Broward county needs to do the inner work and understand that they are a joke. They are not online failing gen ed kids but our precious ESE kids . Schools under enrolled ? Do some self reflection and understand why . You
Pay teachers shiTt , don’t accommodate IEP’s and parents pull their kids out. Do better

The criteria BCPS is using to flag schools for closure, enrollment percentage against general FISH capacity, doesn’t capture what’s actually happening with our kids. A school can look “under-enrolled” on a district spreadsheet while running at or beyond capacity for ESE services: self-contained classrooms, related service providers, specialized equipment, trained staff built up over years.

ESE enrollment is growing across BCPS, not shrinking. Yet the closure/consolidation formula treats every seat the same, as if a general ed seat and an ESE placement with an IEP behind it are interchangeable. They are not.

Here’s a concrete ask: take one of the schools already under consideration and designate it as a dedicated ESE center instead of closing or repurposing it. We raised this before, and Superintendent Hepburn said he would entertain and explore it in partnership with South Florida Autism Charter School. It fell off the priority list, and here we are again with the same unresolved problem.

If BCPS wants to talk about “optimal facility usage,” ESE capacity has to be its own line item in that analysis, not folded into a general enrollment percentage that erases us. We are desperate parents asking for follow-through, not another exploratory conversation that goes nowhere. Do something, Hepburn and BCPS.

As a teacher at Hollywood Park Elementary beginning my 32nd year with Broward County Public Schools, this proposed closure is heartbreaking—not because we are simply losing a workplace, but because we are losing a school that is doing so much right.

Hollywood Park has earned an A rating for three consecutive years, and more than 39% of our students attend through reassignment. Families have choices, and they continue to choose our school. That kind of enrollment is a reflection of the confidence families have in the education and environment we provide.

Our campus is in excellent condition, has updated facilities, and is operating at approximately 80% capacity. We also serve students with significant disabilities whose classrooms require specialized equipment, adaptive resources, and additional space. Looking only at a standard capacity number doesn't tell the full story of how our building is actually being used.

Hollywood Park is also a true neighborhood school. Many of our families walk to school, and our location next to the Boys & Girls Club is especially important to working families who depend on accessible, affordable before- and after-school care. Closing Hollywood Park would change those daily routines and could create additional transportation needs and traffic at other schools.

But what matters most to me as a teacher is what happens inside our building.

I see the commitment of our staff every day. I see teachers who know their students, families who know and trust our staff, and relationships that have been built over years. These are not things that can be measured by a capacity report.

Hollywood Park is a school families are choosing. It is a school where students are succeeding. It is a school that is serving its neighborhood and providing resources that families depend on.

I respectfully ask the Board to look at the whole picture before making a decision that cannot be undone. Please recognize what is working at Hollywood Park and give our students, families, and staff the opportunity to continue that work.

Hollywood Park Elementary should remain open.

As the School Board begins to form its list of schools under consideration in the Redefining our Schools initiative, I urge the Board to place students with disabilities and special needs programs at the top of its priority ladder, not an afterthought once enrollment and boundary decisions are made.

Special needs students are often a small percentage of a school’s population, but their weight in the district’s mission and funding is disproportionate to their numbers. ESE funding (FEFP weighted funding, IDEA allocations) follows the student, and consolidations, boundary changes, or grade reconfigurations can quietly disrupt continuum-of-services placements, related service providers, specialized classrooms, and trained staff that took years to build. A school that looks “under-enrolled” on a spreadsheet may still be irreplaceable for the handful of students whose IEPs depend on a specific program model existing there.

Parent involvement in this population is also fundamentally different. Parents of students with disabilities aren’t just invested stakeholders, they are legally entitled participants in placement decisions under IDEA, and many have already lived through one disruptive school change. Moving a program without deep, individualized consultation isn’t just a logistics problem, it can trigger FAPE and stay-put concerns, and it re-traumatizes families who are already stretched thin advocating for their kids

I am writing to express my strong opposition to the proposed closure of Hollywood Park Elementary School and to urge the Board to consider the serious financial, logistical, and educational consequences of closing our campus.
Hollywood Park serves as a vital anchor for the neighborhood, with a large percentage of our families walking to school every day. The walkability of our campus directly drives our high average daily attendance rates, actively contributing to the district’s goals to increase student attendance. Forcing these students onto buses will add significant operational costs for new transportation routes while creating severe traffic congestion around alternate campuses and disrupting daily routines for working parents and members of the community. Furthermore, our location right next door to the Boys & Girls Club provides a safe, walkable aftercare pipeline that our working families rely on.

Evaluating our school purely on general-population square footage also creates a misleading picture of underutilization. Standard capacity metrics fail to account for the spatial footprint required for our IND and Pre-K ESE cluster classrooms, which require smaller ratios, adaptive equipment, and dedicated support spaces.

Most importantly, Hollywood Park is an "A" rated Florida School of Excellence with high math achievement and outstanding support for English Language Learners. Rather than closing a high-performing campus that should serve as a model for Broward County, the hard work of our staff should be recognized and rewarded. Closing a thriving, accessible school will only drive local families toward area charter options. Please keep Hollywood Park Elementary off the closure list and preserve this invaluable asset.

Sincerely,

Elysia Page
School Counselor
Hollywood Park Elementary

Please reconsider including Hollywood Park in this round of Redefining.

Hollywood Park is a newer facility than both Boulevard Heights and West Hollywood. This school is currently A-rated and has been A-rated for 3 out of the last 4 years. In comparison to other schools around it, it’s EXCELLING.

Hollywood Park is directly adjacent to the Boys and Girls Club with many kids being walked over at dismissal for after school services. It’s located on the same block with Montella Park, Apollo Middle School, and the Boulevard Heights Community Center. This cluster of amenities that serve the community are not only vital, but the proximity and accessibility of services creates appeal to parents who need community support. The location of this elementary school is a positive draw and will not be replicated if you shift these students elsewhere. It would be worth exploring whether the 39% of out of boundary students attending do so because of the proximity to the services around the school, and would they be lost if his school no longer existed?

In a climate where we’re trying to be the educator of choice, the ability to offer families community support and involvement ON THE SAME BLOCK AS THE SCHOOL seems to be an intangible that shouldn’t be sacrificed.

Additionally, families who rely on the proximity of Apollo Middle and Hollywood Park to facilitate safe walking of sibling and friend groups to either school would be disrupted by the closing of Hollywood Park.

The traffic pattern into Boulevard Heights Elem is deeply problematic and needs to be reconsidered before pushing 200+ kids and however many more cars that entails onto already crowded Johnson St or 72nd Ave. Just because the school building has the capacity does not mean the neighborhood around it can handle the influx.

In looking at the Agenda, it’s clear that under enrollment impacts more schools in this community area outside of just Hollywood Park, West Hollywood and Boulevard Heights - Sheridan Park and Driftwood are both under enrolled.

For these reasons, I’m asking for a deeper dive into this WHOLE neighborhood and these schools to be able to identify a solution that will be most efficient and least disruptive to the community at large.

As the mother of an autistic child enrolled in BCPS, I am extremely concerned about the continued closures. My question to the School Board and Superintendent is simple: What is BCPS’s plan to stop this cycle? If declining enrollment continues to be addressed primarily through school closures, what will prevent this from happening year after year?BCPS has attributed declining enrollment to factors such as the cost of living, immigration policies, and other circumstances outside the District’s control. At the same time, BCPS proudly promotes itself as an A+ school district. But as a parent, my experience—and that of many families I have met—raises a difficult question: How many families are leaving because BCPS is not meeting their children’s needs?I have personally met dozens of families who have removed their children from BCPS because they felt the District failed to provide the resources and support their children needed to learn and thrive.This is particularly concerning for families of children with significant support needs. I have heard repeatedly about the lack of appropriate paraprofessional support for high-support autistic students, insufficient security, and the lack of full-time nurses in schools. There have also been situations where children have eloped from school without parents being immediately notified. For families of children with disabilities, these are not minor concerns—they directly impact whether we feel our children are safe and adequately supported.If BCPS wants to understand declining enrollment, it needs to look honestly at the families leaving and why they are leaving.
Closing schools may address capacity or budget concerns in the short term, but it does not address the underlying problem. Without a comprehensive plan to improve educational support, safety, staffing, and services-particularly for students with disabilities—BCPS risks creating a cycle of declining enrollment, additional closures, and even more families leaving.Every child in Broward County deserves access to a free and adequate public education. What specifically is BCPS going to do to retain families, improve services, support students with disabilities, and stop this cycle of school closures?

Greetings,

Before voting to close Hollywood Park Elementary, please ask: What does BCPS gain by eliminating a successful school that families actively choose?

Hollywood Park is thriving. We have earned an “A” rating for three consecutive years and are ranked 6th as a School of Excellence. More than 39% of our students attend through reassignment. Parents have choices, and they choose us.

Hollywood Park is one of Hollywood’s best gems and represents what Broward County Public Schools should celebrate. It makes no sense to close an A-rated school, a 6th-ranked School of Excellence, a school in excellent physical condition with updated facilities, and one operating at approximately 80% capacity.

We should be rewarded for maintaining our A rating and excellence. Instead, we are crying and worrying about what will happen to the children we teach and love.

I wish you had been there Friday after dismissal when the Sun-Sentinel reported the news. Our staff was in tears. We dedicate our lives to children. We are not paid wages that reflect the importance of our work and struggle to afford living in the communities we serve. Yet we show up every day, spend our own money, work beyond our required hours, and give our very best to our children.

Our school serves students with significant disabilities who require specialized classrooms, adaptive equipment, wheelchairs, walkers, therapy equipment, and additional space. Their needs cannot fairly be represented by traditional capacity formulas.

Closing Hollywood Park would also hurt families who walk to school or depend on the neighboring Boys & Girls Club for affordable before- and after-school care. These community connections took years to build.

BCPS asks families to return to public schools and trust our district. Parents are already demonstrating that trust by choosing Hollywood Park. Why dismantle a school families actively choose?

We should be an example of what BCPS wants its schools to become, not an example of what it is willing to close.

Please reward success instead of dismantling it. Keep Hollywood Park Elementary open.

Hollywood Park is more than my workplace. It is my home away from home, and our children deserve to keep theirs.

Mr. John Alvarez
HPE

Protect the Community That Made BCPS an “A” District

Broward County Public Schools’ “A” rating is the result of students, families, teachers, support staff, administrators, and communities who have invested in our schools. That success deserves to be protected.

Before closing successful neighborhood schools and relocating students, families, and staff, the School Board should fully evaluate the educational, financial, and community-wide consequences. Students need stability, consistency, and strong relationships.

If BCPS is facing declining enrollment and financial pressures, the community deserves an equitable review of ALL district spending.

Before closing another school, has BCPS fully evaluated the costs and potential value of KCW, including selling, leasing, consolidating, or repurposing the facility?

Has the district examined whether administrative staffing and compensation have been reduced proportionally with declining enrollment?

The Board should:
• Review district-level administrative positions and compensation.
• Evaluate senior leadership costs before asking school communities to absorb closures.
• Conduct a cost-benefit analysis of all district-owned properties, including KCW.
• Prioritize successful schools and experienced, high-performing staff.
• Publicly demonstrate that all reasonable cost-saving alternatives have been exhausted.

Families’ confidence also affects enrollment. Destabilizing successful schools may cause families to leave BCPS, creating even greater financial challenges.

Fiscal responsibility should not fall disproportionately on students, families, teachers, and school-based staff while district administration, facilities, and compensation escape the same scrutiny.

Before closing another neighborhood school, examine every level of spending, every facility, every layer of administration, and every available alternative.

The community that helped make BCPS an “A” district deserves nothing less.