Osceola School Board reviews first draft of general and capital budgets; warns reserves may dip below policy

Osceola School Board staff presented the district's first draft of the 2026–27 general and capital fund budgets at a June 23 workshop, laying out enrollment projections, revenue assumptions and a multi-year capital plan while warning the board it may be asked to approve dipping below its 6% unassigned fund-balance policy.

Sarah Greyber, the district's chief business and finance officer, told the board the packet shows an estimated beginning general-fund balance of about $62.1 million and that projected full-time-equivalent enrollment (FTE) is expected to rise 1.63% overall next year largely because of growth in family empowerment scholarships and charters while traditional-school enrollment declined by roughly 1,000 students.

Greyber said that the family empowerment scholarship category alone is projected to increase by roughly 1,600 students (about 13.7%), and that those shifts are changing the composition of FEFP (the Florida Education Finance Program) dollars the district receives. "We are projected to increase by 1.63% going into next year," she said.

Why it matters: declining traditional enrollment reduces dollars that follow students and has produced year-to-year pressure on operations. Greyber said the district expects to end the fiscal year with roughly $62.2 million (about a 6.54% financial-condition ratio) but that closing adjustments, declining enrollment, and a third-calc reduction produced a shortfall that may force the district to seek board permission to dip below the board's 6% unassigned-fund-balance target. "We will most likely be asking for board approval to go ahead and dip below that board rule 6% unassigned," Greyber said.

Key budget drivers and proposed adjustments include: an increase in capital transfers to operations, ERP (enterprise-resource-planning) project and consultant costs (with a contract-extension on the meeting agenda), a growing computer-leasing program, and higher allocations for deferred maintenance and technology. Greyber said the district has built $4 million per year for ERP licensing and that student-device leasing is budgeted at $7.3 million next year and increases in the five-year plan.

On operating allocations, the packet shows about 60.5% of operating budget line items labeled as salaries and benefits, but Greyber explained that when charter pass-through funding is reallocated the effective district share spent on salaries and benefits is nearer to 80% of operating expenditures.

State and categorical items: Greyber said the conference report/FEEP timing has been tight (the first FEFP calculation was received May 26 and the packet was updated after that), and that statewide categorical dollars for safe schools and mental-health allocations were not increased in this legislative round. She noted the base student allocation rose by $85 and that some teacher-salary funding is now embedded in the base rather than listed separately.

Capital plan and facilities: On capacity capital, Greyber said the district's impact-fee revenue estimate is currently $61.8 million and that Nova Lakes High School is scheduled to open this fall. The district's next planned new school is a K–8 on the east side with a target opening in August 2028, and additional new-school openings were pushed later into the plan (into the early 2030s) as growth slowed. "Our next scheduled new school opening would be a K8 on the east side scheduled to open in August of '28," Greyber said.

For non-capacity capital, Greyber said the district will reduce cyclical capital (projects funded on an as-needed basis) and budget deferred maintenance at $25 million next year (down from the $30–32 million range previously shown) while keeping safety and security near fully funded at $10 million annually. She also reviewed debt-service schedules tied to prior sales-tax bonds and noted the district is close to paying off certificates of participation issued in earlier growth years.

Questions from board members focused on the BSA increase and the teacher-salary allocation embedded in the base, the portion of SRO salaries the district pays (the discussion indicated the district now pays roughly 60% with a 7% contract escalation), and timing of the certified tax roll (the property appraiser's certification on July 1 will feed the next budget update). Greyber emphasized the packet is a draft: the district will return with full funds (including debt service, insurance and federal programs) at the July public hearing cycle.

The workshop involved discussion and clarifying questions but no formal board action; staff asked for feedback and said formal adoption steps (tentative budget and millage on July 28 and final hearing Sept. 8) will follow once numbers are certified.

Ending: Staff said they will continue to refine the packet, report carryover and project-closeout savings as projects finish, and present the full budget for public hearings after the July 1 tax-roll certification.