STUART — Concerned teachers and parents filled the seats of the Martin County School Board meeting on Feb. 3 as the district weighed a shift toward a K-8 school model that could include merging campuses or potentially closing some schools.
District leaders said the discussion comes as Martin County schools operate at about 75% capacity on average, leaving roughly a quarter of seats available for future enrollment.
"We're starting with a focus on the traditional school sites. We are currently operating at approximately 75% capacity. Now that's an average across all school sites," said Deputy Superintendent Tracey Miller.
Miller told board members that enrollment is uneven across campuses, with some schools exceeding capacity while others remain significantly underused.
"You will see that some school sites are over 100% capacity at this point, and some are significantly under 100% capacity. But if you took the average across the district, put differently, we have about 25% capacity available throughout the district for increased enrollment and increased growth. And that's brought to your attention because there has been K-8 conversations," she said.
District data shows 16 schools are operating below 80% capacity, including nearly all elementary and middle schools.
Officials said combining grade levels at certain campuses could help balance enrollment and better position the district for population changes tied to new housing developments in areas such as Indiantown and Palm City.
"And so that shares a little bit about what we're trying to accomplish in bringing the elementary and middle school together because there is our availability of capacity with those under enrolled and those with higher levels of enrollment," Miller said.
"So our goal is to strategically position seats in schools where they're needed to meet the changing needs of populations. And again, these K-8 conversions are one way that we could look at doing that," she said.
Among the options presented was a proposal to combine Warfield Elementary and Indiantown Middle into a single K-8 campus at the current middle school site. District projections show the area has room to accommodate additional students if development accelerates.
"There is plenty of capacity of both schools. So should there be a population explosion in Indiantown because of these new developments, we have plenty of seats right now for all of those students. If we had hundreds of students move to Indiantown tomorrow, we can, we have space in Indiantown to accommodate that," Miller said.
Plans outlined in the presentation indicate Warfield Elementary could close once construction is complete at the Indiantown campus, with the existing Warfield property potentially repurposed or sold. Another proposal would add elementary grades to Anderson Middle School and merge Sea Wind Elementary into that campus, which could also result in the elementary school closing or being repurposed.
Statewide data shared with the board showed K-8 schools often outperform traditional configurations. More than 86% of Florida’s 108 K-8 schools earned an A or B grade during the 2024-25 school year.
Board Vice Chair Brian Moriarty said he sees advantages to converting elementary schools into K-8 campuses because it allows students to remain in a consistent environment. However, he expressed concern about the community response if conversions lead to closures.
"If it's the opposite, it seems like the public's giving us the opposite reaction where they're outraged that how dare you close our school. And I know that we're not talking about closing schools right now, but if you look down in there, it's definitely one of the possibilities that these schools could be closed," he said.
"So I think you have to have buy-in from the community to be able to make a move like this. Otherwise, I think you might have people where they just say, forget both your schools and I'm just gonna go somewhere else," Moriarty said.
The presentation on Feb. 3 marked the beginning of a longer planning process. No decisions were made at the meeting, and leaders said additional presentations are expected as the district evaluates its options.
In addition to exploring K-8 conversions, the district is also considering the creation of flex schools and expanding specialty program pathways as part of its long-term facilities planning.