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Teachers' union tells Brevard board $14 million insurance forecast was flawed; urges accountability and pay for vacancies
Summary
Anthony Kluge, president of the Brevard Federation of Teachers, told the board that a health-insurance consultant's forecast used in district planning is off by roughly $14 million, urged accountability and asked the board to pay vacancy pay for ESE teachers and related staff amid reported vacancies.
During public comment, Anthony Kluge identified himself as president of the Brevard Federation of Teachers and urged the school board to demand accountability after what he described as a large error in the district’s health-insurance projection. "Who owns that mistake? The consultant? The benefits director? The superintendent?" he asked, saying the projection is on course to be about $14,000,000 off and that the district made "serious decisions based on this faulty projection."
Kluge also told the board that the district currently has about 50 vacancies for exceptional-student-education (ESE) positions and 132 total vacancies. He urged the board to consider paying vacancy pay to ESE teachers and speech‑language pathologists (SLPs) to make heavy assignments more bearable while recruitment continues. He said nearly $11,000,000 budgeted for salaries last year went unspent because positions remained vacant.
Board members thanked the commenters and acknowledged the concerns; no formal district response or corrective action was recorded during the meeting. Other public commenters included Bernard Bryant of the South Boulevard NAACP branch, who urged continued focus on early learning, reading and math and said district data over recent years showed only modest gains. A classroom teacher who identified herself as Valerie thanked the board for its leadership and support.
Kluge’s assertions raise factual questions — the board did not respond in detail during public comment and the district’s offices would need to confirm the projection figures, the distribution of unspent salary dollars and any proposed changes to vacancy-pay policy.
