| Florida school districts have spent so much time dealing with culture war issues in recent months — if they haven't been too busy finding new superintendents — that it might be easy for the public to miss that they've entered budget season. Creating spending plans is arguably the most important thing they do, as the largest employers in many Florida communities. And this year is particularly important, as lawmakers changed the process in ways that have financial teams guessing as they go. |
| [JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK | Times] |
| Voucher expansion leaves 'big unknown' as schools prepare for 2023-24 |
| The Pinellas County school district's early estimate for its fiscal 2024 budget is filled with lots of big numbers. Its projected revenue for general operations is nearly $920 million, with a $541 million chunk coming from local property taxes. Those taxes are on the rise thanks to a 14.5% jump in taxable value that will yield an anticipated added $65 million. The state's share through the Florida Education Finance Program, meanwhile, is looking to jump to $154.8 million, up from $45.4 million last year. Kevin Smith, the district's chief finance officer, cautioned that the numbers can be misleading. Major changes to the state's K-12 budgeting system make it look as if public school districts across Florida are getting significantly more money and students, he said, when the details offer a much more nuanced and less bright picture. For instance, Smith said, the base student allocation appears to be rising primarily because lawmakers eliminated several "categorical" funds — money set aside for specific expenses such as instructional materials — and put the amount into bottom line. They did not take away the underlying requirements, though, meaning the districts still must spend the money as they did previously. It just doesn't look that way on the budget sheets. Lawmakers also expanded vouchers to all K-12 children in Florida regardless of income, and added that funding to the general operations as well. Pinellas County's share is estimated to land at $101 million, about $47 million more than last year passing through the district to private schools and parents. Remove that amount from the total, and the state's share of the Pinellas district budget is projected to dip by $44.7 million. And that's only if the state's voucher participation estimates are accurate. Lawmakers set aside more than $430 million statewide, just in case they're wrong. "Nobody knows exactly what that (participation) number is going to be," Smith said as he reviewed his 144-page budget overview with board members this week. "The big unknown is the family empowerment scholarships." District officials across Florida are trying to determine the full impact, as Lakeland Now reports. Already, Step Up for Students reports having approved 150,000 voucher applications statewide, according to WFTV.
Pinellas school board members had plenty of questions about the potential effects. Superintendent Kevin Hendrick told them that the key will be staffing correctly, so the district's students don't suffer as the numbers of children using vouchers solidifies with the official fall and spring enrollment counts.
"It's going to be a very interesting couple of months leading to the October count," Hendrick said. "There's no clear answer from anyone what that will look like."
That's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to preparing the budget. Florida school districts also must start sharing their capital projects tax revenue with charter schools, cope with rising energy costs and more. When all is said and done, Smith anticipated having $28 million available for new expenses, including any negotiated raises. There's time to sort out many of the details before the September final budget adoption rolls around. But Smith suggested that until the number of children using vouchers settles into a more predictable pattern, school boards will have to stand by and remind everyone that budgets likely will change, and they aren't as rosy as some might like you to believe. |
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