When deciding which schools to close or repurpose, Broward County Public Schools is guaranteed to make some people angry. A case in point is the proposal to turn a popular, Fort Lauderdale magnet Montessori school into a neighborhood school.
They call it VSY, Virginia Shuman Young Elementary in Victoria Park. It’s an “A” school, it’s almost at full capacity, so parents there can’t believe the school district is thinking of changing it.
“I was shocked, upset, admittedly a bit angry at first,” said Sean Goldstein, a VSY parent, describing his reaction to hearing about the plan.
“So we moved from Coral Gables to Fort Lauderdale for VSY, specifically for this school,” said Michelle Hearne, another VSY parent. “So hearing the news, no bueno, not happy at all.”
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The proposal would move the Montessori magnet program to Bennet Elementary School, a mile and a half north and currently under-enrolled. VSY would become a neighborhood boundary school.
“I’m hearing overwhelmingly from my constituents that they are opposed to it,” said school board member Sarah Leonardi, who represents the Victoria Park area.
NBC6 asked her if this seemed like a case of something that isn’t broke and therefore doesn’t need fixing.
“I mean, that’s what I’m hearing over and over and over again, right? Like this is a high-performing school, there’s not an enrollment problem, why would we turn upside down such a school that has been like a beacon in Broward County Public Schools?” Leonardi said.
The VSY parents said the district should be replicating, not moving, the Montessori magnet.
“It really profoundly underestimates all that goes into creating a successful school community, you really can’t just pick it up and put it somewhere else and think it is going to remain intact,” said Erin Gohl, president of the PTA at VSY.
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Those who favor the proposal say it will allow more kids from the neighborhood, shut out by the magnet lottery system, to attend VSY.
“There is absolutely no demand for that from the community,” Sean Goldstein said, pointing out that he moved his family to the neighborhood 18 months ago and had no problem getting his son into the Montessori program because the school reserves 150 slots for local kids.
Superintendent Dr. Howard Hepburn told NBC6 Monday that nothing has been decided yet, and that the school district is still holding town hall meetings to get input from parents and the public.
Around 200 parents and community members sounded off Monday night against the district's plan for VSY at the fourth scheduled town hall.
"For them to even thinking that they could just move the program to a different building and call it the same is insulting," said Destini Foster, whose 3-year-old goes to VSY. She's considering pulling her daughter out of the school if the plan goes through.
The proposal is part of the district’s plan to repurpose under-enrolled schools by changing their grade levels, combining them with another school, or closing them. Right now, there are about 50,000 empty seats across the district.
At first, the goal was to repurpose at least five schools. A second plan discussed was to close 42 schools and redraw all school boundaries. But that was not recommended by Hepburn and also rejected by parents.
