School choice and a history of segregation collide as one Florida county shutters its rural schools

Tens of thousands of students have left Florida’s public schools in recent years amid an explosive growth in school choice. Now districts large and small are reckoning with the harsh financial realities of empty seats in aging classrooms. In the rural Florida panhandle, one school district is planning to close its last three stand-alone elementary schools due to persistently declining enrollments. The decision to consolidate Madison County's schools is exposing tensions in the community, where for years some white families have resisted integrating public schools.