first to show interest<\/a> in the site, proposing a \u201cWorkforce Innovation Center\u201d to teach career readiness skills for high school students throughout the district.<\/p>\nThis month, the district also received a proposal called \u201cSistrunk Rising\u201d to create a \u201ccradle-to-career\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s president and CEO. Cox said the museum is open to partnering with another school.<\/p>\n
Although the School Board won\u2019t take a final vote until Jan. 21,\u00a0 Superintendent Howard Hepburn has recommended North Fork be closed, and board members unanimously voiced support for the idea at a Dec. 8 workshop.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am open to reviewing existing and future proposals that will be received by the District for the North Fork community up to March 2026,\u201d School Board member Jeff Holness, who represents North Fork, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. \u201cI am personally interested in proposals that make good business sense for the district and proposals that have real input from the residents\u201d of Holness\u2019 district.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
So far, at least one School Board member, Lori Alhadeff, who represents northwest Broward, has expressed support for the Junior Achievement plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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,\u201d Alhadeff said at an October School Board workshop.<\/p>\n
Junior Achievement currently serves fifth- and eighth-graders in the district through a center called JA World Huizenga Center, which is at Broward College\u2019s Coconut Creek campus. The North Fork proposal describes JA World as \u201cthe largest experiential learning center of its kind in the world \u2014 serving every BCPS student.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
![\"North](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/tfl-l-north-fork-03.jpg\")
North Fork Elementary School on Broward Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (Joe Cavaretta\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n
She said she\u2019s had requests to expand the concept into high schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just telling you as someone who works with students every day, the anxiety levels of what the future looks like, they don\u2019t feel prepared,\u201d she said. \u201cThey want more of this. They ask us all the time, \u2018Why don\u2019t we have a high school program?\u2019 And I say, \u2018Oh, we\u2019re trying.\u2019 They do want more of that preparation for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said North Fork is a more ideal site than some other potential school sites Junior Achievement has toured.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery single student from across 31 high schools will be served. In order to do that, you\u2019ve got to be centrally located and off a main highway,\u201d Sallarulo said. \u201cAnd you\u2019ve got to have the space. You\u2019ve got to have the space for parking for volunteers and mentors and business partners.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sistrunk proposal has a student job training component, but the proposal is much broader. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s still viable if the district isn\u2019t interested, Brian Johnson, who heads the Minority Builders Coalition and Community Based Connections, told the Sun Sentinel.<\/p>\n
If the district were to say it doesn\u2019t want to operate there, \u201cthen we look at other ways to provide community schooling on that site,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThe point is that the site under our control will maintain a robust educational program throughout.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The Broward Teachers Union would co-manage a Teacher\u2013Family Resource Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough 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,\u201d the proposal states. \u201cTogether with BTU, we are committed to building a system of support that uplifts educators and enhances their ability to succeed in the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever 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,\u201d Johnson said, adding he believes his proposal is the best.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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,\u201d Board member Allen Zeman told the Sun Sentinel.<\/p>\n
Holness said he\u2019s spoken with representatives from both Junior Achievement and Sistrunk Rising, and he\u2019s told them any deal must make financial sense to the district.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith our current tight budgetary constraints, our school district is in no position to entertain plans that are not financially beneficial,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are not in a position to accept zero or $1 lease arrangements from any group or organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sallarulo said when School Board members pitched the idea of closing schools, they supported looking for ways to repurpose the buildings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t go into the community and say, \u2018Oh, we\u2019re going to close your school and build housing. Or we\u2019re going to close your school and sell it for commercial property,’\u201d Sallarulo said.<\/p>\n
She said the advantage of the Junior Achievement plan is \u201cit does build on the credibility and the trust of the School Board.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo while it doesn\u2019t bring back a financial benefit in their pockets, it does cut the costs of maintaining the property. So they don\u2019t have to demolish the building,\u201d she said. \u201cThey don\u2019t have to maintain the property, and they still own it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"North Fork Elementary in Fort Lauderdale is expected to close in a few months, but it could get…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[113,249,251,250,266,115,109,32797],"class_list":{"0":"post-90703","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-lauderdale","8":"tag-education","9":"tag-fort-lauderdale","10":"tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","11":"tag-fort-lauderdale-news","12":"tag-local-news","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-social","15":"tag-south-florida-schools"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90703","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=90703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}