Broward school board plans to cut up to 3,000 jobs. It could save $250 million

The Broward County School Board voted to direct the superintendent to develop a plan to cut up to 3,000 jobs over three years.

Board member Jeff Holness brought the item to the Tuesday meeting to reduce staff to address Broward County Public Schools’ dire financial situation given the decline in student enrollment. The item passed 6-3, with board members Lori Alhadeff, Nora Rupert and Sarah Leonardi dissenting.

The item, which Holness amended during the meeting, directs Superintendent Howard Hepburn to develop a three-year plan that reduces district staff by 1,000 positions in the first year and between 500 and 1,000 positions the following two years. Hepburn is required to present the staffing plan to the board on July 21. The school district is already planning to cut 1,000 jobs this year through layoffs and attrition. School district employees will learn their job status in April.

If the district does end up cutting 3,000 jobs over the next three years, it would save about $250 million, said BCPS Chief Financial Officer Romanier Johnson.

While its unclear exactly which school district jobs will be impacted by the three-year plan, board members stressed that teachers would not be affected by these new cuts. Instead, the cuts will target non-teaching jobs.

“Whatever plan you come up with cannot should not and must not include teachers under any circumstances,” board member Adam Cervera told Hepburn at the meeting. “We must not lose a single teacher over this.”

Over the last 10 years, student enrollment has declined by about 38,000 and the number of teachers hired by the district automatically decreased in proportion, Holness said. But the number of district-level staff, or non-teachers, actually increased over the last 10 years. Those are the jobs that should be considered for cuts, Holness said.

The school district employs about 20,000 employees, 12,600 of which are teachers. A reduction of 3,000 would mean a 40 percent decrease in the remaining positions.

Anna Fusco, the Broward Teachers Union president, told the board she was not convinced that teachers will not be impacted by the three-year plan. Regardless, Fusco told the board that employees deserve to understand who is getting laid off and when as soon as possible.

“Nobody wants to lose a job,” Fusco said. “Everybody wants to know ‘Is it me?’”

Board members all agreed that the school district, which is facing a $90 million budget shortfall, needs to save money, but they disagreed on the language of the item. Some board members were concerned that by the 1,000-position requirement and instead suggested a money savings goal instead.

“I’m very alarmed at how we’re going to do it within the scope of equity,” board member Nora Rupert said. “I just want to make sure everyone is treated fairly.”

Board member Allen Zeman supported the idea to cut 3,000 jobs over three years, which he described as “conservative” considering how badly the district needs to downsize.

“This is to make up for 10 years of not doing this year by year by year,” Zeman said. “The accounting does not lie.”

Alhadeff disagreed, arguing that the idea was unnecessary because Hepburn is already addressing overstaffing. “I think it’s wrong to micromanage Hepburn on this,” she said.

Besides job cuts, the school board and superintendent have been looking to save money by closing underenrolled schools and cutting coverage of weight-loss drugs, a controversial idea that will be discussed Tuesday afternoon.

This story was originally published March 10, 2026 at 2:42 PM.