School board workshop: budget staff warn of $2.2M shortfall as enrollment drops; board presses for clearer projections

At a May 6 workshop, district finance staff told the Alachua County School Board there is no single state-approved budget yet and that the district is using a combination of House and Senate figures—averaging where they differ—to build local projections. "There is no state-approved budget," the presenter said. "What we have is a budget that was approved by the House and a budget that was approved by the Senate, and we're using those numbers where they are common; where they're not, we average them." (Mr. Renick)

The presentation highlighted a convergence of pressures on next year’s budget: continued declines in brick-and-mortar enrollment, rapid growth in scholarship use and charter enrollment, rising fuel and utility costs, and lingering effects from the end of federal ESSER funds. Staff said projected Florida Education Finance Program funding per full-time-equivalent student (an average of House and Senate proposals) is $9,119 and that applying those figures produces an estimated budgetary impact of roughly $7.8 million. Using the averaged state numbers across the district’s models, staff presented a projected net shortfall of about $2.2 million for the coming fiscal year. (Mr. Renick)

The presenters flagged several specific cost items: substitute-teacher usage rose about $500,000 last year; fleet fuel costs have increased by roughly 100% since January; utilities are projected to increase about 7.4% overall, with larger projected jumps for natural gas and propane in the coming year. "We experienced an increase in subs use this last year of roughly $500,000," the presenter said, and "since January, there has been a 100% increase in the cost of fuel for our fleet." (Mr. Renick)

Board members pressed staff for clearer, reconciled numbers and asked that slide errors and version-control issues be corrected online. Several trustees expressed concern that some slides had confusing column labels; staff acknowledged an older version was on the public website and said the corrected version had been shown in briefings. The board requested that the next workshop include paired revenue-and-expenditure tables for the 1-mil and the half-cent sales-tax balances, a multi-year view of revenues and fund balances, and a clearer breakdown of capital allocations. (Chair; Mr. Renick)

Discussion also focused on how the district has historically covered gaps. Staff and trustees described one-time moves in prior years—such as using ESSER funds and allowable capital transfers—to avoid larger immediate cuts and stabilize fund balance. Board members repeatedly cautioned against relying on capital funds for ongoing operating costs. "I don't want us to go down the road of doing something the state allows us to do just because we don't want to really adjust our habits," one board member said, stressing that using capital for operating costs can leave the district without assets to show for the spending. (Ms. Sutton)

Trustees debated the local implications of charter growth and facility planning in Alachua. Several board members urged caution before proceeding with an expensive new build at Mebane (sometimes spoken as "Mabane" in discussion), noting nearby schools with low enrollment. One option discussed was using portables or modular classrooms at Irby and refurbishing existing space to avoid constructing a new building that could open under-enrolled. Staff cited DOE forecasting models and said the district used the conservative state forecast while adjusting to account for known charter conversions (including the Newberry conversion). "The projections that we have here are actually the conservative model... We took students out of our traditional forecast and moved them into the charter forecast to accommodate the growth we knew was coming," Ms. Neill said. (Ms. Neill; Ms. Sutton)

On pensions and benefits, staff noted employer contributions to the Florida Retirement System have risen substantially over the last decade and remain a major cost driver despite small recent rate reductions. Staff estimated the district’s monthly employer contribution recently was roughly $2.5 million and estimated a modest reduction would still leave significant cost pressure. (Mr. Renick)

Board members asked staff to analyze alternatives to the district’s current self-insurance model for employee health benefits—such as joining regional pools like Fleet or other education-health cooperatives—and requested cost-comparison information at an upcoming workshop. "We're big enough to where we can do it, but not quite big enough where the risk isn't foreseeable," one trustee said, urging staff to explore pooling options to reduce risk. (Board members)

Staff also said they had located a statutory citation limiting capital outlay eligibility for charter schools when board members or related parties sit on charter boards and promised to circulate the statute after the meeting. The finance team committed to supply additional detail for the half-cent sales-tax project accounting—responding to a line-item the board flagged where an $8 million allocation to a Westwood demolition project included work later expensed to Oakview—and to provide the historical revenue/expenditure and fund-balance tables requested.

Next steps: trustees directed staff to return at the June workshop with corrected presentation materials, paired revenue/expenditure tables for the 1-mil and half-cent sales tax funds, a clearer capital-project breakdown, and a short briefing by Attorney Delaney on a newly enacted "district school board members bill of rights" (effective July 1, 2026). No formal votes or motions were taken at the May 6 workshop; the board adjourned at 2:12 p.m.