Update: Orange County School Board Moves Forward with Rezoning as Seven Schools Face Potential Closure

The Orange County School Board just took a big step toward possibly closing seven schools. On Tuesday night, during a long work session, board members agreed to let the district start the rezoning process for families at Bonneville, Chickasaw, Eccleston, McCoy, Meadow Woods, and Orlo Vista elementary schools, plus Union Park Middle School. These schools are on the chopping block, and the board’s decision opens the door for the district to move forward.

Superintendent Maria Vazquez said the next step kicks off in January. The district plans to hold community meetings to address parents’ questions—especially the big one: “Why my school?” After that, Student Enrollment will create maps showing how rezoning might look.

Families haven’t been quiet about this. Many have protested, arguing that shutting down schools disrupts students and doesn’t serve kids well. The district points to under enrollment and a $41 million budget shortfall as the driving forces here, saying they have no real choice. Still, the board has the final call, and they’ll vote on both rezoning and school closures sometime next year.

Some board members aren’t happy with how things have gone so far. Public comments weren’t allowed at the meeting, but officials like Board Vice Chair Maria Salamanca raised concerns that the district didn’t give parents and community members enough warning. She pushed for more transparency and said families should have the chance to fight for their schools. Salamanca’s personal stake is clear—her own elementary school is one of the seven under threat.

If closures happen, the district won’t sell the buildings right away. Instead, they’ll rent them out to microschools—those small, flexible homeschool pods that took off during the pandemic—or use the space for other educational programs.

Salamanca called the situation a wakeup call. She argued that families need more and better options if public schools are going to stay relevant. “These are really touchy subjects for a variety of reasons, but we have to figure it out, because the trend is clear, and what we've been doing has not been working,” she said.

The district blames a mix of low birthrates, under enrollment, the state’s universal voucher program, and that hefty budget gap for the possible closures. The seven schools landed on the list because they’ve been operating below capacity.