School board adopts 6.449‑mill rate and tentative $2.79 billion budget amid warnings on insurance and scholarship shortfalls

The Orange County School Board voted unanimously July 29 to adopt a total millage rate of 6.449 mills and to approve a tentative fiscal year 2025–26 budget that sets the district’s operating plan as it faces rising costs and enrollment shifts.

Superintendent Maria Vasquez presented the budget package and turned the financial details over to Doreen Concolino, the district’s chief financial officer, who outlined projected revenues and spending needs. “To say that this has been an unusual, budget cycle, doesn't, begin to explain what we have been dealing with over the last several months,” Concolino said as she began the presentation.

Why it matters: The millage and tentative budget set tax rates and spending ceilings for the coming year and allow the district to publish required notices and proceed to a final public hearing. Board members and staff said the district must close gaps created by rising health-care claims, federal and state funding uncertainty, and growth in scholarship programs that send taxpayer dollars to private schools.

Key decisions and numbers - Total millage adopted: 6.449 mills (required local effort 3.201; basic discretionary 0.748; additional voted 1.0; capital improvement 1.5). The board approved a resolution finding that rate is 4.24% above the rolled‑back rate. - Tentative budgets approved (by fund): General Fund $2,786,651,168; Special Revenue Fund $317,111,631; Debt Service Fund $258,086,138; Capital Projects Fund $2,070,611,542; Internal Service Fund $412,788,301. - Final public hearing date set for 5:01 p.m. on Sept. 9, 2025, at the Ronald Blocker Educational Leadership Center.

What officials said - Concolino noted reduced state allocations and federal uncertainty but thanked staff for delivering a balanced tentative budget. She also described program-level changes, including a new categorical fund for academic acceleration and a $6.7 million district realization of a roughly $7.5 million teacher salary growth allocation (about $750,000 of that amount flows to charter schools).

- Board member Jennifer Gallo said the district faces a troubling shortfall in its employee benefits trust and asked for more clarity on actuarial projections. “The first thing that I wanna discuss, because it is upsetting to me, is the insurance,” Gallo said during debate, pressing staff on why larger additional transfers to the trust appear necessary.

- Several board members raised the statewide increase in Family Empowerment Scholarships (vouchers) and the resulting revenue shift away from district schools. Concolino told the board the district currently estimates scholarship payments to private schools will total about $211 million in 2026 and said those payments reduce the district’s final state revenue appropriation.

Risks and contingencies discussed - Employee benefits trust: Concolino and trustees described a structural deficit in the employee benefits trust that requires recurring transfers. Staff said plan claims rose faster than earlier projections and the district will request multiyear actuarial projections and solicit competitive actuarial bids.

- Disney litigation and property valuations: Concolino reviewed pending litigation between Walt Disney World and the Orange County property appraiser and said the outcome could reduce district property-tax revenue. She described an estimated potential annual revenue reduction in a range presented to the board (discussed in the meeting as roughly $6.5 million to $13 million depending on outcomes) and noted the district previously transferred $119 million to the county tax collector as an escrow to cover potential repayments tied to the litigation.

- Federal grants and scholarship counts: A public speaker urged the board to plan for possible federal funding cuts being debated in Congress and asked the district to consider a public town hall on the topic. Board members also noted uncertainty in the state’s FEFP (Florida Education Finance Program) fourth calculation because scholarship counts have been difficult for the state to reconcile.

What’s next - The board must hold the final budget hearing Sept. 9, when it may adopt a final millage and the final FY2025–26 budget after adjusting carryovers and any updated state or federal allocations.

Ending note: Board members praised staff for preparing a balanced tentative budget under difficult conditions and asked for additional actuarial analysis, outreach to charters about the escrowed Disney funds, and continued public engagement ahead of the Sept. 9 final hearing.