After months of public enter and debate, the Broward County College Board authorized a sweeping reconfiguration plan to handle declining enrollment throughout the district.
Weeks in the past, the board voted in favor of Superintendent Dr. Howard Hepburn’s proposal to shut Broward Estates Elementary in Lauderhill—presently working at simply 36% capability—and convert the power into an early studying heart for pre-Kindergarten college students.
The vote, which handed with two dissenting members, additionally consists of modifications to 5 different faculties beneath the district’s “Redefining Broward County Public Colleges” initiative, geared toward decreasing prices and modernizing the varsity system to replicate present scholar numbers.
Along with the Broward Estates closure, the board authorized plans to transform Coconut Creek Elementary, Coral Cove Elementary in Miramar, and Hollywood Central Elementary into Okay-8 faculties. Silver Shores Elementary, additionally in Miramar, might be reworked right into a full-choice magnet program. Zoned college students will as a substitute be reassigned to Silver Lakes or Silver Palms elementary faculties. Pines Center College will progressively transition right into a 6–12 collegiate academy.
The initiative follows a virtually 22% drop in enrollment during the last twenty years, with over 45,000 empty seats throughout the district. Initially, the board directed former Superintendent Peter Licata to determine 5 faculties for closure. Nevertheless, public backlash and considerations from metropolis officers and residents led to a scaled-back plan that shutters just one faculty.
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Broward Estates has a capability for almost 700 college students however enrolled simply 222 this yr, making it the district’s most under-enrolled faculty. That low enrollment creates a financial strain, since state funding is tied to scholar headcounts. Nonetheless, for a lot of in Lauderhill, Broward Estates is greater than only a faculty — it’s a generational anchor. Opened in 1957, it’s the place dad and mom, their grown youngsters, and now even grandchildren have all gone. Practically 80% of Lauderhill’s inhabitants is Black, in accordance with the U.S. Census, with a big variety of Caribbean-American households who’ve lengthy despatched their children to Broward Estates. For the reason that faculty board’s vote in January, dad and mom and group members have been actively protesting the choice to shut it.
Board member Dr. Allen Zeman argued the district should do extra, pointing to years of deferred choices. He warned that reaching 90% districtwide capability would require closing 33 faculties. Superintendent Hepburn agreed with Zeman’s evaluation of declining numbers however emphasised the necessity for a phased, community-driven method, somewhat than abrupt mass closures.
“This course of isn’t just about closing faculties,” mentioned Hepburn. “It’s about creating alternatives, assembly the varied wants of each youngster, and making certain households really feel assured in selecting Broward County Public Colleges.”
The modifications will go into impact for the 2025–26 educational yr and characterize the primary section of a longer-term effort to reshape the district.
