Broward School Board approves funding plan for teacher salaries ahead of referendum

On Tuesday, the Broward County Public Schools board voted on the 2026 operating referendum that would bring in nearly $300 million.

The levy is a renewal and would cost the average Broward homeowner about $400 a year. The existing referendum is set to expire at the end of next school year.

"This will mean continuity of services that we provide to our students, especially to our schools, that safety and security continues and also assisting our staff across the district with additional compensation. It'sto make sure affordability and thing like that they don't have to worry about in the near future," said BCPS superintendent Dr. Howard Hepburn.

The board decided 90 percent will go to additional compensation for educators and school-based staff and 10 percent will be split between safety personnel and mental health services.

"So now that we know we're able to get better compensation over our salaries, to help people get to schools without having to work 2 and 3 jobs, that's going to be even better," said Anna Fusco, Broward Teachers Union President.

Hepburn was pushing for an 80-20 split and said this could now impact staffing.

"Roughly about 500 unarmed security personnel and about 50 mental health service personnel, but again we're going to sit back with my team and we're going to prioritize what we need to make sure our students get the services that they need," Dr. Hepburn said.

Fusco said the average salary for a teacher in BCPS is about $55,000 annually – that compares to the national average of $75,000.

"The government starves public schools it doesn't give the right amount of money so we know it has to be compensated," Fusco said.

An audit found the district was paying higher earning employees some of the referendum dollars that were approved by voters back in 2022.

"We took hundreds of thousands of dollars that was meant for our great teachers and school-based staff," said BCPS board member Adam Cevera.

The district said that mistake was corrected.

This comes as the district is facing an $80 million budget shortfall this year, after the loss of 50,000 students over 10 years.

In April more than 300 non-teaching staff members were laid off.

The school board approved how the funds will be used, now it will be up to the voters to decide.

The referendum will be on the ballot on Nov. 3rd.