Broward School Board is asked to rescind teacher pay raises

A Broward School Board member has proposed rescinding teacher raises that were just approved in February.

The request, called “No Employee Left Behind,” is scheduled to be discussed at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday. It was drafted by Torey Alston, an appointee of Gov. Ron DeSantis who has been highly critical of how the School Board manages money.

The School Board has been facing a budget crisis due to the dwindling enrollment and the expiration of federal COVID-19 relief dollars. The School Board agreed 6-3 on Feb. 27 to use nearly $20 million in COVID dollars to pay for the raises averaging 3.96%. But that money won’t be available to pay for future years, meaning the district starts its next budget year needing to cut $20 million just to maintain the salaries.

Alston has requested the state conduct an investigation into whether the board’s actions were proper.

Alston said the board’s decision also left insufficient money for pay increases for other employees, including principals, assistant principals, bus drivers, maintenance workers and secretaries.

And since the board vote, the state Board of Education has told the School Board it owes about $80 million in retroactive payments to charter schools related to a 2018 voter-approved tax referendum.

So Alston is asking the School Board to rescind the Feb. 27 vote and to “utilize existing funds to include all employee groups and not pass board-supported unfunded obligations.”

“As the District 2 School Board member, School Board Member Torey Alston strongly believes in fiscal discipline while rewarding all employees,” Alston wrote in the agenda item. “All employees matter, all employee groups matter and no employee should be left behind!”

While the proposal may get support from the three Republican members on the School Board who voted against the raises the first time, it’s unlikely the six Democratic members would agree to take back a raise they’d just approved less than two months prior.

Teachers have already received the raises, including retroactive pay going back to the start of the school year.

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Five of the six Democratic board members have been endorsed by the Broward Teachers Union, either for their 2022 reelection or for this year.

“The dedication and excellence of our teachers and staff were recognized by the latest approved contract and raises. It was signed and sealed by everyone,” Union President Anna Fusco told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “We teach our students to keep their word, promises and commitments. Our teachers in turn expect the School Board to honor the contract they signed and approved. We look to the District to keep its word and comply with the contract and the law.”

This is one of the two controversial proposals the School Board will be asked to consider Tuesday, the other being a request by Board member Daniel Foganholi to fire General Counsel Marylin Batista over her handling of the charter school funding controversy.