Amidst the throes of plummeting enrollment that comes at a multi-million dollar financial loss, the Broward County school board on Monday considered a dozen proposals for multiple schools — with the superintendent set to make his recommendations regarding their future later this week.
Broward has 10,000 fewer students than it did last year, digging a budget hole of $94 million in the district, which gets government funding based on student headcount. In five years, Broward County Public Schools is looking at a projected loss of over 25,000 students, according to district data.
" We cannot continue to spend money on buildings that we could spend on the students we have or the students we want to win back," said board member Allen Zeman during Monday's special meeting.
The potential impacts of the coming consolidations, closures and more are part of the multi-phase plan called 'Redefining Our Schools' intended to mitigate the under-enrollment problem.
It involves adding new programs, combining schools, boundary adjustments, school closures and repurposing school sites.
Competition has been staunch for public school districts in the wake of rising school choice options, with many parents opting for charter or private schools, facilitated by the expansion of school vouchers. There are also less school-aged children coming into the district. With less students and more rivals, the stakes are high for schools of all types.
Some communities have rejected the board's intentions to close schools, suggesting instead that programs be added to draw new families to schools. However, Superintendent Howard Hepburn said that because of the "finite group of kids" in the district, that approach isn't sustainable long-term.
"If we put a program in and that program could be awesome [and] it draws kids from other schools, but [then] we're dealing with a situation at the other school," Hepburn said. "The county itself is not growing in population of students and so we're kind of cannibalizing other schools when we don't address what we need to in the school with the lower population."
The bleak financial reality the district finds itself in has inspired other cost-saving measures. In a memo shared Monday, Hepburn issued a hard hiring freeze and out-of-country travel freeze.
READ MORE: Broward County schools face shortfalls and cuts for 2026 budget
"[T]he District is projected to lose an additional 3,600 students this school year, resulting in an estimated revenue loss of an additional $32.6 million,” Hepburn wrote.
Phase 2 of Redefining
The board's discussion on Monday centered around the recommendations made by the boundary committee, an advisory group that makes suggestions about changes to school attendance zones, potential school closures, mergers or reconfigurations.
With about 50,000 empty seats currently in Broward public schools, according to district data, Zeman said, " I think it's time that we get bold and that we have courage to do the right thing and the right thing is to rip the bandaid off and figure out what schools are not part of the future of Broward County Public Schools. Not just today, but incorporating enrollment projections going forward."
Some schools had a main proposal and alternates. For example, under one proposal, students from North Fork Elementary would be reseated across Croissant Park Elementary, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary, Thurgood Marshall Elementary and Walker Elementary.
Walter C. Young Middle had various proposals.
Proposals recommended by the committee for next school year:
- Sunshine Elementary students consolidate into Fairway Elementary. Sunshine would be transitioned to another district use
- Palm Cove Elementary students consolidate into Lakeside Pines Lakeside elementary schools. Palm Cove would be transitioned to another district use.
- Walter C. Young Middle consolidates into Silver Trail Middle
- Plantation Middle combined with Plantation High
- Charles W. Flanagan High consolidates into West Broward High
- Hallandale High consolidates into Miramar High. Hallandale High would transition to a four-day week magnet school serving students south of Sunrise Boulevard
- A school-within-a-school model for Thurgood Marshall Elementary to be a 3-8 Gifted/Dual Language School
Proposals not recommended by the committee:
- Panther Run Elementary consolidates into Chapel Trail. Panther Run Elementary campus would be transitioned to another district use.
- North Fork Elementary consolidates into Walker Elementary. North Fork would be transitioned to another use.
- North Fork Elementary consolidates into Croissant Park, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall and Walker elementary schools
- Expand Coconut Palm Elementary, Dolphin Bay Elementary, Silver Lakes Elementary and Sunset Lakes Elementary into K-8 Schools; Coral Cove expands to 8th Grade
- Glades Middle consolidates into New Renaissance Middle. Glades Middle would be transitioned to a branch campus of Sheridan Technical College
- Some students at Walter C. Young Middle consolidated into Silver Trail Middle and others to Pines Collegiate Academy 6-12. Walter C. Young Middle campus would be transitioned to another district use or handed over to the city of Pembroke Pines, which owns the campus
- Walter C. Young Middle configured as 3-8 Gifted/Dual Language School
- Bair Middle consolidates into Westpine Middle. Bair would be transitioned to another district use
Even with the boundary committee recommendations, the school board and superintendent can go against them. Last year, in the first phase of the redefining project, the board and Hepburn recommended the closure of Broward Estates Elementary in Lauderhill, which was then Broward's most under-enrolled school, despite the boundary committee recommending it stay open.
Also in the first phase, four elementary schools were voted to become K-8 schools and one middle school to grow to be a 6-12 school.
Final decisions about the future of these schools are planned to be made in January and would take effect starting in the 2026-27 school year. Hepburn will make his recommendations Friday, Dec. 12.
