By Jahziah Dofoe
Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) is the sixth largest public school district in the United States. It is one of the most diverse districts; serving those of different races, religions, and socioeconomic status. It is also home to those like me: high school seniors who have been in BCPS from first grade to twelfth grade. However, with that, I have grown to wonder a lot of things about how the system works, what procedures are being put in place for improving students, and when will prioritizing student experiences change for the better? After polling other high school students in Broward County, I find that they have similar questions.
On the tenth floor of the KC Wright building sits Superintendent Dr. Howard Hepburn. He is originally from Belle Glade, Florida, which he describes as a “melting pot of people from the deep south”; that it was “a village that raised some of the most successful people in the United States”, both through athletics and academics. Dr. Hepburn has been an important figure in education through his previous roles as a classroom teacher, coach, dean, assistant principal, principal and instructional superintendent. On April 16, 2024, Dr. Hepburn was appointed the new Superintendent of BCPS with a vision and goal of enhancing student achievement and ensuring equal learning opportunities for all.
Even so, we as teens still have questions. We want to know how we can better compete with private school students during college applications? Where is the funding for school programs that require excessive out of pocket spending, and what steps are being taken to improve magnet programs in addition to kindergarten to third grade education?
Public School Seniors vs. Private School Seniors
Most public-school seniors that I have spoken to feel as though they are at a disadvantage in preparing and applying to college compared to the students in private schools. Throughout our high school experience, we don’t receive personalized help to ensure we look competitive on paper, nor do we get the knowledge of additional programs universities offer that will help accelerate us in a career or towards a farther goal. All of this is left for us to find out ourselves, and this is due to guidance counselors being focused on getting the majority to graduate and only having one BRACE advisor to 500 seniors and almost the same number of juniors. We need answers, so I asked Superintendent Dr. Hepburn: “Are there any steps being made to give support to guidance counselors and BRACE advisors so that they can better support students who are feeling this way?” To this he wanted to encourage students by saying “everyone has a path to a university and even Broward College”. Take the initiative to speak to your guidance counselor and BRACE advisor to see what opportunities they may have. Check on social media posts that additional information on scholarships and deadlines. We need to be our biggest advocate when it comes to our future because at the end of the day, we only have us. Superintendent Dr. Hepburn also encourages students to identify the gaps they may see and speak to student advisors or principals so that those gaps can be closed.
Funding For Extra School Programs
Fort Lauderdale High School and a few other Broward County Public Schools offer business classes where students create a Virtual Enterprise business. These businesses include chief positions, marketing departments, finance departments, technology departments, and sales departments. With these businesses students will compete against others in various department competitions and gain the ability to go to the national competition in New York City. However, the trip isn’t free, and it costs a lot of money which most families aren’t able to afford. It’s not just the VE classes but other programs like debate, theater, band, and chess who have students that are unable to attend out of town trips based on financial challenges. What programs and grants are being given to help support funding for these programs or what already exists so that students don’t feel like they can’t participate? To this Superintendent Howard Hepburn is urging teachers to take advantage of Broward County Public Schools excellent grant writing teams for assistance when applying for major grants. He also acknowledges that old school fundraising may not generate as much money, but with hard work it can pay off and “benefit multiple years of students”.
Innovative Learning
Superintendent Dr. Hepburn is innovative and open to introducing new ideas that will propel BCPS students to excel throughout their journey in the district. A way he plans to do this is by strengthening our magnet programs with strategies like “adjunct teachers” who are industry professors who can share their knowledge with students. With his cabinet members he is brainstorming ideas to implement that will close learning gaps, improve communication with parents, and enrich students in various fields of studies.
I encourage you to go to your assistant principals and principals with any problems you see because part of their job is to help you while improving your school experience. I also urge you to learn the chain of people up to the superintendent because your concerns don’t need to stop in schools. We need to be the change that we want to see, and we will only see that if we start now.
“It’s not about where you’re from, it’s about how you take advantage of the opportunities in front of you”.