The Broward school board is considering nearly three dozen schools for the second phase of a project to repurpose and close under-enrolled district schools.
At Tuesday's school board workshop, members discussed the potential impacts of adding the 34 schools to the list of the multi-phase plan called 'Redefining Our Schools' intended to mitigate the district’s chronic under-enrollment problem.
It involves adding new programs, combining schools, boundary adjustments, school closures and repurposing school sites.
" To remain financially stable and strong for the future, we must rightsize our district. That means some difficult decisions will be necessary, including school closures," said Broward Superintendent Howard Hepburn.
In the first phase of the redefining project, one elementary school closed, four elementary schools are becoming K-8 schools and one middle school is growing to be a 6-12 school.
This new phase looks at 16 elementary schools, 15 middle schools and three high schools. The current outline doesn't specify which of those schools are being considered for repurposing, consolidating or closure.
" What we're trying to do is spend more money on the kids we have and less on the empty seats in an oversized footprint. It's really just that simple," said board member Allan Zeman, who has consistently supported an ambitious approach to closing schools.
When the initiative gained steam last year, the board initially requested a plan to close or consolidate at least five schools. At one point a board member even suggested as many as 40 schools. That was quickly met with disapproval.
Potential impacts
The majority of the schools on the list have enrollment figures below 70% of their capacities, meeting the district’s definition of under-enrolled.
Less students means less funding for a school, affecting the educational programs it can offer.
Some of the schools the board is looking at are only about 40% enrolled. These include Silver Lakes Elementary, Panther Run Elementary and Palm Cove Elementary in the south part of the county.
The list also names some schools that don’t meet the district’s guidelines for closing: Ramblewood Middle and Sawgrass Springs Middle in Coral Springs are close to 80% full.
High schools are not on the list of closures, officials said, as they have more than 80% capacity use. One possibility, however, is for the high schools to absorb middle schools.
"Some [schools] are perennially under-enrolled year after year, some are not, but they may be in a cluster to support a discussion about possibilities for under-enrolled schools," said Hepburn.
Hepburn was clear that the Redefining Our Schools plan does not mean that the schools on the list are all slated for closure. Rather the board will explore strategies such as consolidating schools, expanding K-8 schools, expanding technical schools and public-private partnership opportunities, among others.
READ MORE: 'We want our neighborhood school': Pushback as Broward shutters decades-old elementary
The Lauderhill community strongly resisted the closure of Broward Estates Elementary earlier this year. Residents routinely gathered to orchestrate a plan to save the kindergarten through fifth grades, but the school board moved forward with repurposing the site into an early learning center.
Broward Estates' student body was consolidated with nearby Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy, with other school choice options available. The early learning center that took its place opened this school year.
Broward’s ongoing enrollment drop
There are more than 45,000 empty seats currently in Broward public schools, according to district data. That includes a decline of around 10,000 students last year alone.
Rising competition from charter and private schools, made more accessible through the expansion of school vouchers in Florida, have caused some of this stress. Superintendent Howard Hepburn also pointed to a lack of new families with young kids moving into Broward.
But declining enrollment isn't limited to Broward schools.
School districts across the country have seen continuous declines in enrollment numbers. A recent study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute found nearly one in 12 public schools in the United States has experienced an enrollment decline of 20% or more in the wake of COVID-19 — that’s the rough equivalent of 5,100 schools.
In Miami-Dade, the school board is exploring the possibility of transforming underused school sites into early learning centers in an effort to give existing infrastructure a second life as empty spaces in schools.
The approved changes for Phase 2 could go into effect in the 2026-27 school year. Starting in September, the district will plan meetings with affected communities to get their input before any final decisions are made.
The list of schools that are part of the second phase of 'Redefining Our Schools:'
— Attucks Middle, Hollywood
— Bair Middle, Sunrise
— Bennett Elementary, Fort Lauderdale
— Chapel Trail Elementary, Pembroke Pines
— Coral Springs Middle, Coral Springs
— Dolphin Bay Elementary, Miramar
— Fairway Elementary, Miramar
— Forest Glen Middle, Coral Springs
— Glades Middle, Miramar
— Hallandale High, Hallandale Beach
— Lakeside Elementary, Pembroke Pines
— Margate Middle, Margate
— McNicol Middle, Hollywood
— Miramar Elementary, Miramar
— New Renaissance Middle, Miramar
— North Fork Elementary, Fort Lauderdale
— North Side Elementary, Fort Lauderdale
— Olsen Middle, Dania Beach
— Palm Cove Elementary, Pembroke Pines
— Panther Run Elementary, Pembroke Pines
— Pines Lakes Elementary, Pembroke Pines
— Plantation Middle, Plantation
— Plantation High, Plantation
— Ramblewood Middle, Coral Springs
— Sawgrass Springs Middle, Coral Springs
— Silver Trail Middle, Davie
— Stranahan High, Fort Lauderdale
— Sunset Lakes Elementary, Miramar
— Sunshine Elementary, Miramar
— Thurgood Marshall Elementary, Fort Lauderdale
— Walker Elementary, Fort Lauderdale
— Walter C. Young Middle, Pembroke Pines
— Watkins Elementary, Pembroke Park
— Westpine Elementary, Sunrise
