School leaders’ raises criticized
Broward board members question how administrators are rewarded
Broward School Board members on Tuesday criticized a district practice of giving raises and bonuses to administrators without the board’s approval or knowledge.
They’ve asked Superintendent Robert Runcie to find out how many employees may have gotten these types of increases in the past two years. They also may develop a policy to prevent it from happening again.
School Board member Robin Bartleman raised the issue in response to a story and public records request made by the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Earlier this month, the Sun Sentinel identified 11 administrators who received raises of between 7 and 21 percent, well above the 2.2 percent increases approved for most of the 27,000 district employees.
One of the administrators, Procurement Director Mary Coker, was given a $13,000 raise, which brought her salary to $161,358 — $8,000 above the maximum pay allowed for her position. Runcie lowered her pay after being questioned by the Sun Sentinel.
After the story was published, the Sun Sentinel also learned through a public records request that, in August 2017, Coker’s second-in-command, Daniela Mamede, received a $3,000 onetime stipend on top of her $100,000 salary.
“Due to several managerial vacancies, Ms. Mamede took over additional responsibilities,” Coker wrote in a letter at the time to Chief Strategy Officer Maurice Woods.
Bartleman learned of the bonus after being contacted by the Sun Sentinel.
“I [didn’t] even know these kind of stipends existed,” she said. “Clearly we scrutinize the teachers and everyone who works at schools, but when it comes to upper management, they’re just giv-
en stipends that never go before the board. This is totally unacceptable to me as a board member.”
Coker told the Sun Sentinel she verified with her supervisors that the stipend was allowed before recommending it.
School District spokeswoman Tracy Clark sent a response to the Sun Sentinel on Oct. 9 which she forwarded to School Board members. It said “bonuses and stipends are governed under the general guidance outlined in the Employment and Salary Administration Handbook.” Clark said Mamede’s stipend was “developed and approved by the appropriate levels of management.”
Mamede could not be reached for comment.
Human Resources Director Craig Nichols said he was unaware of any stipends given to district administrators, and would investigate.
“You know that means our PR department sent a
response to the news media without consulting you,” Bartleman told Nichols.
That alarmed School Board member Patti Good, who said: “I really need to have this addressed. I know that our communications department doesn’t on their own provide responses. They get feedback from the appropriate departments.”
Good said she also wants a written response on how Coker’s salary could be changed to a salary above the maximum allowed. The school district has provided conflicting answers to that. Clark told the Sun Sentinel that Coker was previously scheduled to work 7.5 hours a day but her schedule was changed to eight hours, “to align the daily work hours” with those of her employees, most of whom work eight hours.
Coker also said that was the reason.
But in an email sent to Nichols and Runcie on Jan. 10, Chief Strategy Officer Woods gave another explanation. He said the pay increase is “based on equity with other directors/managers in the operations department
and significant increase in scale and scope over the last two years.”
Coker was already the highest-paid director in the district at the time of the request, with her salary at the top of the pay range.
Several School Board members questioned whether Coker’s pay increase was an error, and whether she may have to pay it back.
Coker told the Sun Sentinel she and her supervisors agreed to the change in hours.
“It wasn’t an error. It wasn’t a mistake. I’m not paying anything back,” she said. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I earn a living and work my schedule.”
General Counsel Barbara Myrick told board members Runcie has some discretion to give pay raises without board approval, “but I don’t think he has the authority to approve a salary over the maximum in a job classification.”