Broward school board to make final call on job cuts Tuesday. Here’s the latest
The Broward County School Board is scheduled to meet Tuesday to make a final decision on a proposed reorganization plan that would eliminate at least 856 positions across the district.
School district officials say the cuts are part of a larger effort to mitigate decades of declining student enrollment and an $80 million budget shortfall. Of the positions targeted, 353 are currently filled.
The proposal comes after earlier direction from the board for Superintendent Howard Hepburn to cut about 1,000 positions this year, with an extra 500 to 1,000 reductions planned annually over the next two years.
During an April 21 workshop, the plan drew public pushback, particularly over proposed cuts to exceptional student education positions, mental health services, and concerns about proper termination notices and whether principals were adequately consulted.
Some speakers and board members also questioned whether the plan sufficiently reduces upper-level administrative roles, arguing it appeared to be shuffling roles instead of eliminating the higher pay-band positions.
According to the district, the 856 positions targeted in the reorganization include “300 occupied positions, 159 vacant positions resulting from attrition and the current hiring freeze, and 53 support positions associated with school repurposing.”
Over the past decade, the district has lost nearly 40,000 students, including about 10,000 this school year, with another 10,000 projected next year. Because state funding is tied to enrollment, revenue has declined as student numbers dwindled.
The organizational chart is backed by a six-week external review conducted by social impact consulting firm MGT, which the district hired to analyze central office staffing and identify potential reductions.
After feedback from the community, Hepburn said 22 previously proposed cuts to ESE-related roles would be restored — five related to program specialist positions and 17 to family counselor positions.
While most school board members expressed concerns about the scope and distribution of the cuts, some pushed for deeper reductions among top-level administrators.
Board member Adam Cervera was particularly critical of the plan, saying, “This current plan that we have disproportionately impacts our lower-level staff while sparing some top-level administrators.”
While Hepburn’s recommended plan cuts some executive directors and director positions, he kept all chief positions in place.
Hepburn described the organizational chart and proposals from MGT as an effort to “right-size” the district to align staffing and structure while still protecting “classrooms, instruction and direct services to students.”
“This generates approximately $40 million in savings, with more being realized throughout the spring and the summer,” Hepburn said at the April 21 workshop.
In addition to the reorganization, the board is expected to address a state investigation into the district tied to spending by School Board Chair Sarah Leonardi.
The investigation was announced Friday by Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas after Leonardi used a district-issued purchasing card to pay for a $150 ticket to a partisan political gala.
Leonardi said in a letter to the commissioner that her secretary made the purchase without authorization. She said she immediately reimbursed the district and returned the card “to ensure full accountability.”
“As has been my consistent practice, I made clear that these expenses would be paid from my personal and other non-district funds, and not from any district resources,” Leonardi wrote in the letter that Kamoutsas posted on social media.
Leonardi said she will present an item at Tuesday’s meeting to prevent misuse of district funds and unauthorized use of the district’s logo. The item would also direct the chief auditor to review purchasing card use in the district over the past year and authorize general counsel to seek an outside firm to investigate.
