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Broward School District board meeting, date not confirmed yet

5 h 38 min · 4 videos

Discussed school closures

Click any moment below to jump the video to that second. Video length 38 min.

Playing part 2 · 38 min of 4. Back to part 1

What happened

What happened at this meeting

Part 1 · 2 h 37 min

Broward school board adopts final 2026⁠-⁠27 budget of $4,663,820,338 on 6⁠-⁠2 vote 2:35:40

  • Several speakers at public comment said the proposed budget did not show a salary raise for teachers. 30:33
  • One board member said they could not support a budget without the salary increases the board had directed, and another board member said they would not vote for the budget because there was not enough money for teachers. 1:39:04
  • One board member said the board needed to pass the budget that night, and another board member urged colleagues to follow the law and pass it. 1:57:41
  • The board adopted a final 2026⁠-⁠27 budget of $4,663,820,338 on a 6⁠-⁠2 vote after adopting final millage rates with one dissenting vote. 2:35:40

Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →

Item by item (10)
  1. Opening and public comment rules 0:48
    • The hearing on the 2026⁠-⁠2027 millage and budget was called to order, and the agenda was closed after a motion and second. 0:48
    • The general counsel explained the public comment rules, including up to 3 minutes per item for speakers. 3:41
  2. Budget and millage presentation 5:16
    • The chief financial officer said the proposed general fund budget totaled approximately $3.5 billion, including $568 million for charter schools and $377 million for the Family Empowerment Scholarship. 8:12
    • The chief financial officer said the assigned and unassigned fund balance was $84.4 million, or 3.5% of revenues, and that reaching 5% would cost approximately $36 million. 8:12
    • The chief financial officer said the total budget was approximately $4.7 billion and that preliminary savings opportunities ranged from approximately $15.2 million to $52 million. 8:12
  3. Public comment on millage rates 18:41
    • Several speakers at public comment said the budget lacked teacher raises and described rising class sizes and living costs. 19:11
    • A speaker at public comment asked why property taxes on a home had risen, and a staff member said the question was for the property appraiser. 27:39
    • A speaker at public comment said the district needed to communicate better what the millage rate means. 32:36
  4. Board discussion and vote on millage 44:47
    • Debra Hixon said the millage rate was 6.5 in 2020 and the rate before the board was 6.45. 45:43
    • One board member said the fund balance was just over the state minimum and called the budget a risky budget. 51:16
    • A budget staff member read the resolution, which said the total millage rates exceed the rollback rate by 3.38%. 55:32
    • The resolution adopting the millage rate passed with one dissenting vote. 59:18
  5. Public comment on the budget 59:18
    • A speaker at public comment said shifting healthcare costs onto employees should not be called savings. 1:03:19
    • Several speakers at public comment said educators had been promised a minimum 4% raise and the budget did not show it. 1:06:42
    • Other speakers at public comment asked for raises for education support professionals and suggested selling or renting empty buildings. 1:19:36
  6. Board questions on savings and raises 1:36:37
    • Adam Cervera said the budget's practical teacher raise range was roughly 1.7 to 2%, and a staff member said identified cost savings equated to what the board asked for, to be discussed in closed door. 1:44:07
  7. Board speaking time limits 1:49:00
    • The general counsel said board policy limits board members to 5 minutes per round and recommended following it. 1:50:41
  8. Budget timing and legal obligations 1:52:09
    • One board member said slide 11 showed $52 million in potential savings and that the board needed to pass the budget that night. 1:53:28
    • A staff member told Rebecca Thompson that lease revenue goes to the general fund while sale proceeds go to restricted capital funds. 2:02:03
    • The general counsel said the board has a statutory responsibility to pass a budget and the window closes September 19th. 2:03:04
  9. Enrollment, funding and negotiations 2:07:19
    • Lori Alhadeff asked whether block scheduling would save $40 million, and a staff member said yes, approximately, and that the money could go directly to compensation. 2:08:30
    • The general counsel cautioned that under Florida Statute 447.605 it is not advisable to negotiate with the union from the dais. 2:11:01
    • The meeting was recessed and reconvened. ~2:11:29
  10. Second round and budget vote 2:23:23
    • Debra Hixon said Broward County Public Schools receives $9,400 per FTE for students in basic funding and that Palm Beach County receives $10,781. 2:23:29
    • One board member said they would not vote on the budget and that colleagues could vote no. 2:30:20
    • Dr. Allen Zeman called the question, and a budget staff member read the resolution adopting a budget of $4,663,820,338. 2:30:56
    • The motion passed 6⁠-⁠2, and Item 2 was approved. 2:35:42

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

Part 2 · 38 min

Broward school board approves annual financial report and athletic security wanding contract 5:55

  • The Broward County school board unanimously approved the Superintendent's Annual Financial Report to the Commissioner of Education. 5:55
  • During discussion of the report, board members questioned a district staff member about an earlier motion to cut 1,000 staff positions and whether it included teachers. 12:42

Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →

Item by item (4)
  1. Opening and agenda 0:54
    • The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. 0:54
    • The chair accepted a revised agenda released by the superintendent, and the agenda was closed. 2:25
    • An attorney explained public comment rules, including a limit of up to 3 minutes per item. 2:51
  2. Public comment on annual financial report 5:04
    • Speakers at public comment raised concerns about class sizes and teacher workloads, including classes of 50 to 60 students. 7:25
    • A speaker at public comment asked the board to provide a 4% raise and to find it in the budget. 9:08
  3. Board discussion of financial report 12:34
    • Dr. Jeff Holness asked whether the motion to cut staff included cutting teachers, and a district staff member said it did not; the staff member also cited about $450 million in lost revenue over the past decade. 12:42
    • One board member asked whether the cuts would mean losing certified teachers and said they did not vote for the motion; a staff member said employees with a teacher certification would be affected but their jobs were not directly providing instruction to students. 17:50
    • Debra Hixon asked for a timeline on reducing class sizes, and a staff member said teachers would have their new classes of students on September 14th. 26:10
    • The board approved item 1 unanimously. 28:01
  4. Athletic security wanding contract 28:08
    • A speaker at public comment asked what the outside company would cost and why district employees were not doing the work. 29:41
    • A speaker asked whether the district had analyzed the cost of using in-house security instead of the $700,000-plus contract, and a staff member said that analysis had been done. 32:07
    • Nora Rupert asked whether contracted staff receive training on exceptionalities, and a staff member said it was not certain the contract included a training requirement and that staff would look into it. 35:14
    • The board approved item 2 unanimously. 37:17

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

Part 3 · 1 h 13 min

Broward board reviews policy revisions ahead of September 15th public hearing 1:31

  • The Broward school board reconvened its workshop for rule development, heard public speakers and then a staff presentation on revisions to a set of policies. 1:31
  • Board members discussed wording on contacting parents about unexcused absences and the number of absences that trigger a report to the principal. 43:52
  • One board member suggested raising a $500 limit on school donations to $1,000. 1:02:13
  • A staff member asked to move the policies to final adoption at a public hearing for September 15th. 1:08:08

Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →

Item by item (15)
  1. Public comment on draft policies 1:31
    • A speaker at public comment asked for added language on superintendent procedures, on the superintendent falling under the ethics policy and on procedures not conflicting with board policy or law. 1:52
    • A staff member said there was no objection to the suggested language. 3:07
    • A speaker at public comment asked about employee free expression, and a staff member said a policy on freedom of speech in non-instructional settings could be added for September 22nd. 9:39
  2. Superintendent vacancy language 13:10
    • A staff member said Policy 1020 was revised so the deputy superintendent would take over if there is a vacancy. 13:17
    • One board member suggested giving the chair the power to declare the emergency in both 1020 and 1060. 14:36
    • Lori Alhadeff asked whether the deputy superintendent would automatically become superintendent, and a staff member said it would be for a very short interim period. 15:23
  3. Standard operating procedures policy 16:43
    • Dr. Allen Zeman asked whether standard operating procedures would be approved by the board, and a staff member said 1030.01 delegates that responsibility to the superintendent. 17:15
    • One board member asked what would stop a superintendent or staff member from writing a procedure that crosses from how to what. 20:44
    • Adam Cervera asked whether the added language was an adequate safeguard, and a staff member said yes. 24:15
    • A staff member said there was consensus to add the language. 24:43
  4. Superintendent incapacity provisions 24:43
    • A staff member said language giving the chair an active part would be added to that policy as well. 25:23
    • Debra Hixon noted the draft said more than 30 days, and a staff member corrected a reading of 90 days to more than 30 days. 25:38
  5. Other policy corrections 26:18
    • A staff member said 18 months was removed from Policy 7250 and replaced with the word sufficient. 26:18
    • Debra Hixon asked where the procedure would be found, and a staff member said the process would move into a standard operating procedure coinciding with approval on September 15th. 26:50
    • A staff member said a word in Policy 8390 was replaced with a reference to Florida Statute 828.02. 27:43
  6. Threatening behavior policy 28:34
    • A staff member said Policy 3380 was changed to include a reasonable standard and enforcement. 28:34
    • Adam Cervera said the reasonable person standard appeared to apply only to physical safety, and a staff member said the wording could be moved so it covers everything after it. 30:49
    • One board member said the policy should first identify who is being protected and then define threatening behavior. 33:36
  7. Wording changes to several policies 34:21
    • Dr. Allen Zeman asked whether a sentence prohibited the board from approving the org chart, and a staff member said no. 34:29
    • One board member said the board allocates rather than provides resources and should assess rather than determine the success of the superintendent. 35:36
    • A staff member said the line would read that the board is responsible for assessing the performance of the superintendent. 37:28
  8. Community role in superintendent search 37:35
    • One board member proposed language limiting community participation to providing input on community needs for superintendent competencies. 38:06
    • One board member said the change would box community members into a narrow conversation. 42:17
    • One board member said the current wording would let the board set parameters later. 42:45
    • Dr. Allen Zeman withdrew the recommendation. 43:04
  9. Parent contact on unexcused absences 43:10
    • One board member suggested deleting the words insofar as possible so parents are contacted each time a child has an unexcused absence. 43:10
    • One board member proposed wording that insofar as possible, parents shall be contacted each time their child has an unexcused absence. 53:04
  10. Absence reporting thresholds 53:34
    • One board member said 3 and 6 would be preferable to 5 and 10 unexcused absences before a report to the principal, but said no formal change request was made. 53:34
    • A staff member said a higher standard would put more onus on the district. 55:14
    • One board member said there was no need to go beyond state statute because staff already have procedures. 58:25
  11. School donation limit 59:59
    • A staff member said the superintendent or designee may accept up to $50,000. 1:01:57
    • One board member suggested changing the $500 limit for principals to $1,000. 1:02:13
    • Rebecca Thompson said the limit is a notification mechanism and does not stop principals from accepting larger donations. 1:03:07
  12. Student data use by vendors 1:04:32
    • One board member said the district needs a policy on opting in to use student data and a clause in contracts for software vendors. 1:04:32
  13. Policy application to all employees 1:05:49
    • One board member raised adding language making clear the superintendent is covered by Policy 1210. 1:05:52
    • Adam Cervera asked that the requirements apply from the superintendent down, and a staff member confirmed. 1:06:36
    • Sarah Leonardi said there was no objection. 1:06:22
  14. Next step for policy adoption 1:08:02
    • A staff member asked to move the policies to final adoption at a public hearing for September 15th. 1:08:08
    • Sarah Leonardi said any substantive changes at that meeting would result in a redo of the rulemaking. 1:08:20
  15. State teacher salary allocation 1:08:32
    • Debra Hixon asked how the TSIA money was being decided. 1:08:46
    • A speaker said the state provided $201,388,752 for salary increases to full-time classroom teachers with at least 10 years of experience, and an agreement will come to the board on September 15th. 1:09:41
    • Sarah Leonardi adjourned the workshop. 1:11:54

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

Part 4 · 1 h 11 min

Broward school board hears committee reports on transportation, class sizes and screen time 11:57

  • The Broward County school board heard reports from advisory committees at a workshop, including concerns about transportation, class sizes and services for students with disabilities. 4:58
  • Board members asked district staff about the parent complaint process, training for bus drivers and iReady use. 34:06
  • The meeting was recessed for a few minutes to transition to the next presentation. 1:10:21

Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →

Item by item (14)
  1. Opening, pledge and public comment rules 0:50
    • Dr. Jeff Holness recognized Walker Elementary, a visual and performing arts magnet school, and said it rose from an F to a C and now earned a B. 1:33
    • The board's general counsel said public comment is governed by school board policy 1020 and speakers have up to 3 minutes. 3:19
  2. Student council and advisory report 5:52
    • The report said work was underway on a student AI task force to gather student perspectives on AI in education. 6:48
  3. Audit Committee report 7:03
    • The Audit Committee report said several audits reviewed on August 13th would come to the board on September 15th. 7:03
    • The report said one audit had only 2 exceptions and cited one payment error out of nearly 28,000 payments, which was fixed. 7:03
    • The Audit Committee report recommended that the community be kept apprised of how the monies are spent, similar to an annual report. 7:03
  4. ESE advisory council report 11:38
    • The ESE advisory report said the council remained 4 board appointees short, which it said left those members at odds with Policy 1070. 11:57
    • The report raised transportation scheduling issues and delays in issuing campus security passes for private behavior technicians. 12:23
    • The report asked the board to ask how many letters required under House Bill 1279 had been issued for missed IEP services. 16:30
  5. ESOL Leadership Council report 17:04
    • The ESOL Leadership Council report said the committee had held its first meeting and set its meeting calendar for the school year. 17:14
    • The report said one priority this year is supporting the work of the International Welcome Center. 18:16
  6. Facilities Task Force report 22:23
    • The task force suggested by consensus that the board appoint one representative from each of the 3 area advisories to the Boundary Commission Committee. 22:44
    • The Facilities Task Force report said the group did not reach quorum and reviewed the district educational facilities plan. 23:03
  7. Parent Community Involvement Task Force report 24:04
    • The task force report said the first Parent University of the school year, focused on online safety, was planned for September 30th with the Miami field office of the FBI. 24:17
    • The report said the task force would focus this year on the responsiveness of district offices and schools to family requests. 24:17
  8. District and Central Area advisory reports 27:30
    • A speaker reading notes for an advisory council raised transportation challenges and class sizes of 30 students in elementary and 50+ in middle and high schools. 27:41
    • The report said the move to deactivate iReady at 3:30 PM was not communicated upfront to parents. 29:44
    • A speaker reported motions that passed unanimously seeking a class size compliance plan by January 1st, 2027, and publication of screen time data by November 1st. 30:38
  9. Board questions on committee reports 31:31
    • Debra Hixon asked whether the board holds a workshop at the end of each year on how money was spent, and a staff member said expenditures are uploaded every month. 32:13
    • Debra Hixon asked about a form for parents to report incidents, and a speaker said the BCPS website links to BCPS Cares, which routes concerns to regional offices. 34:06
    • One board member said the district must find a way for everyone to understand the process and feel comfortable sharing concerns. 38:38
  10. Questions on transportation and IEP services 38:38
    • A staff member said bus driver training for students with disabilities is being updated with the ESE department because it is dated. 40:28
    • The Chief Student Services Officer said the district provides transportation to aftercare sites as long as they are within the appropriate pattern. 45:59
    • A staff member said letters on missed IEP services have gone home and offered a follow-up on specifics. 46:50
  11. Questions on class sizes, textbooks and screen time 46:59
    • A staff member said balancing of class sizes was still in progress and the district has textbooks for every student. 47:08
    • A staff member said teachers were assigning iReady beyond the required 30 to 60 minutes a week and those students were not performing as well. 48:44
    • A staff member said teachers received a computer science companion guide and may bring out computers to teach navigation, and a second survey is planned at FAST PM2. 51:43
  12. iReady and Accelerated Reader availability 55:54
    • Dr. Allen Zeman asked whether students assigned extra iReady time would be expected to score lower, and a staff member said a comparative study of students at the same level found they were not performing as well. 56:38
    • Dr. Allen Zeman said the board said a year ago that software available 24/7 under contract would be made available 24/7 and said Dr. Allen Zeman would follow up outside the meeting. 57:56
  13. Accelerated Reader and screen time limits 1:00:21
    • Adam Cervera asked whether Accelerated Reader tests could be done on paper and asked for district direction to schools if so. 1:00:30
    • A speaker said Accelerated Reader tests cannot be printed because of copyright and must be taken online. 1:04:03
  14. Parent concern reporting process 1:04:49
    • A board member asked about ways to help parents raise concerns without fear of retaliation against their children. 1:04:49
    • A speaker suggested a one-pager showing parents where to go for school-based issues and a similar one for the district level. 1:06:37
    • A staff member said the district could simplify the process into something parents can understand. 1:08:01

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

What was said

What board members said, in order

I am a little bit of a budget guy. The school board doesn't really provide anything to the school district. We allocate resources, but we don't provide resources. We, the state, the federal, the philanthropic community, some individuals on this board might actually provide resources, that would be great.Allen Zeman · Board member35:37
The community's needs for superintendent competencies. And again, the idea is we really want the community to help us with that, but what we don't want to do is trip over the line of them thinking that they are actually picking the superintendent.Allen Zeman · Board member40:11
This is a real change as well. It is not just a grammatical or wordsmithing kind of change. I would suggest we delete the words insofar as possible. I think when students miss, they are not attending school, parents should be contacted each time.Allen Zeman · Board member43:11
Do you think $500 is a reasonable limit in terms of trusting principals to know what to accept in terms of donation?Allen Zeman · Board member1:01:29
I just think $500 has become not the same as it used to be, maybe when this policy was originally generated. I would move it up to $1,000 just to allow principals a little bit more autonomy. I think there are people who walk into schools they're blown away as a guest.Allen Zeman · Board member1:02:13
Well, that's the point, right? Because a lot of these schools Um, they believe that the board's instruction was to basically negate Accelerated Reader completely, right? But now apparently there's a way that you can still use it without being online, thus not being subject to the recent restrictions that this board put on screen time for our youngest students.Adam Cervera · Board member1:02:38
Who spoke

Who spoke

Debra HixonBoard memberFirst speaks at 45:11
Allen ZemanBoard memberFirst speaks at 51:16
Adam CerveraBoard memberFirst speaks at 1:40:32
Maura McCarthy BulmanBoard memberFirst speaks at 1:57:57
Rebecca ThompsonBoard memberFirst speaks at 2:00:43
Lori AlhadeffBoard memberFirst speaks at 2:07:23
Jeff HolnessVice Chair
Nora RupertBoard member
Sarah LeonardiChair