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CFO warns late FEFP calculations, scholarship deductions and proration are shrinking Sarasota schools' budget flexibility
Summary
Sarasota County Schools' CFO told the school board the state’s late third FEFP calculation, scholarship payment timing and a proration tied to weighted FTE are producing budget uncertainty that lowered expected revenue by roughly $1.1 million in the third calculation and could require conservative planning for 2025–26.
Sarasota County Schools’ chief financial officer told the school board on April 1 that timing and reconciliation issues with the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP), combined with scholarship deductions and a proration, are creating significant uncertainty in the district’s revenue forecast for the 2024–25 and 2025–26 school years.
CFO Bonnie Penner said the state’s third FEFP calculation — which was issued unusually late this year — reported district unweighted enrollment at about 48,383 and traditional public-school enrollment at about 37,180. Penner said the district exceeded its own forecast for weighted full-time-equivalent (FTE) students: the district forecasted roughly 55,101 weighted FTE but the state’s third calculation showed approximately 55,616 weighted FTE.
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