Board reverses course, votes to close three elementary schools

What happened

On February 24, 2026 the board voted 4-3 to close Fire Lake, Lake Otis, and Campbell STEM Elementary Schools starting fall 2026, months after voting down the closure of Fire Lake and Lake Otis in November 2025 (3-4 and 1-6). A March motion to reverse the Campbell STEM closure failed 3-3, and a July motion to fund reopening Campbell STEM with new state money failed 3-4, so all three closures are final.

Why it matters to families

About 500 students are being reassigned to other elementary schools for the 2026-27 year. Fire Lake's building becomes Eagle Academy Charter School and Lake Otis becomes Rilke Schule Charter School; Campbell STEM's building is declared surplus. This directly changes which school hundreds of families' children attend.

The evidence

The board's own recap of the February 24, 2026 meeting reports the 4-3 vote to approve Memorandum #137 closing the three schools, and later recaps (March 17 and July 7, 2026) confirm two later attempts to reverse the Campbell STEM closure both failed.

The source