Next school year, Broward County schools will have fewer schools as well as boundary changes in locations including Pembroke Pines, Miramar and Fort Lauderdale, the school board voted Wednesday as part of a long-term plan to save the district millions of dollars.
The boundary changes and school consolidations are estimated to result in saving up to $10 million annually for the sixth largest school district in the country. It's also tightening on hiring for non-essential roles, cutting overtime and restricting travel for employees.
The district has been navigating its financial hardships in the spotlight recently after Gov. Ron DeSantis called the district a "disaster" and a series of financial fumbles have ignited concern over accountability and mismanagement.
The district, which gets government funding based on student headcount, is facing a budget hole of $94 million due to having 10,000 fewer students than it did last year. Other school districts in the country and state, including Miami-Dade County Public Schools, are confronting the same issue. Recent data from the state shows that immigration enforcement is also leading to a chill in Florida's K-12 enrollment.
Board member Debbie Hixon reminded the audience, which was nervous about the schools' futures, that school closures are "not about how great the school is. It is about numbers."
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.
Students and parents from Bair Middle School in Sunrise were at the meeting pleading with the board to keep their school open.
Bracing herself to address the adults holding her school's future in their hands, sixth grader Elizabeth Bartfield confidently and empathetically asked school board members to imagine being in her shoes: "How would you feel [this] happened to you? Why us?"
"Our teachers are excellent and kind, of course," Elizabeth said. "They put in time and effort to make learning for us. I love all my teachers and would hate to say goodbye to them, as I'm sure they do not want to say goodbye to their students either."
Behind her as she spoke was her twin brother, Aiden, wearing a full-body bear suit costume. The A-grade-earning twins and their peers wore matching home-made t-shirts with a bear illustration in the middle of it and "#SunriseHelp" and "Save Bair" written on it.
"Please, I ask again, please don't close our school," she said. "I would be sad to see Bair close. I know I'm not the only one."
Bair Middle has 54% of its permanent capacity enrolled. Despite the low enrollment, board members saw an opportunity for growth at the school, ultimately voting down the recommendation to close Bair in 5-4 vote to keep it open.
Elizabeth was " very happy."
"I was proud because, like, my speech, I think it kind of helped, like people change their mind a little bit," she told WLRN.
No other schools that were on the agenda were spared.
"We have to continue to do this because we have less students. It's just a fact," Hixon said.
In five years, Broward County Public Schools is looking at a projected loss of over 25,000 students, according to district data. Currently, the district has more than 236,00 students and some 300 schools. Based on a 5-year projection, enrollment would continue decreasing, superintendent Howard Hepburn said.
All of the approved proposal passed unanimously, affecting students across Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Hallandale and Fort Lauderdale.
The schools affected are:
- Sunshine Elementary School in Miramar. Current students will be consolidated into Fairway Elementary School.
- Panther Run Elementary School in Pembroke Pines. Current students will be consolidated into Chapel Trail and Silver Palms elementary schools.
- Palm Cove Elementary School in Pembroke Pines. Current students will be consolidated into Lakeside and Pines Lakes elementary schools.
- North Fork Elementary in Fort Lauderdale. Current students will be consolidated into Croissant Park, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall and Walker elementary schools.
- Plantation Middle School in Plantation. Current students will be consolidated into Plantation High School to reconfigure the school to serve sixth through 12th grade.
- Seagull Alternative High School in Fort Lauderdale. Current students will be consolidated into Whiddon-Rogers Education Center. An amendment was added to conduct monthly check-ins on the development of upgrades being made to facilities in Seagull.
School boundary shifts and changes will affect the following schools:
- A portion of students at Walter C. Young Middle School in Pembroke Pines will move to Silver Trail Middle School.
- A portion of students at Charles W. Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines will move to West Broward High School.
- A portion of students at Hallandale High School will be assigned to Miramar High School. Hallandale High School will be transitioned to a four-day-week magnet school following the Pompano Beach High School model.
- Thurgood Marshall Elementary School in Fort Lauderdale will reconfigured to include pre-school age children to 5th grade.
The changes voted on will take effect in the 2026-27 school year. The board plans to begin discussing how the campuses will be repurposed in a workshop in March.
Graduation venue locations
Much of Wednesday's meeting focused on a move that relocates some graduation ceremonies from performing arts centers and a local university arena to school gymnasiums as a way to save on costs.
The school board made these changes without public input, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. Last October, the board publicly agreed to put classes with less than 500 students in high school gyms. In December, that changed to less than 556 students, adding 8 big schools to the list, with no input.
Nine schools are planned to have their graduation ceremonies at the Nova Southeastern University arena and two at Hard Rock Live in Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood because of their large class-sizes. Ceremonies for the other 33 high schools in the district will be held in the gymnasiums of Dillard High, Pompano Beach High or Blanch Ely High schools — including for students who don't attend these schools.
Hepburn said the move is one of the ways the district is attempting to ease the extreme budget shortfall.
"From 2016 to to 2025, the cost of renting sites for graduation ceremonies has increased from $307,000 to $885,000," Hepburn said at the meeting. " By utilizing our own facilities more effectively this year, we are saving approximately $500,000 annually, which allows us to reinvest those dollars directly back into classrooms, programs and student supports."
Dozens of public speakers at the meeting gave the board grief over the move, claiming the approach favors some schools and students over others. An online petition to sway the board's move has over 2,600 signatures.
Board chair Sarah Leonardi had to remind the audience to maintain decorum multiple times as various persons called out protesting the board and erupted in applause. Most speakers were concerned the approach favors some schools and students over others.
"No student is going to have a less-than venue," Hixon said. "Once you get in there it's about celebrating you and your friends. No matter where you're at, you're graduating high school."
Hope briefly surged through the crowd when board member Adam Cervera — who wore a cap that read, "Listen to parents" — made a motion to stall a decision to a later date, but it was soon voted down.
Board member Rebecca Thompson, who opposed the motion, emphasized that the crux of the issue is saving money to pave a path to financial security that benefits all students in the district, like high-caliber academic programs in every school.
" When you're looking at equity, the graduation is a day and it's very special and very important," Thompson said, "but we also have a lot of inequity across the district that's happening every day... So it's hard for me to kind of reconcile one day versus what we're trying to achieve right now by being financially responsible, trying to pay our teachers and our staff more, by making these hard decisions right now, if we react to every disappointment that we create."
Hepburn said that he plans to present new options regarding graduations later this week.
Teacher salary raises
The board adopted the agreement it has with the Broward Teachers Union to raise salaries this school year for eligible teachers and staff.
The raises count for $5 million of the district's general fund. The starting salary is at $51,600 this year.
For teachers grandfathered in the salary increase schedule, the raise is 0.50%. For teachers who receive a "highly effective," the raise is 0.65% and for those rated "effective" it's 0.46%
The proposal was agreed to and ratified in December.
