Broward Schools to end contract of picture vendor who’s also a teacher

A Broward teacher who has worked for years as a district-approved vendor, selling school pictures at his school and others, is facing losing his photo contract with the district.

The School Board will be asked Wednesday to terminate the contract with Smile Time Photography, owned by Chad Bookman, a physical education teacher and athletic director at Apollo Middle in Hollywood.

Bookman, 47, had agreements with Apollo as well as two other schools, Charles Drew Elementary in Pompano Beach and Dave Thomas Education Center in Coconut Creek, district spokesman John Sullivan said.

Smile Time was one of 10 firms selected to offer school pictures in 2016. When the contract was rebid in 2020, the company did not score high enough on a variety of criteria to be selected but was brought back into the pool of qualified vendors again in 2022, according to district documents.

State law says that a government employee may not “rent, lease, or sell any realty, goods, or services to the officer’s or employee’s own agency.”

Bookman told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Monday he was trying to earn extra income to supplement his teacher’s salary. He said he mostly handled small jobs, like spring makeup photos and school dance pictures, not usually the main class pictures students take every fall.

He said he always took the photos on his own time, taking personal leave time if photos were needed during the school day. He was always clear when he submitted his bids that he works for the district, he said.

“They made me sign a form that said I was a School Board employee,” said Bookman, who has worked for the district since 1998. “I submitted and was accepted. They put out the bid again and I reapplied, and sent my paperwork and was approved again. Then out of nowhere, I got an email saying you can’t do this work because you’re an employee.”

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Bookman filed a conflict-of-interest form in 2016, 2019 and 2022 stating he was a teacher at Apollo, Sullivan said.

“The District inadvertently missed the information in awarding the bid,” Sullivan told the Sun Sentinel. “During the most recent contract renewal, the purchasing agent identified the discrepancy, which resulted in the recommendation for termination of the contract.”

Sullivan said the district is in the process of “rolling out new software that will ensure District employees are not awarded bids moving forward.”

Bookman will not face discipline or an investigation, Sullivan said.

The district has faced questions before about giving outside contracts to employees. The Office of Athletics and Student Services, which oversees school pictures, also signed consulting contracts with two district employees in 2022.

Kevin Perry, athletic director of Hollywood Hills High, was given a $4,500 contract to oversee the Broward County Athletic Association Football Showcase. That same year, Bob McKinney, an advanced studies coordinator with the district’s central office, was given a $4,999 contract to serve as a basketball booking commissioner.

Robert Vignola, a lawyer for the district, said McKinney’s contract was improper, leading to both being canceled.

Florida law prohibits McKinney from “acting in a private capacity from selling any services to The School Board,” Vignola wrote in an Aug. 10, 2022, memo. “That prohibition precludes him from acting in a private capacity to sell services to the school district through which he would serve it as ‘Basketball Booking Commissioner.'”

Sullivan said those employees are still able to get paid, but not as outside consultants.

“Past practice at the District was to have employees performing tasks outside of their normal duties sign consulting agreements for payroll purposes,” he said. “As early as last year, those employees now sign Instructional/Voluntary Teacher Compensation Agreements to receive a supplement for the work.’

That option would not be available for Bookman since he was part of a competitive bidding process, he said.

Bookman told the Sun Sentinel he doesn’t plan to challenge the termination of his photo contract.

“I don’t want to break any rules or laws,” he said. “I did exactly what they asked me to do. I submitted all the paperwork, and now it becomes my fault. I’m not sure why.”