North Fork Elementary in Fort Lauderdale is expected to close in a few months, but it could get a new life as the site of a job training center for high school students, or possibly even a school that resides next to a housing complex and a hotel.
The school district has received at least two formal proposals from groups that want to lease the campus of North Fork Elementary, at 101 NW 15th Ave., which is one of seven schools the district is targeting for closure due to its low enrollment.
But its central location off of Broward Boulevard, just east of Interstate 95, has made the 60-year-old campus a sought-after site for groups looking to redevelop it.
Junior Achievement of South Florida was among the first to show interest in the site, proposing a “Workforce Innovation Center” to teach career readiness skills for high school students throughout the district.
This month, the district also received a proposal called “Sistrunk Rising” to create a “cradle-to-career” campus. This may include a new community school and learning hub, a teacher and family resource center, an affordable housing complex and a national brand hotel, according to the proposal.
The district also received a third proposal, from the Museum of Discovery and Science, to implement a science and technology-based curriculum at North Fork. But that proposal would be contingent on North Fork staying open, said Joseph Cox, the museum’s president and CEO. Cox said the museum is open to partnering with another school.
Although the School Board won’t take a final vote until Jan. 21, Superintendent Howard Hepburn has recommended North Fork be closed, and board members unanimously voiced support for the idea at a Dec. 8 workshop.
School Board members are expected to hold another workshop in the coming months to review these proposals as any other that may come in for new uses of North Fork or any of the six other schools likely to be closed: Plantation Middle, Bair Middle in Sunrise, Sunshine Elementary in Miramar, Panther Run Elementary and Palm Cove Elementary in Pembroke Pines and Sea Gull Alternative High in Fort Lauderdale.
“I am open to reviewing existing and future proposals that will be received by the District for the North Fork community up to March 2026,” School Board member Jeff Holness, who represents North Fork, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I am personally interested in proposals that make good business sense for the district and proposals that have real input from the residents” of Holness’ district.
The Junior Achievement proposal has received letters of support from Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis; Coconut Creek Mayor Jackie Railey; the Broward Workshop, a group of business leaders; the United Way of Broward County; and Arc Broward, a group that serves people with disabilities.
Junior Achievement has a $10 million pledge to construct a new building as well as some smaller pledges, Laurie Sallarulo, president and CEO at Junior Achievement of South Florida, told the Sun Sentinel.
So far, at least one School Board member, Lori Alhadeff, who represents northwest Broward, has expressed support for the Junior Achievement plan.
“I do think career training programs, wherever we can implement them into our schools, is something that is very up-and-coming and something we should be doing,” Alhadeff said at an October School Board workshop.
Junior Achievement currently serves fifth- and eighth-graders in the district through a center called JA World Huizenga Center, which is at Broward College’s Coconut Creek campus. The North Fork proposal describes JA World as “the largest experiential learning center of its kind in the world — serving every BCPS student.”
Fifth-graders attend JA BizTown, where they get to run a mock town. Eighth-graders attend JA Career Discovery Park, where they use technology to simulate different jobs, Sallarulo said.
North Fork Elementary School on Broward Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
She said she’s had requests to expand the concept into high schools.
“I’m just telling you as someone who works with students every day, the anxiety levels of what the future looks like, they don’t feel prepared,” she said. “They want more of this. They ask us all the time, ‘Why don’t we have a high school program?’ And I say, ‘Oh, we’re trying.’ They do want more of that preparation for the future.”
She said North Fork is a more ideal site than some other potential school sites Junior Achievement has toured.
“Every single student from across 31 high schools will be served. In order to do that, you’ve got to be centrally located and off a main highway,” Sallarulo said. “And you’ve got to have the space. You’ve got to have the space for parking for volunteers and mentors and business partners.”
The Sistrunk proposal has a student job training component, but the proposal is much broader. It’s spearheaded by a nonprofit group called Community Based Connections Inc., and includes partnerships with the Minority Builders Coalition, the Broward Teachers Union and McDowell Housing Partners, which develops affordable housing projects.
The group proposes a school focusing on science, technology and math, as well as a teen career readiness program and adult education offerings. While the proposal envisions the district running the school, it’s still viable if the district isn’t interested, Brian Johnson, who heads the Minority Builders Coalition and Community Based Connections, told the Sun Sentinel.
If the district were to say it doesn’t want to operate there, “then we look at other ways to provide community schooling on that site,” Johnson said. “The point is that the site under our control will maintain a robust educational program throughout.”
The proposal also envisions about 200 affordable housing units, which Johnson said would be affordable but require higher income levels than residents at low-income housing units nearby. Teachers would be a major target for these units, Johnson said.
The Broward Teachers Union would co-manage a Teacher–Family Resource Center.
“Through this partnership, we will help design, operate, and maintain a high-impact resource hub that provides teachers with school supplies, professional supports, and personal and family resources that improve retention and instructional readiness,” the proposal states. “Together with BTU, we are committed to building a system of support that uplifts educators and enhances their ability to succeed in the classroom.”
The proposal also includes a national-brand hotel and a transportation hub that would provide easy access to Broward County Transit, express bus routes, Tri-Rail and Brightline stations.
“Whatever process this district decides to select who they partner with, I expect, and I hope the community would expect, their process will reward the project with the highest and the best use of that facility and with the most benefits,” Johnson said, adding he believes his proposal is the best.
One issue that could hinder both projects is money. A major reason School Board members are closing and combining schools is to try to save money on administrative costs and also earn revenues on the sale or lease of property.
The Junior Achievement plan asks the School Board to lease the property at a minimal cost, while the Sistrunk Rising project proposes a long-term lease with a discount on the market rate.
“The board made it very clear at our last workshop that we had a strong belief that we needed to get market rent if we were going to lease the land, and we needed to get the highest bidder if we were going to sell the land,” Board member Allen Zeman told the Sun Sentinel.
Holness said he’s spoken with representatives from both Junior Achievement and Sistrunk Rising, and he’s told them any deal must make financial sense to the district.
“With our current tight budgetary constraints, our school district is in no position to entertain plans that are not financially beneficial,” he said. “We are not in a position to accept zero or $1 lease arrangements from any group or organization.”
Sallarulo said when School Board members pitched the idea of closing schools, they supported looking for ways to repurpose the buildings.
“They didn’t go into the community and say, ‘Oh, we’re going to close your school and build housing. Or we’re going to close your school and sell it for commercial property,’” Sallarulo said.
She said the advantage of the Junior Achievement plan is “it does build on the credibility and the trust of the School Board.
“So while it doesn’t bring back a financial benefit in their pockets, it does cut the costs of maintaining the property. So they don’t have to demolish the building,” she said. “They don’t have to maintain the property, and they still own it.”