{"id":380961,"date":"2026-08-25T20:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T20:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/380961\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T20:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T20:04:08","slug":"more-broward-public-schools-may-close-after-superintendent-reports-11000-fewer-students-60000-empty-seats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/380961\/","title":{"rendered":"More Broward public schools may close after superintendent reports 11,000 fewer students, 60,000 empty seats"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. \u2014 Alberto Estrena and Jenna Williams were among the concerned parents who attended the School Board of Broward County members\u2019 workshop on Tuesday<\/a> in Fort Lauderdale to discuss the future of a new list of schools over the district\u2019s lower enrollment. <\/p>\n

The schools under consideration include six elementary schools \u2014Lloyd Estates, Oakridge, Banyan, Coral Springs, Dolphin Bay, and Hollywood Park \u2014 and three middle schools \u2014 Forest Glen, Walter C. Young, and William E. Dandy. <\/p>\n

\u201cPlease keep Hollywood Park open,\u201d Entrena said during the meeting. \u201cIt\u2019s where I live; I live three blocks away from the school, and many, many kids need this … You are closing down an A-rated school to push kids into a C and B-rated school.\u201d <\/p>\n

Broward County Superintendent Howard Hepburn reported that enrollment had dropped by about 11,000 students during the start of the 2026-27 academic year. <\/p>\n

Related document: Enrollment decrease of 11,358 students on 1st day of school<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cParents want to know if you close a school then what happens next,\u201d Williams said. \u201cWhat improvements will our children see? Leadership, where will their teachers go?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hepburn said there were more than 60,000 empty seats across Broward County Public Schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can no longer afford to fund these empty seats as enrollment continues to decline,\u201d Hepburn said. <\/p>\n

\"\"Broward County Public Schools <\/p>\n

Related document: \u201cRedefining Our Schools\u201d presentation<\/a><\/p>\n

Debra Hixon, the school board\u2019s countywide at-large member, said Hollywood Park had 26 additional students. Adam Cervera, the school board member who represents District 6, referred to a state law<\/a> that requires school districts to allow the usage of \u201cunderused, vacant, or surplus\u201d facilities. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a crucial fact for everybody on this board to have a full understanding of how many of these 10 schools would be potentially eligible for that admin role with the School of Hope for a charter school to be able to come in,\u201d Cervera said. <\/p>\n

The Florida Department of Education designates \u201cSchools of Hope<\/a>,\u201d specialized public charter schools, run by \u201cHope Operators<\/a>,\u201d non-profit organizations.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s six \u201cHope Operators\u201d are Mater Academy<\/a>, RCMA<\/a>, IDEA Public Schools<\/a>, Success Academy<\/a>, Renaissance\/Warrington Preparatory Academy<\/a>, and KIPP New Jersey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The next suggested step was to bring a formal resolution to establish a committee on Sept. 15. <\/p>\n

According to a presentation for the school board members, the proposed changes would impact 22 elementary schools, six middle schools, and two high schools. <\/p>\n

Banyan Elementary into Discovery Elementary and Village ElementaryCoral Springs Elementary into Eagle Ridge Elementary and Parkside ElementarySilver Lakes Elementary and Dolphin Bay Elementary to Glades Ke-8 Sunset Lakes Elementary as K-8Hollywood Park Elementary into Boulevard Heights Elementary and West Hollywood ElementaryLloyd Estates Elementary into Cypress Elementary and Oakland Park ElementaryOakridge Elementary into Dania Elementary and Colbert ElementaryForest Glen Middle into Coral Park Elementary, Forest Hill Elementary, James S. Hunt Elementary, Park Springs Elementary, and Coral Springs HighWalter C. Young Middle into Pines Collegiate Academy 6-12, a middle school, and Silver Trail Middle Walter C. Young Middle into Charles W. Flanagan High William E. Dandy Middle into Parkway Middle <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. \u2014 Alberto Estrena and Jenna Williams were among the concerned parents who attended the School…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250],"class_list":["post-380961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}