FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - The Broward County School Board is weighing whether to make some major changes to several schools as the ongoing debate continues on what to do with several low-enrolled schools.
On Tuesday, the boundary committee recommended the school board make several changes to six schools in the district.
- Reconfigure Pines Middles to a 6th-12th grade collegiate academy
- Combine Silver Lakes Elementary and Silver Shores Elementary
- Reconfigure Hollywood Central Elementary, Coral Cove Elementary and Coconut Creek Elementary to a K-8 school.
During the meeting, board members discussed turning Broward Estates Elementary into an early learning center, but ultimately, it was not recommended.
“We know there’s going to be some hard decisions that have to be made we’ll continue to evaluate where we are as a district,” said Broward County Public School Superintendent Dr. Howard Hepburn.
While most board members agreed that these recommendations were a good start to the issue, Broward School Board Member Allen Zeman said the board is just delaying the inevitable.
“The law of economics in education and in public resourcing is that we have 40 to 60 more schools than we can afford,” said Zeman.
Hepburn said there are several reasons why schools are facing low enrollment.
“You have students that are exercising their choice, parents exercising choice, you have some communities where there’s low birth rate,” he said. “There is a plethora of variables that are causing our schools to be under-enrolled.
The school board will finalize the boundary committee’s suggestions in January.
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