Broward voters to decide whether to expand watchdog role to school district
By Scott Travis
School Board elections are over, but Broward voters can still decide in November whether they want some new oversight to help the district root out waste, fraud and corruption.
A ballot initiative will ask those voting in the general election Nov. 5 to say yes or no to expanding the role of the Broward County inspector general to include the Broward School District.
The district launched an “education campaign” at a news conference Tuesday. Superintendent Howard Hepburn said the effort will cost about $1.2 million a year. He also announced the launch of a website, www.browardschools.com/igamendment2024. District spokesman John Sullivan said other awareness efforts are planned as well.
“We’ll be having some community meetings, going out to the community and providing some opportunities for the public to come to us,” he said. “We’ll be going into the community whether that’s [homeowners associations] or other civic groups to describe and educate about what’s on the ballot.”
The district will also post information on social media, conduct virtual question-and-answer sessions and submit op eds to the media, Sullivan said.
But the district’s campaign has limits. Under state law, government agencies are not allowed to spend taxpayer money to conduct awareness campaigns, nor are they allowed to tell people how to vote.
The inspector general “would have strong powers, like being able to request documents and conduct audits which would help keep our district running smoothly as a government agency,” Board chairwoman Lori Alhadeff said during Tuesday’s news conference. “We can’t tell you how to vote but we want to make sure you know all the facts so you can make an informed decision.”
If voters reject the proposal, the district would maintain its current oversight from the State Attorney’s Office, the state Commission on Ethics and the district’s internal audit department, Alhadeff said.
District administrators planned to initially stay quiet about the ballot measure. Hepburn and Sullivan told the South Florida Sun Sentinel in late July that this was a county ballot measure and there were no awarenesss campaigns planned.
After the Sun Sentinel pointed out that the district had conducted extensive campaigns to promote tax increases for teachers raises, school construction and other priorities in recent years, Board member Torey Alston asked the School Board to direct Hepburn to do the same for the inspector general. The School Board agreed unanimously on July 30
“As the district has conducted similar public awareness campaigns for passage of the $800 bond program and tax increases for teacher raises, this groundbreaking initiative deserves similar resources and support,” Alston wrote in his request.
“Ultimate passage of this item would begin to increase public trust and restore the district’s image with the recent announcement of being an ‘A’-rated district, after the Board changed its focus in August 2022.”
The county inspector general was first approved through a voter-approved amendment to the Broward County charter in 2010. But the school district declined to be part of it.
Then-State Sen. Nan Rich helped kill a bill that sought to add the school district to the office in 2011. Evan Jenne, then a Democratic state representative from Hollywood, wanted more oversight for the school district following a damning grand jury report and the arrest of two School Board members on corruption and ethics charges.
The School Board at the time, including Rich’s daughter, Laurie Rich Levinson, opposed the idea, saying the superintendent and most of the administrators and School Board members mentioned in the grand jury report had been replaced.
Rich Levinson reconsidered the idea in 2016, amid the first signs that an $800 million school construction program was going awry, but board members ultimately decided it was too expensive and there were other avenues for employees and the public to file complaints, including the state Department of Education’s inspector general’s office.
But issues that eroded public trust continued in the district.
In 2020, a maintenance supervisor pleaded guilty of accepting bribes from an asphalt subcontractor following an FBI sting.
A Sun Sentinel investigation led to the 2021 indictment of former technology chief Tony Hunter, who was charged with bribery. He has pleaded not guilty and his case is still pending.
Then in 2022, the state released a grand jury report that identified gross mismanagement of an $800 million bond program, prompting the removal of four board members, including Rich Levinson.
The idea to bring back the inspector general started during a three-month period in 2022 when Republican appointees of Gov. Ron DeSantis controlled the School Board, but it maintained unanimous support even after Democrats reclaimed the majority.
“I encourage everyone to learn more about this amendment. It’s an important step for the future of our district,” Alhadeff said this week. “Together we can continue to build trust, promote ethical leadership and ensure our school district remains a model of excellence and accountability.”