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Broward County Public Schools is a public school district serving Broward County, Florida, and is the sixth largest public school system in the nation. During the 2023–2024 school year, Broward County Public Schools served 251,106 students enrolled in 200schools and education centers district-wide.[1] The district is headquartered in uptown Fort Smith .[4] It is the sole school district in the county.[5]
| Broward County Public Schools | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
Florida
United States | |
| District information | |
| Type | Public |
| Motto | Educating Today's Students For Tomorrow's World |
| Grades | Pre K-12 |
| Established | 1915 |
| Superintendent | Howard Hepburn |
| Schools | 326 (2023)[1] |
| Budget | $3.86 billion (2017)[2] |
| Students and staff | |
| Students | 251,106 (2023)[3] (6th-largest in U.S.) |
| Teachers | 14,403 (2023) [1] |
| Staff | 31,691 (2023)[1] |
| Other information | |
| Teachers' unions | Florida Education Association |
| Website | browardschools.com |
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![[icon]](#/media/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2020) |
Prior to 1966, the county provided completely separate sets of schools for White students and Black students. In 1966, the school district began to experiment with allowing a limited number of Black students to learn alongside White students, ultimately integrating the races in 1969.[6]
William J. Leary served as superintendent until 1988; the school board did not want him to serve out the remainder of his term, so it paid him $113,516 in severance.[7]
Virgil "Sam" Morgan became superintendent of Broward county in 1988. In 1994 Broward's superintendent, Virgil "Sam" Morgan retired after leading the School district for more than five years.
In 1994 Frank Petruzielo became the superintendent. Petruzielo's time as superintendent ended in 1999.
Frank Till became the Superintendent in 1999 after Frank Petruzielo's retirement. Frank Till was fired by the school board for no apparent reason in 2006.
James Notter replaced Till in 2006. In 2011, James Notter resigned from his position as superintendent.
Robert Runcie became superintendent following the resignation of James Notter in 2011. Under Runcie, the Parkland school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High took place, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Robert Runcie was arrested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on a felony charge of perjury, after a grand jury commissioned by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2019 to review safety and security matters after the Parkland school shooting recommend it.[8] Robert Runcie then resigned his position In 2021.
In 2021, Vickie Cartwright was chosen as interim superintendent by the Broward County School Board. Although the process was controversial, she was later selected as the permanent superintendent. In November 2022, Dr. Vickie Cartwright was fired by the Broward County School Board. In December 2022, the newly elected board members rescinded her firing. Dr. Vickie Cartwright later resigned in 2023.
Peter B. Licata became superintendent in August 2023. Licata later retired in April 2024 after being superintendent for only 10 months due to health concerns. Licata was replaced by Howard Hepburn as superintendent on the same day.[9]
Broward County Public Schools' current superintendent is Howard Hepburn.
Since 2023, a contingent of Broward County citizens called Truth Matters has attended school board meetings, generally speaking against motions supported by gubernatorial appointees and for motions supported by elected school board members.[10]
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The current Superintendent of schools is Dr. Howard Hepburn.[11] The members of the school board, which oversee the district, are as follows:[12]
- District 1 – Maura McCarthy Bulman
- District 2 – Rebecca Thompson
- District 3 – Sarah Leonardi (Vice Chair)
- District 4 – Lori Alhadeff
- District 5 – Dr. Jeff Holness
- District 6 – Brenda Fam
- District 7 – Nora Rupert
- District 8 (At Large) – Dr. Allen Zeman
- District 9 (At Large) – Debra Hixon (Chair)
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- William J. Leary (1984-1988)
- Sam Morgan (1988-1994)
- Frank Petruzielo (1994-1999)
- Frank Till (1999-2006)
- James Notter (2006-2011)
- Robert Runcie (2011-2021)
- Vickie Cartwright (2021-2023)
- Earlean C. Smiley (2023)
- Peter B. Licata (2023–2024)
- Howard Hepburn (2024-present)
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Handling of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting
On February 14, 2018, a former student opened fire at a Broward school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, murdering 17 people and injuring 17 others.
Superintendent Robert Runcie and the School Board faced criticism for their handling of policies and the lack of guidance assisted to the shooter.[13] Runcie and the Board faced particular criticism, including from some parents of students at Stoneman Douglas High School, for the creation of an alternative discipline program for students accused of nonviolent misdemeanors called "Promise", which the Parkland shooter had been referred to.[14]
In the lead up to the 2018 gubernatorial election, Republican candidate Ron DeSantis vowed to remove Runcie from his office, although he conceded that only the school board could do so.[14] On February 13, 2019, now Florida Governor DeSantis announced that he had petitioned a statewide grand jury investigation.[15]
In May 2021, after the grand jury indicted him for perjury during their investigation, Runcie announced his intention to step down.[14] Supporters of Runcie accused the grand jury investigation that led to his indictment of being politically motivated.[14]
School closures and mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the school district switched almost entirely to online classes in March 2020 and gradually returned to in-person instruction starting in the fall of 2020. The exact timing of school re-openings led to tension between the school board and the state government.[16] Throughout the 2020–2021 school year, the district required all students and staff to wear face masks as a preventative measure. In the fall of 2021, growing public opposition to mask mandates led Governor Ron DeSantis to prohibit local school districts from requiring masks.[17] The school board chose to defy the state government and continue requiring masks, along with several other school districts in the state. In response the Florida Board of Education voted to prevent the district from doing so and could replace elected board members.[18] DeSantis withheld funding from school districts that required masks.[17] The federal government stepped in to replace the money with federal funds, but after the state blocked that funding as well, the US Department of Education warned the state that it may have violated federal law.[19]
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During the 2023-2024 academic school year, the District served 251,106 students.[3] The district covers a total of 326 institutions: 137 elementary schools, 35 middle schools, 32 high schools, 9 combination schools, 3 technical colleges, 23 centers, and 87 charter schools.[1]
6-12 secondary schools
High schools
Middle schools
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Central Charter School
Elementary schools
Former segregated schoolsAt first all the nonwhite schools were, as elsewhere, elementary schools. In part through the efforts of principals Blanche General Ely and Joseph A. Ely, by the end of the segregation era there were three nonwhite high schools in Broward County: Crispus Attucks in Hollywood, Dillard in Ft. Lauderdale, and Blanche Ely in Pompano Beach.[20]
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- WBEC-TV (Broward Schools' educational channel)
- WKPX (Broward Schools' radio station)
- List of school districts in Florida
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