Two years as an A-rated district isn’t sufficient to guard some Broward colleges from going through closure, Superintendent Howard Hepburn mentioned.
The College Board plans to carry a workshop, tentatively scheduled for 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, to start discussing Part 2 of its “Redefining Broward County Public Faculties” initiative, which is designed to handle extreme underenrollment within the district.
Superintendent Howard Hepburn supplied a glimpse of what’s deliberate for the approaching months throughout a back-to-school interview with the South Florida Solar Sentinel on Thursday at Blanche Ely Excessive in Pompano Seashore. The brand new college yr begins Aug. 11 for college kids, with lecturers returning every week earlier.
District officers had hoped improved pupil achievement, new packages and that improved advertising would assist lure again households who’ve chosen constitution, personal and residential college choices over conventional public colleges.
Broward’s pupil enrollment declines — about 30,000 over the previous decade — have been extra dramatic than these in neighboring Palm Seashore and Miami-Dade counties. For years, many College Board members anxious that the district’s perennial B ranking contributed to the declines. Palm Seashore and Miami-Dade have been largely A-rated in recent times.
However final yr, Broward obtained its first A ranking since 2011, and this month, the district celebrated its second A grade in a row, with no colleges receiving D or F.
Nonetheless, enrollment continues to say no, and the newest projections from the state predict one other 8,800-student decline this fall. About 58 colleges are beneath 70% of capability, the district’s benchmark for being underenrolled, a district doc states.
For years, constitution colleges siphoned off most of these college students. However in recent times, the state additionally has tremendously expanded personal college vouchers, making them accessible to all households no matter earnings.
“Some dad and mom are profiting from the vouchers and using them to go to personal college and even residence college,” Hepburn mentioned. “However we even have fairly a couple of dad and mom which can be saying, ‘Hey, I can’t afford to stay in South Florida. I need to be certain my paycheck goes a good distance. I need to have the ability to afford the home.’ And so they’re selecting up and shifting to different areas.”
Hepburn mentioned he’ll suggest some college closures within the coming months as one solution to cope with declining enrollment. The precise quantity is unclear.
“Now we have to right-size our footprint. Now we have too many underenrolled colleges. That’s a actuality that we’ve been talking about for the previous couple of years,” he mentioned.
“The operational value to run a lower-enrolled college is considerably larger than operating a faculty that’s at capability,” Hepburn mentioned. “That diminishes sure tutorial, educational or supplemental alternatives at a lower-enrolled college since you’re spending more cash for operational prices. So there are some powerful choices we now have to make.”
He mentioned district employees will meet with dad and mom, neighborhood members, nonprofit teams and companies to debate alternatives for low-enrolled colleges. He mentioned he plans to carry again suggestions to the College Board by late 2025 or early 2026. Any modifications would doubtless take impact throughout the 2026-27 college yr.
College board members have acknowledged that faculty closings could also be mandatory, however they’ve been reluctant to really shut many colleges because of neighborhood backlash. Earlier this yr, the College Board agreed to shut just one college, Broward Estates Elementary in Lauderhill, which shall be become an early studying heart. The board additionally agreed to vary the grade configurations of a number of others, together with turning some elementary colleges into Ok-8 colleges.
The district is also contemplating repurposing the location of the outdated Dave Thomas East Schooling Middle in Pompano Seashore, which closed in 2021 because of structural harm, into workforce housing for lecturers.
The district has advised different makes use of for colleges that might probably shut, together with leasing them out to cities and neighborhood organizations, utilizing them as district workplace house and changing them into early studying facilities or vocational facilities.
“We need to be very purposeful and intentional in working with our companions,” Hepburn mentioned. “We are not looking for a closed, empty college locally. That faculty must serve a function for the neighborhood.”
The district is also partnering with cities and organizations to seek out methods to carry new packages to colleges that keep open, in keeping with a district presentation ready for Tuesday’s assembly.
These embody partnerships with the town of Fort Lauderdale for a Ok-12 sports activities academy at Bennett Elementary, Dawn Center and Fort Lauderdale Excessive, in addition to a partnership with Miramar for early studying alternatives.
The district additionally could be a part of forces with Junior Achievement of South Florida for a second location of Junior Achievement World, a mock mini-city that teaches college students entrepreneurship, work readiness and monetary literacy. Junior Achievement already has one location at Broward Faculty’s north campus in Coconut Creek.