Broward School Board Weighs Next Round of Closures as Empty Seats Reach 61,000

With about 61,000 empty seats across its campuses, the Broward County School Board is once again debating which schools to close, consolidate or repurpose, and one board member wants to go much further than the 10 schools now under review. At a workshop Tuesday, Oct. 6, board member Allen Zeman argued for closing 26 schools, while Superintendent Howard Hepburn warned that the district can no longer afford to run as many buildings as it does.

No vote was taken. Hepburn is expected to bring his recommendation to the board on Nov. 5, and the board is expected to vote on Dec. 15, according to WLRN. Any closures approved in December would take effect for the 2027-28 school year.

Why Broward is closing schools

Broward County Public Schools, the second-largest district in Florida and sixth-largest in the nation, has been shrinking for years. Enrollment was nearly 208,000 in 2021, according to CBS News Miami. On the first day of the 2026-27 school year, the district counted 11,358 fewer students than a year earlier, a drop Hepburn said equates to about $100 million in lost state funding. The district now serves roughly 180,000 students.

Empty seats are projected to climb from about 61,000 now to roughly 70,000 next year. WLRN reported that the lost seats translate to more than $430 million less in the district's budget, because Florida's school funding follows students rather than buildings.

"We can no longer afford to operate the same number of facilities while serving fewer and fewer students each year," Hepburn said, according to WLRN. "This is not about whether a school is a good school or a great school," he added, but about "enrollment, resources and making sure we are using taxpayers' dollars responsibly."

Hepburn said in August that it costs more to operate an under-enrolled school than the district spends on instruction for the students in it, NBC 6 reported. He has attributed the enrollment decline to low birth rates, the high cost of living, reduced immigration and competition from school choice programs.

The 10 schools under review

The current list, unveiled at an Aug. 25 workshop as phase three of the district's "Redefining Our Schools" process, includes seven elementary schools and three middle schools. Under the proposals posted by the district and reported by WLRN, students would be reassigned as follows.

The board also discussed new options before Hepburn's final recommendation. Tuesday's workshop drew a large crowd of parents, students and local officials, including families from Dolphin Bay, Lloyd Estates and Sherman Park elementaries who oppose closing their schools, WLRN reported.

Zeman pushes for 26 closures

Zeman has long argued that the district's incremental approach is too timid. He said he "would like to take a much more courageous path" and proposed closing 26 schools, a figure drawn from an earlier workshop list of schools that could close while keeping current feeder patterns intact. With about 70,000 empty seats projected, he argued, far more than 26 schools could close and every student would still have a seat. Of the 26, he said, "It is not a big number that you could close."

Zeman has pressed the point before. At the August workshop, he noted that enrollment had dropped sharply while only 3.4 percent of the district's schools had been slated for closure, and NBC 6 reported that he described a target of 27 schools, which would leave 171 in operation, with closed sites used for workforce and affordable housing.

In a twist, Zeman also suggested a pause in the closure process. "We need a year off. We've been going at this pace," he said, and other board members agreed, according to WLRN. Board member Rebecca Thompson has said communities need time to heal and recover from the pain of a school closure. It was not clear Tuesday how a pause would affect the current 10-school round, which remains on track for a December vote.

Board members agreed that doing nothing is not in the best interest of the district or its students. "I would say no one's happy," board member Debbie Hixon said of the closures, though she said students "do win in the end."

Lessons from earlier rounds

This is the third year of "Redefining Our Schools." The board closed Broward Estates Elementary in 2025, and on Jan. 21, 2026, it voted to close six more: Sunshine, Panther Run, Palm Cove and North Fork elementaries, Plantation Middle and Seagull Alternative High. The board spared Bair Middle in Sunrise by a single vote after the City of Sunrise committed to occupying space on the campus, WLRN reported.

The six schools closed in the last round are saving an average of about $1.2 million each per year, according to WLRN. Hepburn said in August that closures, combined with layoffs of about 1,000 staff, have saved the district more than $100 million. Savings from the current round are not yet known because the list is not final.

An earlier closure plan in 2024 was pulled back after public outcry at community town halls, and board members at the time criticized it as not bold enough. That history has shaped the current, slower process, which includes town halls held in September where parents and staff could comment on proposals and suggest alternatives.

Families' concerns

At Banyan Elementary, where the board is considering moving students to Discovery and Village elementaries in Sunrise, residents want the school kept open and an early learning center added to fill the campus. A recurring concern across schools is the fate of Exceptional Student Education staff and programs.

Carolina Diaz, the mother of two ESE students, told the board that parents value the "structure, supervision, consistency and protection" their children receive, and that combining elementary and middle school students on one campus would disrupt those needs.

There is also a state law wrinkle. Under Florida's Schools of Hope law, approved charter operators can use under-enrolled or surplus district facilities. WLRN reported in August that four of the proposed closures, Banyan, Lloyd Estates, Forest Glen and Dandy, could be taken over that way, leaving the district paying maintenance without state funding for the students. Hepburn said KIPP was the only operator to approach the district, and only about Dandy.

What's next

• Nov. 5: Hepburn is expected to present his final recommendation, including financial projections.
• Dec. 15: The School Board is expected to vote on the phase three closures.
• 2027-28 school year: Approved closures and reassignments would take effect.

The full list of proposals is posted on the district's Redefining Our Schools page at browardschools.com. Whether the board embraces Zeman's larger list or his call for a year off is likely to be decided after the December vote, when the board sets the scope of any future round.