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Facing $80M deficit, Broward schools sell 10 acres. Now, repayment debate looms

By Produced using AI, based on original work by Olivia Lloyd
The Broward County School Board approved a $14 million sale of a vacant 10-acre property in Parkland to Broward Health. A new elementary school was once planned for the land.
The Broward County School Board approved a $14 million sale of a vacant 10-acre property in Parkland to Broward Health. A new elementary school was once planned for the land. Getty Images | Royalty Free Getty Images/iStockphoto

The School Board of Broward County voted this week to sell 10 acres to Broward Health for $14 million as the district faces a roughly $80 million budget deficit.

The deal includes a nearly $1.6 million donation to Eagles’ Haven, an organization founded after the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.

FULL STORY: School board’s 10-acre lot in Parkland to be sold to Broward Health for $14M

A 10-acre lot at the corner of Trails End and University Drive in Parkland will be sold to Broward Health for $14 million.
A 10-acre lot at the corner of Trails End and University Drive in Parkland will be sold to Broward Health for $14 million. Broward County Property Appraiser

Here are key takeaways:

  • The property sits at the southwest corner of Trails End and University Drive in Parkland. The school board bought it in 2006 for roughly $5.9 million to build an elementary school that never materialized.
  • Broward County Public Schools is grappling with an enrollment crisis that forced the closure of six underenrolled schools this year, with more cost-cutting changes planned.
  • The City of Parkland contributed $850,000 toward the original 2006 purchase. Board member Lori Alhadeff said the district should return that money to Parkland as “good partners,” even though a 20-year-old resolution didn’t require it.
  • Broward Health, which owns two adjacent parcels, agreed to donate nearly $1.6 million to Eagles’ Haven after negotiations over office space and the purchase price stretched into 2025.
  • General Counsel Kathy Dupuy-Bruno said her office could bring a follow-up item about the $850,000 to Parkland before the board by the July 28 meeting.

This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence and using our own originally reported, written and published content. It was reviewed and edited by our journalists.

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