Columbia County board hears financial report warning of enrollment-driven budget pressure

Columbia County School Board, June 9, 2026

A district staff member told the Columbia County School Board on Tuesday that the district is facing continuing enrollment declines that have reduced state funding and are likely to increase pressure on next year's budget.

The staff member said the district was down "about 350 weighted FTE" for the 2025-26 year and has lost roughly 700 weighted FTE over the last two years. Using district projections, staff said the district expects to lose "over 400" weighted FTE next year unless the trend changes. "If we could just hold steady or grow just a tiny bit every year, we could make it work," the staff member said.

Why it matters: Florida funding follows student counts. The staff member said the district's fourth FEFP (Florida Education Finance Program) calculation, which incorporates October and February counts, has reduced revenue and that scholarship and voucher payments are diverting substantial dollars away from the district. The staff member put the current scholarship impact at roughly 1,400 students and about $13 million this year, and said state projections could raise that to about 1,500 students and $15 million next year.

Transportation and other costs also weigh on the budget. The district reported diesel spending of almost $390,000 for the previous full year; through June 7 this year it had spent approximately $486,000. At the same time, district staff estimate a fund-balance "financial condition ratio" of about 5.11 percent, which staff said is above the more critical 3 percent threshold but could decline as year-end bills and leave payouts post.

Staff explained one additional complication: scholarship accounts are funded quarterly to families and private providers, and when a student returns to the district after the first payments have been made the district does not automatically recover the full amount. The district said it has seen about $450,000 returned this year in adjustments but has limited visibility into which students those adjustments represent and whether all eligible adjustments have been processed.

Board members asked whether the district's newly launched online school would blunt losses. The staff member said online FTE had roughly doubled from the district's baseline but that "it's still not impacting the serious outward trend of kids going to private schools and home schools." The district's models, the staff member said, still project a net decline in overall FTE next year.

Next steps: staff said the district will return with final financial statements in September and will present budget details again once the governor signs the state budget and the district finalizes tax collections. The board took no budget-cutting action at the meeting; it approved routine personnel and consent items by voice vote.

Source: District financial presentation and board discussion at the June 9, 2026 Columbia County School Board meeting.