Broward County Public Schools held a workshop in Fort Lauderdale to discuss tough decisions ahead of the upcoming school year. At the meeting, held Tuesday, school board members discussed declining enrollment, aging buildings, and whether some schools could be repurposed or consolidated. “We are trying to make sure we have a school system that can thrive, so we need to move in every direction to make that possible,” said Broward School Board member Rebecca Thompson. “We were talking about how we are going to utilize a lot of these school properties that we previously voted to close and or repurpose. So what you heard was the superintendents plan or his intentions on what you’re going to do with these properties,” said Broward School Board member Adam Cervera. There have been numerous meetings by Broward School Board to discuss low enrollment and decreased funding. “[Tuesday’s] workshop was an update of our past Redefining Our Schools efforts, going over the progress made throughout the year to prepare our students for the start of our school year, for those schools that actually closed to some students, and also to talk about some of the properties that we have for lease or surplus to give the board an update on where they are,” said BCPS Superintendent Dr. Howard Hepburn. Hepburn also said they will also be talking about the schools that could be part of the “re-defining phase three” for next year, and said that the discussions on phase three will happen in August. “What transpired in the workshop is really a conversation with the board to give us some direction on where we’re going to go with this year’s redefining our schools process. It is very important for the community to know that this year’s process, whatever comes our of this year’s process will not take effect until the [2027-2028] school year.” said Valerie Wanza, BCPS Chief Strategy Innovation Officer. BCPS members said these conversations are even more successful with input from the community. “The one thing that we know is as we start to look at what we do differently with school buildings. We want the community to help us in determining what is the best next use for the community in that particular property,” said Wanza. As district officials prepare for this school year, discussions are already being had for the 27-28 school year. A meeting is planned on August 25th for plans that will impact next school year. ...read more read less