Budget workshop: FEFP scenarios, potential millage change to cover SRO increase and capital project updates

Chief financial and operations staff briefed the school board on May 6 during Budget Workshop No. 3 about state funding scenarios, district revenue pressures and capital-plan changes.

Carter Morrison, Chief Financial Officer, walked the board through differences between the House and Senate proposals for the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) and showed how those scenarios would affect the district’s state funding and local revenue needs. Among the factors discussed were the treatment of Family Empowerment Scholarship (FES) vouchers, changes in base student allocation and proposed categorical funding amounts. Morrison said the situation remained fluid because the legislature was in extended session and the district was still reconciling FTE counts with the Department of Education.

Morrison described several local budget pressures: increased Florida Retirement System (FRS) employer rates, inflation and tariff-driven cost increases, potential additional costs for the annual federal operational audit, and a pending request from the Sheriff’s Office to increase the School Resource Officer (SRO) contract. He said the current SRO contract is funded partly from operating funds (about $2.6 million) and…