue competitive bids when possible.
District staff addressed Zeman’s concerns and pointed to savings compared to Broward’s previous vendor.
Casie Maggio, program coordinator of nutrition education and training for Broward schools, said the district has already seen lower delivery costs through the consortium.
“Prior to the POWER Buying Group, we were paying $4.25 a case to have it delivered to each school,” she said. “With the POWER Buying Group, we were able to reduce that to $3.55 a case. So just right off the bat we were able to save almost $600,000.”
Despite questions, the contract passed unanimously.
Substitute teacher staffing
Staffing shortages were another focus, as the board approved $5.2 million for substitute teacher services through Kelly Services.
Board member Nora Rupert said she would not support the measure because it “was over budget,” and said she would prefer if they gave teachers an adequate amount of money to address the rising need for substitute teachers.
Zeman pointed to data showing a 36% increase in substitute use over two years and asked Hepburn for an explanation, with the superintendent responding he had seen a similar pattern in other large school districts.
Using a Kelly substitute instead of paying a teacher to cover an absent colleague saves the District up to $134 per day, according to district data.
Board member Debra Hixon invited Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco to share her insights, and Fusco pointed to teacher burnout as a key reason for the increase.
Fusco also said frequent evaluations and low pay were reasons for teacher call outs.
“At this point, if we don’t give the extra money, students are going to have nobody,” Hixon said.
The board agreed more needs to be done to understand the core issue.
Vice chair Jeff Holness pushed for an anonymous survey to gather more candid feedback from absent teachers and staff.
The measure passed amended 6-3, with the board deciding to direct Hepburn to conduct those anonymous surveys and develop an action plan to reduce teacher absences.
The school board is scheduled to meet next for a workshop on Tuesday, April 14.
This story was originally published April 8, 2026 at 5:54 PM.
