Miami-Dade district Superintendent Rafael Villalobos put a temporary pause on a process that could have shut down operations at 27 schools.
The school board voted to close nine schools last year, and 27 were recently being evaluated to determine whether they should "remain operational," according to the Attendance Boundary Committee. The committee released a list of schools broken into two categories — those that are "reassessed," and those that are "under review."
"I'd like to be given that opportunity to put a pause, and then we can come back second week of October and still finish by December," Villalobos said at a Sept. 2 School Board Committee Meeting.
Villalobos, who has just taken over as superintendent, said he wanted to enact "a pause"
on meetings regarding the attendance boundary committee process, as he wanted to "reassess the schools that have been selected" with his "team" and "staff," and to speak with all the board members individually so that they could "understand the rationales, why those schools were selected, the process in which those schools were selected."
Still, board member Luisa Santos said she worried about possibly making the process more opaque for the affected students and families.
"I am concerned now, that we're creating confusion for those families ... it is worth nothing, though, that now families are going to be told one day, then it's changing," Santos said.
Miami-Dade's 2026-2027 drop in enrollment
The district has continued to suffer from large drops in enrollment — on Aug. 13, the first day of the 2026-2027 school year, M-DCPS had 215,078 students enrolled and 190,983 students in attendance at traditional public schools, compared to 230,172 enrolled students and 206,665 students in attendance on the first day of the previous school year, according to district data.
On day one in 2026, charter schools had 85,473 students enrolled and 79,633 students in attendance, down from 86,913 enrolled and 81,207 in attendance the prior academic year.
According to Elmo Lugo, media relations director at Miami-Dade County Public Schools, on Aug. 25, 212,544 students were in attendance at the district's non-charter public schools, while 85,041 students were in attendance at charter schools.
Enrollment numbers in "district-operated schools" landed "5,333 below projections" Lugo said.
Which schools are being 'reassessed,' what that means
According to the definition of reassessed provided by Miami-Dade Public Schools, when schools are "reassessed," they are evaluated to determine whether they should continue operating based on factors like student enrollment, "facility utilization" and "financial sustainability." Reassessment indicates "that a decision has been made" to best align with the district's goals and capital plan.
- Brentwood Elementary
- Carol City Middle
- Golden Glades Elementary
- Lake Stevens Elementary
- Myrtle Grove Elementary
- Lorah Park Elementary
- Paul L. Dunbar K-8 Center
- Center for International Education
- Greenglade Elementary
- Hammocks Middle
- Kendale Elementary
- Village Green Elementary
Which schools are 'under review,' what that means
Schools that are "under review" will be evaluated to determine whether their continued operations "best serve the educational, operational, and financial interests of the district and its students." Being under review "does not mean a decision to repurpose a school has been made."
- Natural Bridge Elementary
- North County K-8 Center
- North Dade Middle
- Emerson Elementary
- Lillie C. Evans K-8 Center
- Ludlam Elementary
- Kelsey L. Pharr Elementary
- Orchard Villa Elementary
- Gloria Floyd Elementary
- Lamar Louise Curry Middle
- Marjory Stoneman Douglas Elementary
- Olympia Heights
- Riviera Middle
- Tropical Elementary
- South Miami Heights
Miami-Dade previously closed several schools
The schools that were set to close and/or be merged for the 2026-2027 school year include:
- Mandarin Lakes K-8 Academy, set to close.
- Robert Russa Moton Elementary, set to close.
- Parkway Elementary, set to close.
- Rainbow Park Elementary, set to close.
- Phillis Wheatley Elementary, set to close.
- Lenora B. Smith Elementary school, set to be combined with Georgia Jones-Ayers Middle, becoming a K-8 center.
- Miami Springs Middle, set to be combined with Miami Springs Senior to become a 6-12 school.
- Pine Villa Elementary School, set to be combined with Arthur & Polly Mays Conservatory of the Arts in order to form a K-12 school.
- Richmond Heights Middle, set to be combined with BioTech at Richmond Heights 9-12 to form a 6-12 school.
Though most campuses of the merged schools neighbored one another, Miami Springs Middle and Miami Springs High were about a mile and a half apart.
"These schools serve some of the highest-poverty communities in Miami-Dade," said Lissette Fernandez, co-founder of Moms for Libros, during the meeting. "The state has underfunded public schools to the point where this district is closing the schools that serve children who have the least."
The closures and consolidations came amid declining student enrollment — the Miami-Dade County School District had 313,220 students enrolled at the start of the 2025-2026 school year, down around 13,000 from the start of the 2024-25 school year. It’s a dip that WLRN previously reported has been frequently attributed to Florida’s expanded voucher program, which allowed for the rapid growth of charter and private schools.
Miami-Dade County officials, however, said the drop is partially due to fewer immigrant families moving to South Florida.
Florida public schools see sustained drops in student enrollment
The five largest school districts in Florida by enrollment, including Miami-Dade and Broward, have collectively lost about 67,000 non-charter students from the 2023-2024 school year through the 2025-2026 school year.
That’s according to figures compiled by the Lee County school district, provided in May as part of a discussion surrounding its “budget realignment.” The numbers are as of February 2026, and refer to total membership for grades from PreK-12.
From 2023-2024 to 2024-2025, Miami-Dade Public Schools lost 6,947 non-charter students and gained 1,331 charter students. From 2024-2025 to 2025-2026, the district lost 15,288 non-charter students and gained 428 charter students. In February, the district had 232,617 non-charter students enrolled for the 2025-2026 year, along with 86,802 charter students.
In Broward, meanwhile, the district lost 9,512 non-charter students from 2023-2024 to 2024-2025 and gained 68 charter school students. From 2024-2025 to 2025-2026, the district lost 6,955 non-charter students and 1,328 charter students. The district had 185,864 non-charter students enrolled at the start of the 2025-2026 year, as well as 48,460 charter students.
Collectively, the Broward and Miami-Dade school districts lost 38,702 non-charter students from 2023-2024 through 2025-2026.
Sarah Perkel is a South Florida Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network's Florida Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New Miami-Dade superintendent pauses look at closing 27 schools
