Broward schools mail flyers to Miami-Dade families amid enrollment drop

Broward County Public Schools is mailing recruitment flyers to families in northern Miami-Dade County as both South Florida districts try to stem enrollment losses that are already reshaping budgets and campuses. Broward’s 10th-day count for 2025-26 was 236,548 students districtwide, including 188,002 in district schools, 10,360 fewer than the year before in district schools and 11,370 fewer overall when charter students are included.

On benchmark day, Broward counted 236,667 students across 322 schools. Miami-Dade County Public Schools opened 2025-26 with about 313,220 students, down about 13,060 from roughly 326,280 the year before. Broward remains the nation’s sixth-largest school district and the second-largest in Florida, but its enrollment losses have been concentrated mostly in district schools rather than charters, with some campuses losing hundreds of students.

Hepburn said the district faces about 50,000 empty seats, a $94 million budget hole tied to having 10,000 fewer students than the prior year, and a projected loss of more than 25,000 students over five years. Because Florida school funding follows student enrollment, the slide threatens staffing, programming and the resources that determine how many classes schools can offer.

Broward has already moved ahead with its Redefining Our Schools plan, which had closed six schools by January 2026. Hepburn said the district was “halfway there” toward a $100 million savings target.

Miami-Dade leaders have pointed to fewer newcomers and families leaving South Florida because of the high cost of living as major reasons for their own decline. Miami-Dade Superintendent Jose L. Dotres said no teachers would be let go because of the drop, but the district would tighten spending by reducing overtime, hourly personnel and travel.