Broward Public Schools superintendent presents repurposing recommendations
PLANTATION - Broward Public Schools leaders want more information about potential closures before moving forward with the superintendent's plan to reimagine the district.
Dr. Howard Hepburn's staff set up seven town halls to present plans to fix underenrollment, schools at less than half capacity and financial problems that leave the district one or two major emergencies away from owing more money than it brings in.
Staff said those plans would not include school closures on Friday. Dr. Hepburn presented recommendations for board members to vet Tuesday during a board workshop.
His plan included changes to grade combinations on several campuses, shift boundaries for others and add new programs to A schools.
However, board members feel closing schools is inevitable. Dr. Hepburn told them closures would be part of phase two of his plan. Months of meetings with stakeholders would happen first, Dr. Hepburn said.
After more than three hours of discussion, board members asked Dr. Hepburn to bring them detailed plans on both phases of reimagining the district. The closure plan is going to include the number of recommended closures, names of schools that might potentially shutter and explanations on how stakeholders will provide input.
The board will call a special meeting to hear those reports on May 29th. The board expects to make a decision on staff recommendations June 18th.
"It's not frustrating because I think it's very important for me, myself, (and) my colleagues to be able to talk about what we'd like to see, how we'd like more community input into the plan, what that process looks like, what the timeline is," Lori Alhadeff, Broward County Public Schools Board Chairperson said.
"If they would just be honest. at the end of the day we have to rip off the band-aid and keep it moving," Narnike Pierre-Grant, a parent and district advisor said. "Are we going to make everybody happy? No. Are going to have some kids being disrupted? Yes. Is that going to be an issue? Yes. But if we're saying we're going to work together to make this happen. We have to work together to make this... we have to make this as painless as possible for all."