Broward County Public Schools is planning to eliminate more than 100 security jobs as part of sweeping efforts to address a looming $76 million budget shortfall fueled by plummeting enrollment and the end of federal pandemic relief funding.
According to a memo reported on by Local10, the district plans to cut 104 vacant campus monitor positions and four additional security roles for the next school year. The move is part of Superintendent Dr. Howard Hepburn’s reorganization plan.
Hepburn said the district is also “looking at consolidating contracts that may be duplicating services or not renewing contracts where we don’t need those services anymore.”
Officials say the cuts, which come mostly through attrition, will save about $7 million and help avoid layoffs — for now.
“We are at a very defining moment in our district; every dollar matters,” said board member Rebecca Thompson at the meeting.
The budget squeeze comes as the district expects 8,000 fewer students next year. Over the past decade, enrollment has dropped by 17%, but school board member Dr. Allen Zeman pointed out that operational costs haven’t followed suit.
“We’ve talked about it, but we gotta get real about it, which is enrollment in the last 10 years is down 17%, but our overhead, I don’t think, has gone down 17% in the last 10 years,” Zeman said.
Superintendent Hepburn said more difficult decisions are ahead, including school closures and consolidations.
“There are tough decisions we have to make; we just have way too many schools, a lot of our schools are underenrolled, and our students would get better services and better learning opportunities if we consolidated those schools,” Hepburn said.
He’s aiming to trim $100 million from the budget while protecting classrooms. One major area of savings — about $50 million — will come from restricting staff overtime.
Board Chair Debbi Hixon said the district is “trying to look at consolidating schools so those security positions would be shifted.” She added that they’re also looking to cut or consolidate duplicative contracts, reduce conference travel, and improve transportation efficiency.
“We’re going to start with attrition and not filling positions that people retire from,” Hixon said. “We’re doing the best that we can without having to lay off people.”
Hixon, a school safety advocate since her husband was killed in the Parkland shooting, said she initially questioned the decision to cut security positions. But given the projected enrollment drop and new safety measures like metal detectors and panic buttons, she believes the move is necessary.
“My initial reaction was, you know, ‘What are we doing?’” Hixon said. “But again, when you think about it, if we’re projected to lose 8,000 students next year, then you wouldn’t need as much of that peripheral staff as you did.”
Some school board members voiced frustration with what they see as inadequate funding from the state.
“Florida is consistently ranked in the bottom five in our nation. Currently, we are 45th in how we fund our education systems,” said Thompson.
“We get about $9,000 per student; the national average is about $16 to $20 thousand per student, so we are fighting an uphill battle in general,” Hixon added.
Next month, the district will begin gathering community input on school closures. As more families opt for alternatives to public schools, district leaders say cuts are necessary to stay afloat.
