Okaloosa School Board approves closure of Longwood and Mary Esther elementaries, adopts rezoning plan

The Okaloosa County School Board voted unanimously on Feb. 23, 2026 to adopt three resolutions that will close Longwood Elementary and Mary Esther Elementary at the end of the 2025–26 school year and rezone students to receiving schools beginning in 2026–27.

Superintendent Chambers, who introduced the proposals at the board's public hearing, said the district is facing sustained declines in elementary enrollment and tightening budgets. "The proposal that is before the board today is to close 2 schools, Mary Esther Elementary and Longwood Elementary," he said, adding that the district has already reduced operating expenditures in recent years and expects further adjustments.

The superintendent told the board the South Zone'wide elementary population has fallen about 19.3% over the past decade and said the district has implemented more than $22 million in adjustments over the last two years and anticipates additional reductions this year. Chambers linked part of the decline to state school choice programs and presented district estimates of scholarship participation that he said reduce local enrollment and funding.

Assistant Superintendent John Spolsky presented maps and a school-site locator showing the receiving schools for students affected by the closures. The rezoning plan establishes new attendance areas directing students currently zoned to Mary Esther and Longwood to Edwin's Elementary, Elliot Pointe, Florosa, Kenwood, Shalimar and Wright Elementary Schools for the 2026''7 year.

There were no members of the public who addressed the hearing items during the board's public-hearing comment period. After brief board discussion, the panel voted 5'0to'00 to adopt Resolution 26-01 (Longwood closure), Resolution 26-02 (Mary Esther closure) and Resolution 26-03 (rezoning and establishing receiving zones).

Board member Destin, acknowledging the difficulty of the decision, said, "I didn't run to get elected to close schools. It's one of the last things I ever intended that I wanted to do," and urged people to contact state legislators about funding inequities for traditional public schools. Other board members referenced audits and oversight concerns about state scholarship programs during the discussion.

The board's action authorizes the closures and the surplus/disposal of related real property as described in the resolutions; implementation details and student assignment pages, including maps and frequently asked questions, were posted on the district's zoning webpage, Spolsky said.

Next steps: the resolutions take effect as described in the board motion, with school closures scheduled at the end of the 2025''6 school year and the rezoning effective for the 2026''7 school year. The board closed the public hearing and moved on to other business at the same meeting.