Broward May Shrink Rather Than Close Low-enrolled Schools

With little appetite to close schools, the Broward School Board is now considering a new approach to deal with low-enrolled campuses: shrinking their size. School Board members discussed Tuesday the possibility of “partial closures” for schools with many empty seats. This would mean keeping the schools open for students but using extra space for district offices or turning it over to a local government or community agency for other uses. The district has faced steep enrollment declines in the past two decades and now has about 45,000 empty seats, the equivalent of more than 40 schools.