BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – Could a school its community says means so much be closed?
The scenario might be an option for Brevard Public Schools as it wonders what to do about some schools with declining enrollment.
Even though enrollment is up overall, at a half-dozen middle schools, like McNair Middle, the student population is down, and the district said it has been down for about 15 years.
That has some people worried that the school district might now think about closing McNair and consolidating the school with the other middle school in Rockledge - Kennedy.
Negeria Powell went to McNair and is now a senior at Rockledge High School.
She told News 6 reporter James Sparvero that she enjoyed attending McNair and that the school is unique to the community.
“McNair has a lot of different programs,” she said. “It’s a magnet school, and Kennedy doesn’t have those.”
Before a meeting of the school board Tuesday afternoon about how schools are being utilized, board member Megan Wright talked to reporters to clear the air.
She said any talk about closing McNair is just a rumor right now.
“Believe me, I was as alarmed as everybody else when I saw on the Internet this hit, and I went, ‘Whoa, what’s going on here,‘” Wright said. “We have not made any decisions to close any schools, and honestly, I’m of the mindset, let’s find a way to drive up enrollment. Let’s figure out different options that we can have and work alongside with the community to make sure we keep all of the schools open,” she said.
Powell said she’d be disappointed if McNair ever closed.
“I’d just be sad that people don’t get to experience the same thing that I did,” the former student said.
During the meeting, another board member, Katye Campbell, made an argument for consolidating McNair and Kennedy.
“A school that’s tiny cannot support the many opportunities that the larger schools can,” she said. “So I’m just being completely transparent.”
Campbell said 262 students are currently enrolled at McNair.
Besides mergers, redrawing the schools’ boundaries could be another solution to help lower-enrolled schools.
The district blamed low enrollment on an aging population.
It said in some communities, there’s just not as many kids as there used to be.
