Test your knowledge of Broward County Public Schools and then check the answers on page 11.

1. What Broward high school has won the Class 6A Boys Basketball State Championship for four consecutive years?
a) Flanagan
b) Dillard
c) Deerfield Beach
d) South Plantation

2. During the last school year, how many community volunteers and mentors provided services to Broward schools?
a) 43,700
b) 40,040
c) 35,998
d) 38,260

3. How long could Broward’s 238 schools and centers operate on the money the District receives from the state lottery?
a) 1 year
b) 6 months
c) 2 weeks
d) 2 days

4. How many buses are in the District’s fleet?
a) 2,045
b) 1,150
c) 1, 504
d) 2, 006

5. What percentage of the District’s buses are diesel?
a) 65%
b) 75%
c) 90%
d) 100%

6. How many Area Superintendents does the District have?
a) 6
b) 4
c) 5
d) 2

7. What does FCAT stand for?
a) Florida Comprehensive Aptitude Test
b) Florida Complete Assessment Test
c) Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test
d) Florida Curriculum Accountability Test

8. On average, how many “hits”
does the District’s Web site
(www.browardschools.com) receive
each month?
a) 652,000
b) 1.6 million
c) 2.8 million
d) 980,000

Our community continues to grow by leaps and bounds and our school system is growing at the same rate. Every new home built in our area requires a new phone number and the same goes for all new schools and school additions.

It's no secret that there are few, if any, phone numbers left in the 954 area code, which is why the new 754 area code and 10-digit dialing were established.

On May 6th, the School Board approved a plan to align all school and district phone numbers under the new 754 area code. This means that all schools, departments and district facilities will be receiving brand new phone numbers over the next 18 months.

The Public Service Commission has recently awarded the Broward School District new exchanges for all phone numbers currently in use, and those we will need in the future. The new phone numbers will fall into the following sequences:

754-321-0000 to 9999
754-322-0000 to 9999
754-323-0000 to 9999

You might be wondering why this is happening:
• Aligning our telephone systems will reduce the overall cost of telephone service - saving the District nearly $1-million a year after the conversion is complete.

• All schools, departments and district facilities will have numbers within the 754 area code, as well as a logical sequence of phone numbers for each location.

• The new numbers allow for future growth at a reduced price.

… but what if we don't change our phone numbers?

• We will continue to use an older telephone infrastructure that won't provide the district with an annual savings of nearly $1-million.

• The abbreviated (5-digit dialing) we've come to enjoy will not work at all facilities, which may create confusion internally.

• As new additions are built, some schools may have two different area codes on a single campus.

ETS will be working with Senior Management, Area Offices, principals and department heads to determine the details of the roll-out. At this time, we have not determined the order in which locations will be switched to the new system. As soon as the information is available it will be shared with you to help in your planning.