Miami-Dade district is closing 9 schools
Key Highlights
- The closures include schools in South Dade, central Miami and the northern part of the county.
- Charter school operators have expressed interest in taking over underused schools.
- The decline in enrollment is linked to fewer immigrants, lower birth rates, and families relocating for affordability.
Nine schools in the Miami-Dade County (Florida) district will close for good this summer after a unanimous vote by the school board.
The Miami Herald reports that the schools include four South Dade schools, two in central Miami and three in the northern part of the county.
The schools:
- Robert Russa Moton Elementary
- Parkway Elementary
- Phillis Wheatley Elementary
- Rainbow Park Elementary
- Lenora B. Smith Elementary
- Pine Villa Elementary
- Mandarin Lakes K-8
- Miami Springs Middle
- Richmond Heights Middle
All of those schools have seen their attendance drop sharply, some by more than half in the last 10 years.
Almost all the schools have received letters of intent from charter school operators under Florida’s expanded “Schools of Hope” law. The statute requires districts to make underused and ”persistently low-performing” schools available to be occupied by approved charter operators.
Enrollment has been sliding in traditional public schools for several years, including the 2025-26 school year when the Miami-Dade district experienced a drop in enrollment of about 13,000 students.
School officials have linked the decline to fewer newly arriving immigrants from other countries, declining birth rates, and families leaving the area for more affordable places. Meanwhile, enrollment at charter schools remains robust and more students are using taxpayer-funded vouchers to help pay for private schooling.