FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Broward school board members were back at the office Tuesday following a late-night vote on Monday that moved forward a plan to cut 1,000 jobs.
The job cuts vote came as Superintendent Dr. Howard Hepburn said it was necessary for the school district’s future. It is struggling with major budget issues due to years of declining student enrollment.
“Responsible leadership requires us to act thoughtfully and strategically in response to the financial impact of continued loss of students,” said Hepburn.
Out of the roughly 1,000 positions being cut this year, 700 are currently vacant, and 300 are filled. The plan aims to save the district $54 million.
On Tuesday, that vote was top of mind for school board members.
“I know that we are focusing on reacting to the declining enrollment, but I want to see a great emphasis on being proactive in increasing enrollment in Broward County Schools,” said board member Dr. Jeff Holness.
On Monday, board member Adam Cervera, who voted against the measure, made a handful of motions to cut a few high-level positions.
“My motion is to cut the executive director of food and nutrition services. My motion is to cut the executive director of student transportation and fleet services,” said Cervera during Monday’s meeting.
At least one of his proposed cuts, a vacant director role, gained enough support from fellow board members to be passed. The other motions failed.
The board member reacted to the vote on Tuesday.
“Those cuts need to start within this building. Unfortunately, we decided to pick off the rank and file,” he said.
Rebecca Thompson, another school board member, was also skeptical of the cuts that are set to take place.
“We’re going to need people to do budgeting. We need people to do [information technology.] We need [human resources.] Like all these components aren’t something we can just cut because it doesn’t matter if we are losing students, we still need to run our buses,” she said.
Monday’s vote came after hours of public comment, during which opponents of the plan tried to convince board members to vote against the measure.
“Stop striking out, stop pissing away the money to vendors when we have employees who could be doing it ourselves,” said a speaker.
With the vote now passed, Vanessa Matute, a licensed mental health counselor at Broward schools, said her job may be on the chopping block.
“I do understand it’s hard to let people go. I do not agree with those people being mental health professionals,” she said. “We are the people that they talk to. We are the ones that they confide in. We are that open door for them.”
School leaders, though, said the unfortunate decision was necessary.
“We will continue moving forward in the process with transparency, accountability, compassion, and unwavering focus on student success,” said Hepburn on Monday night.
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