By May Malone
As someone who grew up and attended lower school in South Florida, I was privy to the difficulties public schools in my region faced. The reality was that there were far too many young students crammed into a classroom alongside a single teacher to fulfill all their needs. It was easy to lose motivation or even attempt to stand out from the masses.
What is even more frightening now, however, is to think that some of those schools may completely cease to exist, increasing the size of existing classrooms and laying off professionals who are already struggling to stay afloat. Broward County has recently decided to close six public schools and is considering more than 10 others in its “Redefining Our Schools” plan, repeating patterns that disrupt communities without clear academic or fiscal benefits.
Displaced students typically experience declines in attendance and performance, despite reassignment to higher-performing schools. In Washington, D.C., 23 school closures cost $39.5 million—nearly four times the projected savings. Similarly, after Chicago closed 50 schools in 2013, displaced students’ test scores and academic outcomes often fell below district averages, and neighborhoods near a shuttered school saw a 10% increase in shootings in the years following its closure.
Despite proven downsides to closures and continuous backlash from community members, other counties in Florida are following suit. These decisions happen largely outside of the control and consultation of the public. Alarmingly, fewer and fewer Broward residents are receiving the opportunity to weigh in on these school board decisions through formal channels. Among the 60 people in the district committee of resident representatives affected by school closures, only 17 were accepted by the school board. Further, the district boundary advisory committee that recommends how school closures should impact attendance zones will be pared down this year.
This is why I am proposing a way to bring community members back into the conversation of how to move our education system forward: a participatory approach to school closure decisions in Broward County.
While seemingly a Florida concern, this trend can be seen nationwide as declining public school enrollment poses financial and educational challenges for schools around the country. Between 2019 and 2023, public school enrollment fell roughly 2.5%—over 1.2 million students—while private and charter school enrollment continued to grow.
From 2012 to 2023, the statewide population of children aged five to seventeen grew by about 9%, yet public school enrollment fell by 7%, suggesting families are choosing alternative education options. On a local scale in Broward County, the district lost around 10,000 students in 2025 alone, leaving many campuses severely under capacity.
Because public school funding is allocated to school districts based on student enrollment, these declining numbers are producing immense financial strain for public schools: Florida invests 13.6% less per-pupil than a decade ago, and the average money received per student in 2024 was $3,837 less than the national average. With minimal funds to sustain basic functions, district administrators respond with school closures and consolidations.
Existing structures for public input allow for little to no community deliberation of school closure decisions. The channels for public participation produce no dialogue between Broward County School Board members and speakers during meetings. Further, public deliberation needs to inform binding decisions, not merely be aired—this is when democracy works at its best.
We need a public polling process to transform the Broward County School Board’s citizen engagement from a one-sided system into a structured deliberative process that informs binding decisions on resource allocation, school closures, and consolidations. These new modes of participation would provide meaningful weight to consequential decisions.
Now, how would this work in practice? My proposed policy is modeled after James Fishkin’s deliberative poll structure. A deliberative poll would be convened at each major decision point in “Redefining Our Schools,” such as when the Board is considering a specific closure or consolidation. Each poll would convene approximately 100 participants drawn from across Broward County, divided into five small groups of 20 each. The small-group structure is intentional. Groups larger than roughly 20 may lose the small-group dynamic that makes deliberation effective. I describe a proposed structure for the poll in a new policy brief.
Following the poll, the Broward County Board would be required to read, formally respond to, and discuss the recommendations on the record at the next regular board meeting. To ensure oversight and open dialogue, a representative from each of the five groups would attend the discussion over the document.
There, the Board may choose to reject or accept recommendations. If the Board chooses to reject a recommendation, it must state its reasoning. This process would be recorded for accountability. While the Board does receive final authority on decisions, as required under Florida law, community input in this setting would be transformative for facilitating future dialogue about large decisions affecting local communities.
If the Board is required to have meaningful discussions with community members, then Broward County residents may feel more motivated to participate, as their voice holds meaningful weight. How can we make this vision a reality? Demand the school board takes action to reenable meaningful public input into their decisions by registering to speak at the next board meeting or submitting a public written agenda comment.
As of now, citizens continue to lack the power that ensures their voices are heeded by those in power. Deliberative public polls instead help build the practice of public conversation—residents articulating, weighing, and contesting positions in a structured setting—strengthening not only trust in our local institutions but also our democracy.