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Miami-Dade considers closing these 9 schools as enrollment dives

Miami-Dade County Public Schools plans to close or repurpose nine schools ahead of the next academic year.

According to NBC6Due to declining enrollment, the school board will vote in June on a proposal to close or repurpose nine schools. In January, Broward County School Board Inspector Dr. Howard Hepburn decided to close seven public schools, calling it one of several “cost-saving measures” needed for a district he said had lost more than 40,000 students, or more than $30 million in revenue, in the past 10 years.

Miami-Dade County School District 313,220 students are enrolled At the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year, there was a decrease of approximately 13,000 compared to the beginning of the 2024-25 school year. It’s a fall WLRN previously reported It is often attributed to Florida’s expanded voucher program, which has allowed charter and private schools to expand rapidly. But Miami-Dade County officials said the decline was due to fewer immigrant families moving to South Florida.

Which schools are being considered for closure or repurposing?

According to Axios, the following schools are being considered for closure and/or repurposing:

Parkway Elementary School would close.
Rainbow Park Elementary School would close.
Lenora B. Smith Elementary School will be closed and merged with Georgia Jones-Ayers Middle School to become a K-8 center.
Miami Springs Middle will close and merge with Miami Springs Senior to become a 6-12 school.
Phillis Wheatley Elementary School would close.
Pine Villa Elementary School close and merge with the Arthur and Polly Mays Conservatory of Arts to create a K-12 school.
Richmond Heights Middle School will close and merge with BioTech 9-12 to create a 6-12 school.
Mandarin Lakes K-8 Academy would close.
Robert Russa Moton Elementary School would close.

Sarah Perkel is the South Florida Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content delivered straight to your inbox every weekday by signing up for our free newsletter. Florida TODAY.

This article first appeared on USA TODAY: Miami-Dade in Florida may close 9 schools by 2026-2027