VIERA, Fla. — Brevard Public Schools says falling enrollment over the past several years has forced the district to tighten its belt and cut spending.
And soon, the district will cut staff.
In a message to staff Wednesday, BPS Superintendent Mark Rendell said each district department is tasked with cutting 7% of staffing costs for next school year.
Brevard Federation of Teachers President Anthony Colucci told Channel 9 that it is unclear which positions could be on the chopping block.
”It makes everybody concerned and fearful," Colucci said.
District leaders said non-school-based positions will be hit first. Vacant jobs will be eliminated as well as positions currently held by people who plan to retire.
Rendell warned some cuts will be filled positions.
He stressed teachers will only be impacted if there aren’t enough students to fill a class. Instead, the focus will be on support positions.
“It’s not just employees who are going to be impacted here, it is students and their families,” said Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association.
Spar said even though the district will try to protect teaching jobs, support jobs will also have an effect on schools operating day to day.
“Whether it’s the number of custodians in a school who keep schools clean, the number of administrative staff who oversee schools, or the number of clerical staff who enter data into the system,” Spar said of the potential impacts.
He encouraged parents who are concerned about the cuts to contact their lawmakers and stress the importance of funding.
The school district said the layoffs won’t take effect until the 2026-2027 academic school year.
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