PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. — Parents have sounded off as Broward County Public Schools considers closing or consolidating six elementary and middle schools next fall.
One school board member says closures are inevitable.
“We will have to close schools. That’s not a question. There’s no Hail Mary coming,” Broward County School Board member Rebecca Thompson said.
More than a third of the potentially impacted schools fall within Thompson’s district — and she says parents have a lot of questions.
“People wanna know, is my school closed or not?” she said.
Thompson said the process takes time and emphasized that the district’s decisions are based on declining enrollment and the costs of maintaining underused facilities.
“It’s not just finding money to put into the schools,” Thompson said. “We’re funding empty classrooms. We’re funding maintenance for buildings that no one’s using.”
District data shows enrollment dropped by about 10,000 students this year alone, as more families take advantage of state-funded vouchers for private education. Over the past decade, Broward County Public Schools’ enrollment has fallen by nearly 40,000 students.
The district says schools such as Panther Run, Glades, Palm Cove, Pines Lakes, Sunshine, and Fairway are among those being reviewed.
While closing schools like Glades Middle would be an emotional adjustment for families, Thompson said the district is exploring new uses for campuses.
“We’re gonna look into bringing a technical school into Glades,” she said. “That actually benefits a whole new community of people and their students, once they finish high school, could go to these technical schools.”
The impact could also extend beyond school campuses.
“Our whole board said yesterday, if we’re going to do this to our communities, we need to do it at a district level,” Thompson said. “So we’ve talked about selling the K.C. Wright Building, which is our downtown office.”
Nothing has been finalized, and any decision to close or consolidate schools would require a board vote.
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