The School Assistance Boundary Committee of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools officially published a list of 27 schools that will be subject to monitoring and analysis for potential structural changes, including closures or consolidations in the coming years.
The communication raised concerns among teachers and parents in communities such as Miami Gardens, Opa-locka, Kendall, and Homestead, especially after the School Board approved the closure or consolidation of nine campuses at various locations throughout the county this summer.
The list is divided into two categories: 12 schools classified as "re-evaluated" and another 15 categorized as "under review".
Of the two, the designation of "reevaluated" implies a greater likelihood of significant changes. This category indicates that a decision has already been made to align with the district's strategic objectives and long-term infrastructure plan, and that "there will be an impact on the school in its current form."
All the "reevaluated" schools are operating at 50% or less of their physical capacity, according to state calculations from last school year. There is one that doesn't even reach 20% occupancy.
The 12 schools in that category are:
- Carol City Middle (40%)
- Brentwood Elementary (36%)
- Golden Glades Elementary (44%)
- Lake Stevens Elementary (47%)
- Myrtle Grove Elementary (19%)
- Lorah Park Elementary (36%)
- Paul L. Dunbar K-8 Center (42 %)
- Center for International Education (35%)
- Greenglade Elementary (47%)
- Hammocks Middle (32%)
- Kendale Elementary (45%)
- Village Green Elementary (50%)
The 15 schools "under review" may remain unchanged, continue to be analyzed, receive additional programs, or be part of future recommendations. These are:
- Natural Bridge Elementary (49%)
- North County K-8 Center (47%)
- North Dade Middle (21%)
- Emerson Elementary (48%)
- Lillie C Evans K-8 Center (36%)
- Ludlam Elementary (54%)
- Kelsey L. Pharr Elementary (72%)
- Orchard Villa Elementary (33%)
- Gloria Floyd Elementary (42%)
- Lamar Louise Curry Middle (67%)
- Marjory Stoneman Douglas Elementary (45%)
- Olympia Heights (47%)
- Riviera Middle / Tropical Elementary (45% / 36%)
- South Miami Heights Elementary (58%)
The School Board clarified that being on the list does not equate to an automatic closure, and that any future decision must go through a public process before formal recommendations are made.
The driving force behind these evaluations is a sustained drop in enrollment. The official count in February recorded approximately 232,000 students in traditional public schools; adding charter schools, the figure rose to nearly 319,000. Following the start of the new school year, the district reported around 301,000 enrolled in the first three days of classes.
Superintendent José Dotres identified the primary cause as the decline in the arrival of immigrant students. While two years ago the district received between 15,000 and 22,000 new foreign students each year, in the last academic year that number dropped to approximately 3,300.
It was also noted that the district no longer has certain federal funds that used to help support schools with low enrollment, which necessitates ongoing evaluations of consolidations.
"We do not close schools to save money. The reason is that we do not have the necessary resources to offer all the services in schools that are so small," the official explained to Telemundo 51.
But there are other factors that contribute to the declining enrollment, such as low birth rates, changes in migration patterns, and the high cost of living in the region, stated Elmo Lugo, spokesperson for the school district, in a statement cited by El Nuevo Herald.
Lugo pointed out that the district "is not sitting idly by" and is already working to "bring families back" through marketing campaigns that highlight the specialized programs (magnet) and the vocational training pathways offered by the district.
This new round of evaluations comes after the School Board approved in June the permanent closure of five schools and the consolidation of four others, a decision that also eliminated 168 jobs in the district.
The trend is not exclusive to Miami-Dade either: the neighboring Broward County approved the closure of six schools earlier this year, with a projected savings of eight million dollars annually, after losing over 40,000 students in the past decade.
In 2023, Miami-Dade welcomed over 22,000 new immigrant children in just one school year, an unprecedented influx in two decades that caused a collapse in various schools. Just three years later, the same district is facing the opposite problem: empty classrooms and budgets plummeting.
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