For the first time since they started the process in February, Broward County Public Schools staff shared with the community two specific plans on Monday to address the critical decline in student enrollment: one that would close three schools and another that would close 42.
The first plan, which Superintendent Howard Hepburn recommended, would affect 30 schools, three of which would close.
Those three would be Oakridge Elementary in Hollywood, Broward Estates Elementary in Lauderhill and Olsen Middle School in Dania Beach.
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The other 27 would involve boundary changes, public-private partnerships, repurposings, and program and grade reconfigurations.
The second option, a much more aggressive one, would involve downsizing the district to only have seats for students enrolled. Alan Strauss, the school district’s task-assigned chief strategy and innovation officer, called it a “mathematical exercise.”
The second plan would close 42 schools and redraw all school boundaries. The 42 schools would include 32 elementary, eight middle and two high schools. District staff didn’t name them.
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The second plan would fix the nearly 54,000 empty seats in the district, but would eliminate all magnet programs, school choice and reassignments. It could also lead to more students leaving the school district.
The school district considered factors like the 2023-24 student enrollment numbers at the schools, how empty the schools were when comparing those enrollment numbers to the schools’ capacities, the schools’ historical significance and performance, and whether the school facilities were built before 1960, according to Monday’s presentation.
After they wrapped up the presentation, district staff asked the about 200 in-person attendees and other online viewers to fill out an online survey answering questions like, “Do you prefer the superintendent’s considerations or total district realignment?”
The district will hold six more town hall meetings to discuss the plans in the upcoming two weeks:
at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 30 at J.P. Taravella High School, 10600 Riverside Dr., Coral Springs, FL 33071 at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 1 at Dillard High School, 2501 NW 11th St., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311
at 6 p.m. Monday, May 6 at Fort Lauderdale High School, 1600 NE 4th Ave., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33305
at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 7 at Flanagan High School, 12800 Taft St., Pembroke Pines, FL 33028
at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 8 at Western High School, 1200 SW 136th Ave., Davie, FL 33325 at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 9 at Deerfield Beach High School, 910 Buck Pride Way, Deerfield Beach, FL 33441
This is a breaking story and will be updated.