The new effort will be countywide rather than focusing only on a couple of areas of low enrollment, and will be done with much more community involvement than a recent failed attempt, district officials say. The plan is not expected to include any high schools.
Five schools will be closed during the 2025-26 school year to deal with dwindling the enrollment, the Broward County School Board insists, reviving a pledge that it’s so far had trouble enacting.
The new effort will be countywide rather than focusing only on a couple of areas of low enrollment, and will be done with much more community involvement than a recent failed attempt, district officials say. The plan is not expected to include any high schools.
The district will also look for ways to add or overhaul programs and bring students back who have chosen charter, private or home-school options and left the district with 43,000 empty seats.
Parents and students should know by late November whether their school would be affected, according to a timeline the School Board approved Tuesday.
This is the second time the School Board has asked the superintendent to develop a plan to close some schools.
Last summer, the board directed then-Superintendent Peter Licata to come up with a plan by June 2024 to close or repurpose at least five schools. That plan also would have taken effect in the 2025-26 school year.
But the last effort was riddled with problems, starting with an exodus of key district staff. The chief strategy and innovation officer tasked with overseeing the effort left in March. Then Licata exited, followed by the chief facilities officer and the director of demographics and enrollment.
Less than two weeks after taking over as superintendent, Hepburn led a series of town halls where he tried to defend a widely panned plan he said he didn’t create.
The previous plan included closing one school each in Lauderhill, Hollywood and Dania Beach, only two of which were low-enrolled.
After hearing negative feedback, Hepburn recommended postponing all school closures until the 2026-27 year. But some School Board members disagreed, asking the superintendent to study whether it’s still possible to close schools by 2025.
“The 2025/26 timeline allows for a quicker resolution and potential cost savings,” a district report said. “It addresses underutilization concerns promptly, ensuring that necessary changes are implemented in a timely manner.”
District officials have said there are potential cost savings of $1.8 million for every elementary school closed and $2.7 million for each middle school.
The new process will include better opportunities for public input, Hepburn said.
During the last effort, the district presented a plan and gave members of the public a minute or two to comment. The new effort will involve more robust conversations with students, parents, school advisory groups and municipalities, Hepburn said.
Although the report said closing schools in 2025 “requires more immediate and intensive community engagement efforts” than doing it in 2026, “it ensures stability and clarity for students, parents, and staff.”
Waiting until November could also be more politically palatable for School Board members, whose elections will be over by then.
But some remain skeptical that the new effort will have better results. Two School Board members, Torey Alston and Daniel Foganholi, voted against the latest proposal Tuesday. A major concern was the new plan uses similar criteria to consider closing schools as the old plan, including enrollment, available capacity nearby, school grades, condition of facilities and whether the school has historical significance.
Alston and Foganholi both serve areas in the south part of the county, which have a disproportionate number of students who have left traditional public schools. But Alston said there are low-enrolled schools throughout the county. During Tuesday’s meeting, Alston tried unsuccessfully to persuade the board to ensure all seven geographic school board districts are included in closures and major changes.
“This criteria does not include every part of our county and that’s wrong,” he said at Tuesday’s board meeting.
Board member Sarah Leonardi said she couldn’t support that idea.
“I do not believe we should be making the criteria based on politically drawn boundaries,” she said. “I think we need to look at each school and what are the needs of those schools.”
Alston told the Sun Sentinel he’s been a vocal advocate for the need to close some schools, but he wants to ensure the process is fair. He said the criteria would disproportionately affect minority communities.
“The criteria presented to the board was flawed and continues to target the I-95 corridor and Black and brown communities,” Alston said. “It’s wrong. The criteria should have a countywide approach as there is underenrollment in all parts of the county.”
Alston made similar comments during Tuesday’s meeting, angering board member Allen Zeman.
“It’s a false choice to say that either we pass [Alston’s proposal] or we’re being racists,” Zeman said.
The district has released the timeline for the new process to close or change schools:
June to July: Begin engagement with stakeholders.
August: Meetings with principals, assistant principals, staff and students.
Aug. 27: School Board workshop to propose schools to be addressed in Phase I and recommend specific process, including creating a boundary committee.
September: Develop scenarios that will be posted for comments; make presentations to district and regional advisories and committees; meet with individual schools and communities identified for changes.
Oct. 10: Hold a public meeting to present all proposed changes to the community and boundary committee.
Oct. 16: Boundary Committee votes on recommendations to the School Board.
Oct. 22: A School Board workshop on redefining schools, with all proposals and committee recommendations.
Oct. 23: Superintendent makes final recommendations for school usage and attendance boundaries.
Nov. 20: School Board meeting to consider adopting superintendent’s recommendations.
Nov. 20-22: Notification to students, parents and staff impacted by adopted changes, which would take effect in August 2025.
