Major changes — and painful decisions — are needed to significantly cut costs in Broward County Public Schools, due to a yearslong loss in enrollment. That’s the message that district officials are trying to sell the community as part of BCPS’s massive “Redefining Our Schools” initiative.
But some families — and students — aren’t going down without a fight.
District officials faced organized resistance and impassioned pleas from dozens of parents, students and faculty at a town hall meeting on Monday night.
The latest iteration of the Redefining Our Schools plan includes potential program changes at dozens of schools across the county, and the proposed closure of three schools:
- Broward Estates Elementary School in Fort Lauderdale
- Olsen Middle School in Dania Beach
- Oakridge Elementary School in Hollywood
But for many of the attendees, their focus was on the plight of one school in particular: Virginia Shuman Young Montessori elementary school, in Fort Lauderdale.
'Leave our school alone'
District officials are proposing moving VSY’s Montessori program to another school two miles away, Bennett Elementary, and turning VSY back into a traditional neighborhood school, in the hopes of recruiting families in the surrounding area who now turn to private schools.
Among the many VSY Pioneers who marched up to the mic to address the packed auditorium at Fort Lauderdale High School was fourth grader Fiona Young.
“I want to say, please leave our school alone,” Fiona told the district officials sitting on the stage above her. “I feel like we should maybe lower the stress down and maybe not change VSY because it’s … the best.”
“Please leave us alone,” Fiona implored as the crowd behind her cheered and applauded.
READ MORE: Broward could close three schools. Find scheduled town hall events to voice your opinion
Known for its beloved Montessori program, parents and teachers described the school as a “unicorn” — a seemingly “magical” place where families literally win a lottery for a coveted seat in classrooms staffed by nurturing teachers trained in the Montessori philosophy, known for its student-led, hands-on approach to learning.
When longtime VSY teacher Jennifer Sekerchak walked up to the mic on Monday night, it was as if a celebrity had entered the room.
“I've been at VSY for 18 years. Over that time, I've seen administrators come and go, teachers come and go, and the children … thrive,” Sekerchak said, her voice thick with emotion.
“The teachers love VSY and we don't want to leave. And I don't think you'll get us to go,” Sekerchak added, as the audience burst into cheers and rose to their feet in a standing ovation.
Some parents said the proposal would push them to do just what district leaders are hoping to prevent — to pull their children out of BCPS and place them in private schools.
“[My son] is five years old. He reads at a third grade level. He’s working on multiplication, double digit math, because of Montessori,” said Michelle Hearne, who has two children enrolled at VSY’s pre-K.
“I will pull my kids out of your Broward public school and send them back to private school,” she said. “That is not part of your plan, right? You want to bring people here. I am here because of VSY.”
Following through on that threat has arguably never been easier, after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law in 2023, allowing any student to qualify for taxpayer-funded vouchers, worth about $8,000, for use at private schools — regardless of family income.
“I will pull my kids out of your Broward public school and send them back to private school. That is not part of your plan, right?"Parent Michelle Hearne
The voucher expansion comes after the turmoil of the COVID pandemic, which shook the foundations of the country’s education system and accelerated what was already a steady stream of families leaving public schools for good.
Now, BCPS is reckoning with the fallout and coming to grips with a two decades-long decline in enrollment that has left the district with more than 50,000 empty seats.
The Redefining Our Schools initiative is meant to slow the downward spiral of declining enrollment and deteriorating services.
By making significant, strategic cuts, the district hopes to become more streamlined, effective and efficient — to pour more resources into the students it has left, and less into the overhead of running half-empty schools in aging facilities.
'These are tough decisions'
Initially spearheaded by Broward’s former Superintendent Peter Licata, who abruptly resigned in April citing health issues, the Redefining process has now been taken up by the district’s new Superintendent Howard Hepburn, who was Licata’s deputy.
“Throughout this whole process, our parents, the community members have always been in the forefront of our minds when we make these decisions,” Hepburn told reporters. “These are tough decisions. These are about people. Especially our kids, right?”
“And it’s definitely going to have an impact on any community that has even a small shift. Not even closing, but just changing the configurations of the grade levels for the school, or adding full choice, or taking away full choice programs,” he said. “So we’re thinking about our families and our parents all the time.”
Hepburn told the audience he heard the VSY community’s concerns loud and clear — and he took their criticisms in stride. Still, he noted that district staff will hold off on making changes to the proposal until after this week’s round of town halls, instead of ‘reshuffling the deck’ midway through the public engagement process.
But Redefining is about so much more than a single beloved elementary school. It’s about the fate of some 250,000 students across Broward County, roughly half of whom are not reading on grade level, according to state standardized tests, and more than half of whom qualify for free and reduced lunch, an indicator of childhood poverty.
“We've heard a lot from VSY. But I'm also asking you to take the time to be intentional and to do some community participatory research [...] in other schools,” said Walter Honaman, an attorney for Legal Aid Service of Broward County.
“I want you to consider equity, wellbeing and justice based on race, economic power, and neighborhood and community cohesion.”
Town halls, proposal and vote
District staff will present an updated Redefining proposal to the school board during a workshop on May 14. A final board vote is scheduled for June 18.
Before then, Broward County is hosting a series of town halls on May 7-9, to get community input. The meetings are being held across the district, to give students, parents, educators and residents the chance to hear directly from BCPS officials, and for district leaders to hear directly from the community.
They are scheduled for:
- May 7, at 6 p.m.
Charles W. Flanagan High School
12800 Taft St.
Pembroke Pines, FL 33028 - May 8, at 6 p.m.
Western High School
1200 SW 136 Ave.
Davie, FL 33325 - May 9, at 6 p.m.
Deerfield Beach High School
910 Buck Pride Way
Deerfield Beach, FL 33441
The events will be livestreamed here. More information is available on the district’s website.
