Toodo

SCHOOLS
South Florida public schools losing students as charter enrollment increases
 
The growing number of students attending charter schools is amounting to an increase in empty seats at Miami-Dade and Broward traditional schools.
BY LAURA FIGUEROA AND LAURA ISENSEE
LFIGUEROA@MIAMIHERALD.COM
Student enrollment in Broward and Miami-Dade traditional public schools declined this year, adrop off fueled by the growing popularity of charter schools.
Both Miami-Dade and Broward saw the number of students enrolled in charter schools increase by some 6,000 students, according to district enrollment figures released Tuesday. Both counties also experienced the loss of more than 4,000 students from attending traditional public schools.
Broward added 10 new charter schools this year,bringing the district’s total to 68 schools. In Miami-Dade, 11 new charter schools have opened, for a total of 109 charters.
The increase in charter schools — which are publicly funded but run by private firms — has resulted in an increased amount of parents opting out of their zoned neighborhood public school.
“Parents have become savvy education consumers,” said Lynn Norman-Teck, spokeswoman forthe Florida Consortium of Public Charter Schools. “Whether they’re looking for magnet programs or looking to the private sector, today’s parents knows that there are options. They’re very aware of the needs of their children and what they want for them.”
Though charter schools are run privately, they must still pay nominal administrative fees to their public school districts and are included instudent population tallies. Private and parochial schools are not included in district wide counts.
Even though the number of students enrolled in South Florida’s public schools has decreased, because Miami-Dade and Broward can include the charter school numbers, their overall student populations has gone up. Miami-Dade is the fourth-largest school district in the nation; Broward is the sixthlargest.
Counting public and charter schools, Miami-Dade’s K-12 student body has gone up 2,200 students to 343,555. This comes after several years of declining or stagnant enrollment.
Charter schools in Dade enrolled 41,488 students this year, an increase of 6,341 students from last year.
“We’re on a slow incline,” said Charlene Burks, Dade’s administrative director for attendance services.
Districtwide there are 258,803 students in Broward, which is 1,900 more than last year. Charter students account for 29,500 students in the district, an increase of 6,215 students from last year.
“Striking a balance is going to be paramount, ” said Broward School Board member Katie Leach. “The development of charter schools can be a benefit to our district if it can address some of the issues ofovercrowding in some of our schools.”
Broward plans on using its enrollment figures as it starts the process of redrawing school boundary lines for the 2012-2013 school year. With community input, district administrators and the School Board will take on the hot button issue of addressing disparities in school sizes throughout the district.
While schools in the burgeoning suburban enclaves of WestBroward tend to be over capacity, the older schools in the county’s eastern fringes are grappling with under enrollment issues.
For example, Cypress Bay High School in Weston is packed with 898 additional students, while Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach is 1,598 students under capacity.
At Charles W. Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines, which is 866 students over capacity, teachers arerequired to work an extra period so that the school can offer more classes and alleviate class sizes, said Principal Michelle Kefford. Teachers take their planning period after the school day.
Still, the growth of charter schools has been a constant source of debate. Supporters say the schools give parents more options if they want to take their child out of an underperforming school, while...