Charlotte County school board approves advertisement of tentative 2025-26 budget and millage rates amid warnings about shortfall

The Charlotte County Public Schools Board of Education voted July 24 to advertise the district’s tentative 2025-26 budget and millage rates, a required step in the Truth in Millage process, and board members used the meeting to flag a projected shortfall and ask for more analysis.

“As part of the truth in millage process, we are required to advertise the 02/2025, 2026 tentative budget and millage rates prior to school board action at a budget public hearing,” said the superintendent (unnamed) during the action agenda presentation. The board approved advertising the tentative budget and millage rates by voice vote after a motion and a second.

The discussion that followed focused on revenue and expenditure changes driving the shortfall. A board member (unnamed) said the district now has $1,300,000 in federal Title funding “on hold while being programmatically reviewed,” and noted the unweighted funding per student rose from $9,490.41 to $9,653.36 in the latest state calculation. The same speaker said the district projects a net gain of 271 students in traditional public schools and that the increase in scholarship students was not the cause of the shortfall.

Board members and staff identified two primary expenditure drivers: the board’s unanimous approval last year of a 4% pay increase for all staff, and the addition of 128 positions to the general fund (including 91 previously funded by federal ESSER dollars). The board member (unnamed) said those choices were made when the district held a 12% fund balance and contributed to gains in student achievement.

Kara Reynolds, board member, thanked Chief Financial Officer Marcus Allen and said she was “proud that our careful planning allowed us to navigate these changes responsibly and to continue putting students first.” Reynolds also noted the short timeframe in which final state numbers were received and credited district staff for working over the weekend to incorporate them into the budget.

Board member Mr. Seager said the district must be proactive about budget pressures, adding, “we need to be proactive from here on. We can't put our head in the sand and think it's automatically gonna get better.” Several members reiterated confidence in the district’s current fund balance but cautioned that continued shifts in student counts — especially toward charter or scholarship students — could require tapping reserves or taking further actions that would need four board votes if the unassigned fund balance dropped below the board policy threshold.

The board also approved routine items on the consent agenda by voice vote earlier in the meeting.

The superintendent and CFO were asked to provide more detailed analyses at an upcoming budget workshop scheduled for July 31. Board members said they expect that presentation to include a breakdown of scholarship funding, enrollment projections, and possible scenarios for maintaining a board-policy unassigned fund balance.

Votes at a glance: the consent agenda was approved by voice vote; the motion to advertise the tentative 2025-26 budget and millage rates was approved by voice vote. No individual named roll-call votes were recorded in the meeting transcript.