Orange County plans to close 7 schools amid declining enrollment

Facing at least a $41 million loss this year and declining enrollment, Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) leaders said they have no choice but to close seven schools in the 2026-27 year.

Some parents, meanwhile, are outraged about losing their beloved community institutions with little warning to save them.

Enrollment at OCPS, the fourth-biggest District in Florida, has dropped by more than 8,300 students in three years. Officials blamed the enrollment losses — an issue across Florida public education — on more parents opting for taxpayer-funded vouchers for private schools, declining birth rates, a popularity in homeschooling and other reasons.

The School Board discussed the issue during Tuesday’s work session and agreed to move forward on rezoning students without taking a formal vote.

The schools scheduled to close are Union Park Middle School and Bonneville, Chickasaw, Eccleston, Meadow Woods, McCoy and Orlo Vista elementary schools. 

“All of them are worth saving,” said Board member Angie Gallo. “It’s just we’re at a point where families aren’t choosing brick-and-mortar schools anymore.”

The seven schools’ occupancy rates ranged between 38% to 61%, according to OCPS figures.

“No school was targeted due to their grade or staff. It truly is just the fact that these schools are under capacity,” said Board member Alicia Farrant. “They don’t have enough students in them to be able to pay the bills, if you will.”

School Board members voiced a range of emotions, from sadness, frustration and nostalgia, as they acknowledged the financial reality.

Some said they wished parents had more time to fight for their schools.

“Why didn’t we communicate as much to the families?” asked Board member Maria Salamanca. “Many of them felt that they could have done more to save their schools if they knew that this was where we were heading.”

“Our families feel blindsided that this just happened and that they would have done everything and anything to stop this from happening and I feel for them deeply,” she added.

Superintendent Maria Vazquez called the lack of parent warning a “legitimate question,” though she added that the seven schools’ enrollment has been declining for years.

“That’s one of the things that it makes so much harder in each of these community meetings to hear how the schools are just an integral part of the community,” Vazquez said.

Added Board Chair Teresa Jacobs, “We are always one referendum away from being in a crisis situation. … That makes this decision even more important.”

In exploring alternatives to save the schools, OCPS said converting the underutilized schools into magnet schools could take two or three years.

School Board member Stephanie Vanos expressed frustration about the District’s timeline to move fast, as the District faces pressure from Schools of Hope looking to move in rent-free to underfunded public schools buildings.

“It would be great if we have the luxury of time, but we’re feeling pressure from the Schools of Hope,” Vanos said. “It’s putting pressure on us to make decisions more quickly than we would want to.”

OCPS will begin rezoning students to nearby schools and holding public meetings to present the new plans. 

As for the employees losing their jobs, the District could get them priorities for other openings elsewhere. Vazquez said the District is still working out the details, but vowed to make it “as painless as possible.”

OCPS is still developing its plan for what to do with the empty buildings, but is not looking to sell them, Vazquez said. 

Salamanca said parents have worried as the District held community meetings with parents.

“We got a lot of questions of, ‘What is OCPS going to do with these facilities?’” she said. “There was a lot of bad information out there of we’re going to profit off of them, we’re going to sell it, we’re going to do all these types of things.”

No public comment was held at Tuesday’s workshop.