Miami seeks deal for residents to use schools’ recreational areas

Written by Genevieve Bowen on December 29, 2025

Nearly a quarter of Miami residents, and almost half in District Four, do not live within a 10-minute walk of a public park, a gap the city aims to close by opening school playgrounds, fields and courts to the community.

The Miami City Commission has authorized the city manager to negotiate and execute a long-term joint-use agreement with Miami-Dade County Public Schools to open school recreational facilities to residents during non-school hours. The move advances a citywide strategy to expand access to safe, local spaces for exercise and community gatherings, with a final accord pending the school board’s approval of the agreement.

The Dec. 11 action builds on earlier efforts to address uneven park access across Miami, where roughly 77% of residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park, but access varies sharply by district. District Four has historically been the most underserved, with only about 58% of residents meeting that standard. In July, city leaders formally expressed the need to expand recreational access through shared-use partnerships with local schools.

The resolution, sponsored by District Four Commissioner Ralph Rosado, authorizes a 40-year master joint-use agreement governing shared use of city parks and public school sites across Miami. Under the agreement, school-owned recreational spaces could be opened to residents after school hours, on weekends and during the summer, while allowing the city to support maintenance and programming.

The plan proposes seven District Four schools that could benefit from the agreement, including Miami Senior High School, Fairlawn Elementary, Henry M. Flagler Elementary, Kinloch Park Elementary, Kinloch Park Middle School, Auburndale Elementary and Silver Bluff Elementary. Many of these campuses have basketball courts, multipurpose fields, playgrounds or open green space that sit largely unused outside school hours.

Unlike the earlier July action, which focused primarily on launching negotiations in District Four, the approved resolution establishes a broader framework that could apply citywide. It also gives the city manager flexibility to add or remove participating school and park sites over time, allowing the program to adapt as community needs evolve.

The approach allows Miami to expand recreational access without the high costs or long timelines associated with acquiring land, particularly in dense neighborhoods where green space is limited. By pairing city resources with school-owned land, the joint-use model is designed to create reliable, neighborhood-based recreational hubs where families already live.

Final execution of the agreement remains subject to approval by the Miami-Dade County School Board, after which the city could begin activating school sites for public use and move closer to its goal of more equitable park access across all districts.