Jeff Adelman. {courtesy}
By Jeff Adelman
Forest Glen Middle School was given a one-year reprieve from the Broward County School Board. Now, barely a year later, it is back on the chopping block.
That is what irritates me most.
Forest Glen was supposedly given a chance to grow. New programs were started. The school is now A-rated. Yet here we are again talking about closing it.
If this was really meant to be a chance for Forest Glen to succeed, then give it a chance. One year is not enough time to start new programs, attract families back to the school and determine whether those efforts are working.
I have a personal connection to Forest Glen. I was a sixth grader there when the school opened. At the time, it was all portables on the property that is now Turtle Run Park. I went there from sixth through eighth grade and was part of the first class to do so.
Forest Glen has developed its own history since then. Thousands of Coral Springs kids have gone through that school.
But this is not just about nostalgia.
Forest Glen is an A-rated school. It has excellent band and chorus programs, Cambridge courses, technology programs and opportunities for students to earn high school credit. New programs have been added specifically to make the school more attractive to families.
The main reason we keep hearing about closing Forest Glen is declining enrollment.
Of course enrollment is a problem. But we also need to talk about what happens when parents constantly hear that their child’s school may close.
Parents have choices. If you are deciding where to send your child to middle school and you keep hearing that Forest Glen could close, are you going to take that chance? Or are you going to choose another school where you believe your child can stay for three years?
At some point, the constant discussion about closing Forest Glen can actually make the enrollment problem worse.
So before closing the school, why not make a genuine effort to grow it?
Market the new programs. Work with the elementary schools that feed into Forest Glen. Talk to parents who live in the Forest Glen boundary but are choosing other schools and find out why. Give the new programs enough time to work.
The alternative being discussed would put sixth graders back into elementary schools and send seventh and eighth graders to Coral Springs High School. That is a major change for families and students, and has its own issues and potential problems with the range of students being 11-19 years old.
There is also a potential impact on homeowners. People make decisions about where to buy a home based in part on the schools serving that neighborhood. Closing an A-rated neighborhood school could affect the desirability of the surrounding area and, ultimately, property values.
There will be a community meeting at Coral Springs High School on Monday, September 14 at 6 p.m. I hope Coral Springs residents show up and speak out.
Broward County Public Schools has real enrollment and financial problems. I understand that difficult decisions have to be made.
But those problems are not the fault of Forest Glen’s students, parents or teachers.
Forest Glen was told it had another chance.
Give it a real one.
Jeff Adelman is a longtime Coral Springs resident, attorney, member of Forest Glen Middle School’s first class to attend grades 6–8, and candidate for Coral Springs City Commission, Seat 4.
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