FORT LAUDERDALE – With Broward academics receiving a paltry 1.33% elevate final yr, some are questioning why the district’s administrators not too long ago spent a lavish weekend away at a Naples resort.
At a Broward School Board assembly in regards to the finances, a query you’d count on was requested: “Where does the money go?”
“There needs to be accountability for everything they’re willing to spend money on,” mentioned Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco.
Talk of the finances was slowed down by what some understand as extreme spending after about 180 administrators, together with principals and assistants, attended a three-day retreat in late July.
The journey to the luxurious Naples Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort price taxpayers an estimated $100,000.
Broward father or mother and volunteer Dr. Nathalie Lynch-Walsh was not blissful about it.
“When it starts with a golf tournament, there’s swag bags, there’s dominoes, there’s a day at the pool, there’s a glow party and in the midst of it what appeared to be 2.5-3 hours of professional development,” she mentioned.
“They want to throw a retreat and have a pool party and a room with a bar, and vent, that’s fine,” mentioned Fusco. “Let the organization take care of it.”
Lisa Maxwell, president of the Broward Principals and Assistants Association, the group who says it picked up the tab for all however the lodge rooms, went after Fusco.
“Ms. Fusco is well aware the dollars earmarked for professional development can only be used for that purpose and no other. They can’t be spent on raises. Perhaps she needs some assistance in understanding the budget,” she mentioned.
That elicited this response from Fusco: “It’s certainly not a professional development weekend. It is what it is, a principal and assistant principals retreat, which is fine, with their own organization covering every single expense.”
“To do it on taxpayer funds, when you’re asking taxpayers to pay more money when we’re on the eve of a recession and gas prices are through the roof,” mentioned Lynch-Walsh. “It’s like a perfect storm of all the wrong time to be asking, to be doing this.”
Broward County Public Schools chief communications officer launched an announcement, saying, partially:
“It’s standard practice in many school districts to cover the cost of professional development for their administrators. The total investment for the district for this professional development opportunity is about $100,000.”
