HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Howard Hepburn, the new Broward County Public Schools superintendent, attended a town hall meeting on Monday at Hollywood Hills High School.
Hepburn, 45, the former deputy superintendent of teaching and learning, and school board members discussed a problem that needs solutions.
There are about 50,000 fewer students. Under-enrollment is impacting about four dozen schools in the sixth-largest school district in the nation.
“I would like to see a long-term facilities assessment plan,” said Lori Alhadeff, the school board’s chair who assumed office in 2018 and was reelected in 2022.
The “Redefining Our Schools” town hall in Hollywood was one of the seven the superintendent and school board members planned to attend in each district for two and a half weeks.
Related link | List of schools under ‘consideration’ for closure
Aside from closures, the leaders will consider combining schools, making boundary adjustments, and repurposing buildings to expand community services.
The process could take years. There won’t be any changes during the 2024-25 school year.
Less than a year into the job, Superintendent Peter Licata announced his retirement on April 16. Licata had talked about the problem earlier this year.
“We have got to stop paying for the things we don’t have, the students we don’t have, and start paying for the students we do have,” Licata said.
After the town hall meeting in District 1, the next meeting with Hepburn will be in District 4 at 6 p.m., at J.P. Taravella High School, 10600 Riverside Drive, in Coral Springs.
The meeting at District 5 is at 6 p.m., on May 1, at Dillard High 6-12, at 2501 NW 11 St., in Fort Lauderdale. The meeting at District 3 is at 6 p.m., on May 6, at Fort Lauderdale High School, at 1600 NE 4 Ave.
The meeting at District 2 is at 6 p.m., on May 7, at Charles W. Flanagan High School at 12800 Taft St., in Pembroke Pines.
The meeting at District 6 is at 6 p.m., on May 8, at Western High School, at 1200 SW 136 Ave., in Davie. The meeting at District 7 is at 6 p.m., on May 9, at Deerfield Beach High School, at 910 Buck Pride Way.
For more information about the meetings, visit this page.