The Broward County Public Schools superintendent is changing his tune on the plans for under-enrolled schools.
After receiving community input, district officials said Friday that Superintendent Dr. Howard Hepburn is no longer considering closing schools at this stage.
Hepburn said he will now recommend grade and program changes, explore partnerships, and sell property to regain enrollment.
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The district currently has about 50,000 empty classroom seats and dozens of schools are under-enrolled.
The proposal to repurpose schools — by either changing their grade levels, combining them with other schools, or closing them — was brought up last fall. The school district has held town hall meetings to get input from parents and the public ever since.
One plan proposed the closure of three schools - Olsen Middle in Dania Beach, Oakridge Elementary in Hollywood and Broward Estates Elementary in Lauderhill - and boundary changes for several, including the popular magnet program at Virginia Shuman Young Elementary.
A more severe plan would have closed 42 schools and redrawn all school boundaries, but that was immediately rejected by parents and not recommended by the superintendent.
