FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Parents and students are sounding off on a school district official’s proposal to reconfigure schools in Broward County.
Broward County Public School officials held a town hall meeting Monday night at Fort Lauderdale High School to explain the proposal to overhaul schools countywide.
Three schools right now are being considered for closure: Broward Estates Elementary in Lauderhill, Olsen Middle School in Dania Beach, and Oakridge Elementary in Hollywood.
Some schools are under a plan to reconfigure schools which include Fort Lauderdale’s Virginia Shulman Young Elementary and would see its popular Montessori program moved to Bennett Elementary, approximately two miles away.
Students from Virginia Shulman Young did not like BCPS’ proposal.
One student told 7News the elementary school has “been a great learning experience.” Another student said the school “is a loving place where you can learn and make friends.”
Many more students echoed their feelings at the town hall.
“It’s a great place for people to go and for people to learn,” said a student.
“What if they make you move schools,” said 7News’ reporter Nicole Linsalata.
“I would be very sad,” said a student.
Another student when asked the same question stated “Moving the school would be a mistake because it removes all the foundation that was built inside Virginia Shulman Young.”
Parents strongly agreed.
“You put forth a singular proposal, that’s nothing more than a Powerpoint and a sales pitch,” said a parent.
“To break down the bastion of Montessori is appalling,” said a parent.
“That’s why people fight to get in, I’m proud to be a VSY parent,” said a parent.
Broward Schools Superintendent Dr. Howard Hepburn reassured unhappy parents and students that they heard their disapproval.
“I appreciate the feedback, it’s truly a gift,” said said Hepburn. “They have a right to be passionate, they have a right to have a high-performance school with a great program. If they want to advocate for their program and we are listening,” said Hepburn.
Before Monday’s town hall meeting, parents told 7News they were not happy with the district’s reconfiguration plan.
“We want to affect as few children as possible. There’s actual students who are being affected here,” said Sean Goldstein, a Virginia Shulman Young Elementary parent.
That’s exactly what these parents say a proposed Broward County Public School reconfigure plan will do if it passes through the school board.
“Any way you slice this it doesn’t make sense,” said Erin Gohl, a Virginia Shulman Young Elementary parent. “It takes a lot to take a successful Montessori program, any successful school program, but Montessori requires teachers who are trained in Montessori.”
“You cannot just pick up a community that’s been built over decades and put it to a different facility,” said Michelle Hearne, a Virginia Shulman Young Elementary parent
Some schools would be repurposed, while others would see their grade levels changed.
“We got a lot of feedback from the community, feedback that we will take back to consideration to revise our consideration before our recommendations are presented to the school board in the next week or two,” said Dr. Howard Hepburn, Broward Schools Superintendent.
Some Virginia Shulman Young parents are unsure as to why their competitive program would be moved.
Proponents say it would result in two high-performing schools but parents said the existing program is what attracted them to the school and what they want to maintain.
“It’s established, we know it works,” said a Virginia Shulman Young Elementary parent. “We can replicate it somewhere else over many years, but it’s not gonna happen in one transition year. We will lose more students if this proposal goes through than we would bring back into Broward County Schools.”
Another town hall meeting is scheduled for Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Charles W. Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines as the district officials work to finalize their plan to bring in front of the school board by mid-June.
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