BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A PTO president says parents will be prepared to protest if Brevard Public Schools closes Cape View Elementary School.
The school district is proposing to shut down Cape View because of low enrollment and send the 270 students to Roosevelt Elementary School in Cocoa Beach.
On Wednesday, Dr. Mark Rendell, the superintendent, went to Cape View to hear concerns that staff members have about the idea.
As he toured the school, Cape Canaveral Community Correspondent James Sparvero met with Rajesh Ravisankar, the PTO president, to talk more about concerns parents have.
“I think this is going to be a huge disruption to the community because 90% of the students are walkers,” Ravisankar said.
The district blamed low enrollment on an aging population, and because the community is now full of vacation rentals, there are not as many young families anymore.
Ravisankar said the school has always adapted with the times.
“This school has been here more than seven decades now,” he said. “So the school has always handled the age group of K - 6.”
Dr. Rendell answered questions once his meeting with teachers and other staff members concluded.
“They’re obviously concerned about the future,” the superintendent said. “If we were to close Cape View and consolidate that with Roosevelt, what does that mean to them? So we went through all those things with them.”
Ravisankar said he would ask Dr. Rendell what’s he doing to sustain or promote enrollment at the school.
“We’re trying to garner support, rally people, get the community behind us, and potentially, protest if this decision were to be final,” he said.
Rendell said the district wants as many students in schools as possible.
“I think we do what we can to improve enrollment in all of our schools, including Cape View,” he said.
The superintendent said the district’s been studying the possibility of merging Cape View and Roosevelt for more than two years.
The school board’s next expected to talk about this proposal in November, and Dr. Rendell said a final decision isn’t expected to be made until January.