If voters pass plan, Broward Schools will pay $254 million to teachers and staff
Broward County School Board members unanimously voted Tuesday to allocate about $254.3 million from a countywide referendum in November to support employees who work directly in schools and have a direct impact on students. Those worker include teachers, school-based administrators and school-safety personnel.
If voters approve the Nov. 3 referendum, the distribution of the money would be determined through negotiations between unions and the school district.
A smaller amount of money — 10% of the dollars approved by the referendum, or about $28.1 million — would be shared among mental-health, and security and safety personnel. The board would decide the portions to be split among the groups.
Voters will be asked if they would like to renew a property-tax increase that they first approved in 2022 and is equal to $100 per $100,000 in assessed property.
“ Everything that happens here in Broward County Public Schools is on taxpayers,” said board member Debbie Hixon at the meeting. “We’re a public-funded entity, so we appreciate the additional taxes to be able to give teachers or employees supplements.”
The latest National Education Association report on teacher salaries shows that — for the third consecutive year — Florida ranked at the bottom nationwide. It found the average teacher salary in Florida public schools was $56,600 in 2025, compared to the national average of $74,400.
The allocation percentage will guide how the district plans its budget and operations from 2028 through 2031.
This is the third referendum supporting security, mental-health and employee pay. The first was in 2018 and limited supplements mainly for teachers. The 2022 referendum doubled the tax and went to teachers and staff, although it was unspecific about which non-teacher roles were eligible until after it passed.
The School Board voted in 2023 to exclude administrators with the highest salaries from the referendum. However, that limitation was removed in 2024 — without public input — stirring outrage when it became known that administrators who made more than $200,000 a year were receiving bonuses of up to $14,000.
In response, the board froze the bonuses.
Hixon and fellow School Board member Rebecca Thompson were vocal about not receiving enough state funding.
A sharp decline in enrollment in the district in recent years has translated into fewer state dollars for schools, affecting teacher pay.
Florida spent $13,487 per student, on average, for the school year that ended in 2025. The state’s budget for 2026-27 has not been approved. The fiscal year begins July 1.
The referendum would give the School Board the chance to increase salaries in the wake of less state funding, according to Hixon.
The referendum is “about looking at who are the lowest-paid people in this district and how do we help give them equity,” Hixon said.
The House proposed a $113.6 billion package, about $1 billion less than the current budget year, which ends on June 30. The Senate plan came in at $115 billion. The funding for private-school scholarships is nearing $5 billion.
Thompson said the issue will persist — and worsen — if Tallahassee doesn’t increase funding for the district.
“There will be more schools closing. There will be more layoffs. There will be more destruction of public education,” she said.
“With the state allocation and the general budget, we wouldn’t be able to provide the unarmed security that you see at school and the abundance that you see,” Broward School Superintendent Howard Hepburn told the board.
The referendum will be on the ballot for the Nov. 3 elections.
This report was produced by Miami Herald news partner WLRN Public Media.