Among these DROP pension bonus participants, a subset of 183 employees were not satisfied with a standard 5-year pension bonus and demanded and received an 8-year pension bonus. This 8-year subset alone accounts for $40,636,955 in total cash payouts—creating an additional $13,972,466 in extended windfall payouts above the standard 5-year pension bonus. Top administrative payouts are led by Chief Strategy Officer Jennifer Cupid-McCoy, who is set to collect a single pension cash bonus of over $1 million, $1,011,004 on top of her $200,720 annual salary and $44,872.57 in banked unused vacation, etc. hours. Cupid-McCoy’s estimated annual pension will be $97,561. These pension bonus employees are Triple Dippers, collecting a pension and a paycheck at the same time to do the same job, and they are the only public employees who don’t pay the standard 3% of their salary into the Florida Pension System. Taxpayers pay 22.12% of these “Retired Employees” salary into the Florida pension system. See https://tripledippers.org/

“It is shameful that the Lee County School Board fired 275 classroom teachers and raided $45.4 million from our capital infrastructure accounts while protecting $250 million in pension bonuses for administrative elites. Taxpayers are forced to pay a mandatory 22.02% FRS surcharge—totaling over $8.8 million every year on these pension bonus employee salaries—while these “Triple Dippers” pay zero percent into the retirement system.”
– Dave Jaye, Chairman, Lee County Taxpayers Association; Lead Researcher, TripleDippers.org

“The Pension Bonus DROP program was designed to keep senior teachers in the classroom five years longer for their expertise. However, administrators and bureaucrats took over. Now the district has to take $45.4 Million from the Capital Outlay budget to keep these triple dippers in the cream of pension bonuses as we lose over 240 teachers.”
– Lou Navarra, Education Advocate

“In a time when affordability is hitting taxpayers hard and even candidates for governor are acknowledging affordability as job one, it’s more than disappointing to see the Lee County school board continue to spend like there’s no tomorrow. We need accountability, and we need it now!”
– Rick Stevens, Co-Founder, Florida Citizens Alliance

While school districts like Collier and Duval County saved millions by privatizing janitorial services as far back as 2008, and public, private, and religious school systems routinely contract out non-instructional services, Lee County Schools refuses to streamline its non-educational operations. The district currently subsidizes 566 retired personnel drawing full paychecks and monthly pensions simultaneously, including non-instructional positions across Janitorial, Food Services, Transportation, Drivers Education, IT, and Clerical services.

“Collier County, Duval County, and other private and religious schools have successfully privatized janitorial, food services, transportation, and IT to keep dollars inside the classroom. Yet Lee County keeps hundreds of retired bureaucrats on payroll, paying out over $11.7 million in banked unused leave hours and absorbing full benefit surcharges instead of modernizing services.”
— Dave Jaye, Chairman, Lee County Taxpayers Association; Lead Researcher, TripleDippers.org

Alarmingly, these multi-million-dollar administrative payouts coincide with dismal academic outcomes for local students.

“The longer students spend in Lee County, the lower their test scores become. U.S. News & World Report documents  that 67% of Lee High School students fail basic math and 57% fail at basic reading, making these students not job ready. Yet the Lee County School Board brags about an 89.8% graduation rate achieved through social promotion, not basic academic student achievement.”
— Dave Jaye, Chairman, Lee County Taxpayers Association; Lead Researcher, TripleDippers.org

“Recently, Superintend Carlin released to the media that Lee County had all A and B schools. This is nothing but slick media posturing. We can have all A and B schools, but the students are failing with D’s and F’s for literacy as well as graduating High School with social promotion. To add insult to injury, test scores show that third grade students are only 53% literate and only 33%. can pass basic math tests. “Social promotion hands high schoolers diploma they can’t even read.”
– Lou Navarra, Education Advocate

Compounding the fiscal burden, taxpayers must cover an annual 22.02% FRS surcharge on top of these 566 salaries—adding $8,832,202 in mandatory taxpayer funding every single year. Furthermore, active teachers and public employees are required to contribute 3% of their salaries into the Florida Retirement System, whereas these retired DROP employees pay 0%, shifting their contribution burden entirely onto local property owners.

“Collier County, Duval County, and other private and religious schools have successfully privatized janitorial, food services, transportation, and IT to keep dollars inside the classroom. Yet Lee County keeps hundreds of retired bureaucrats on payroll, paying out over $11.7 million in banked unused leave hours and absorbing full benefit surcharges instead of modernizing services.”
— Dave Jaye, Chairman, Lee County Taxpayers Association; Lead Researcher, TripleDippers.org

Compounding these multi-million-dollar pension bonus payouts is a hidden banked-leave payout system that drains over $11.7 million from taxpayers across all Lee Schools Employees. Under current Lee School district practices, retiring employees cash out thousands of banked unused vacation and sick hours at their final, highest career salary—rather than the lower rate of pay when those hours were earned. This loophole artificially inflates their final year’s compensation, directly spiking the lifetime pension calculation base while draining public funds which should be used for tutors. To promote genuine work-life balance and protect public funds, the School Board must immediately cap annual banked days off at 40 hours per year and mandate that any accrued leave cashouts be calculated at the employee’s salary rate when the time was earned, rather than their final inflated executive salary. Tragically, instead of leading by example, Lori Brooks Lee School’s Director of Physical & Mental Health Services School Counseling has banked over a year’s worth of days off 2,328.73 hours charging taxpayers $161,123.60 and counting! Johnny Thomas has banked over two years of days off!

Top 5 Lee County School Employees by Banked Leave Hours

Contact: Dave Jaye, Researcher | 586-488-5177 | dave.jaye55@gmail.com