Broward County School Superintendent Dr. Howard Hepburn received a unanimous vote of confidence from the School Board this week, as members approved a contract extension that will keep him in the district’s top leadership position through June 2030.
Board members applauded following the vote, signaling their support for Hepburn, who was brought on last year after a period of leadership instability in the district.
“First of all, I sincerely thank the board for your faith and trust in me,” Hepburn said after the vote. “I don’t take this responsibility lightly and I plan to make you proud through my continued work and leadership.”
The new contract extends his term from 2027 to 2030 and includes a $10,000 raise, bringing his salary to $360,200.
Since taking the helm, Hepburn has received strong praise from both school officials and the broader community. “It’s been a long time that I’ve worked in this district and I’ve seen a lot of superintendents come and go, I’ve seen a lot of boards come and go, and I’ve long hoped that we would have a superintendent of this quality in this district and we finally do,” said Lisa Maxwell, Executive Director of the Broward Principal and Assistants Association.
Board member Jeff Holness also credited Hepburn for significant academic progress across the district. “Since Dr. Hepburn came onboard, we can confidently say we do not have any Ds or Fs schools. We became an A-rated school district under his leadership,” Holness said.
While grateful for the support, Hepburn emphasized the work that lies ahead—particularly as the Broward school district faces challenges with declining enrollment. Hepburn projected a budget shortfall of $75 to $80 million.
“While I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together, I know there’s still much to do,” he said. “We’ve done the initial parts of a lot of things that we wanted to do this year, but as everybody knows, when you want to see change, when you want to innovate, when you want to create better opportunities for our students, and in turn, create better opportunities for our entire county, it takes time.”
He noted that staffing levels have increased slightly even as enrollment continues to dip, calling the situation “out of whack” during a meeting last week. “We’re working on a plan that we’re going to provide to our board about how we’re going to address some concerns immediately,” Hepburn added.
