Bair Middle, a Sunrise school that spent the last few months on a potential school closure list, has a reprieve and will stay open. Six other schools will close after this school year as part of the \u201cRedefining Broward County Public Schools\u201d effort to deal with declining enrollment, the Broward School Board decided Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
They are Sunshine Elementary in Miramar, Panther Run Elementary and Palm Cove Elementary in Pembroke Pines, Plantation Middle, and North Fork Elementary and Seagull Alternative High in Fort Lauderdale. The school district expects to save about $9.5 million by closing the six schools, according to executive summaries posted on Wednesday\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n
Closing Bair would have saved another $1.9 million, but School Board members faced staunch opposition from city leaders, parents, students and the Broward Teachers Union, who packed the meeting, along with a Bair Middle bear mascot, holding \u201cSave Bair\u201d signs.
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\nBair Middle parent Jeanette Marcel told the board, \u201cI would like to urge our elected officials to remember that they are in these seats because they have been elected by us, by the people, for the people, and we will continue to exercise our rights and our civic duties to make sure that the right people stay in these seats,\u201d
\n\u201cWe need Bair Middle School to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Board members had been much more divided on Bair than other schools. In December, five board members were supported closing it, while four opposed. But on Wednesday, Adam Cervera, who initially supported closing it, changed his vote, making it 5-4 to keep it open. Cervera told the South Florida Sun Sentinel he realized that Sunrise has eight elementary schools, but if Bair had closed, the city would be left with just one middle school, Westpine. He also said the city of Sunrise is making investments into athletic facilities used by schools in the city. \u201cWith the other six schools, how many cities said they\u2019d pump millions of dollars into it?\u201d Cervera told the Sun Sentinel.<\/p>\n
Bair\u2019s enrollment is about 62% of its capacity. City officials have discussed locating certain city programs into unused space at Bair, while keeping the school open. \u201cWhen we close schools in Broward County, we close schools that are not only underenrolled, but we close them because we don\u2019t see viable options to occupy the open seats. That\u2019s not the case with Bair Middle,\u201d Board member Jeff Holness, who represents Bair, said at Wednesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n
Board member Allen Zeman, one of the staunchest advocates for closing schools, was not persuaded. \u201cThe time for dialogue was a year ago. The time for dialogue is not at the last moment of walking in when we have this item on the board that we\u2019ve talked about at multiple workshops, with multiple town hall meetings, to get things done,\u201d Zeman said.<\/p>\n
The School Board also voted Wednesday night on where students from closed schools will go.
\n\u2014 Sunshine Elementary students will move to nearby Fairway Elementary in Miramar.
\n\u2014 Panther Run Elementary students will move to Chapel Trail Elementary in Pembroke Pines.
\n\u2014 Palm Cove Elementary students will move to Pines Lakes Elementary in Pembroke Pines.
\n\u2014 Plantation Middle students will move to Plantation High, which will become a 6-12 school.
\n\u2014 North Fork Elementary students will be split between Croissant Park Elementary, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary, Thurgood Marshall Elementary and Walker Elementary.
\nSeagull Alternative High School students will move to Whiddon Rogers Education Center.<\/p>\n
The decision to close six schools in Broward County while keeping Bair Middle open marks a significant development in the \u201cRedefining Broward County Public Schools\u201d initiative. The move is expected to save the district $9.5 million, but the fate of the vacated campuses remains undecided. As the district navigates the challenges of declining enrollment, it must balance the need for fiscal responsibility with the concerns of the community.<\/p>\n
Q: Which schools will be closed in Broward County?
\nA: Six schools will be closed: Sunshine Elementary, Panther Run Elementary, Palm Cove Elementary, Plantation Middle, North Fork Elementary, and Seagull Alternative High.
\nQ: Why was Bair Middle initially considered for closure?
\nA: Bair Middle was initially considered for closure due to underenrollment, with only 62% of its capacity filled.
\nQ: What changed the board\u2019s decision on Bair Middle?
\nA: Board member Adam Cervera changed his vote after considering the city of Sunrise\u2019s investments in athletic facilities and the potential impact on the community.
\nQ: What will happen to students from closed schools?
\nA: Students will be reassigned to nearby schools, with specific placements determined by the School Board.
\nQ: What are the plans for the vacated campuses?
\nA: The district hasn\u2019t made final plans, but some campuses may be converted into district office space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction to School Closures Bair Middle, a Sunrise school that spent the last few months on a potential school closure list, has a reprieve and will stay open. Six other schools will close after this school year as part of the \u201cRedefining Broward County Public Schools\u201d effort to deal with declining enrollment, the Broward School […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":24707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24705","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sun-sentinel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/jEANETTE-MARCEL.jpg?w=1400px&strip=all&w=1400&resize=1400,725&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24705"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24705"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24708,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24705\/revisions\/24708"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}