ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County Public Schools is moving through its annual budget process, with a tentative budget vote expected July 29 and final adoption scheduled for September.
District 6 School Board Member Stephanie Vanos said the budget is expected to be in the range of $7.5 billion, based on last year’s budget numbers.
The district has lost nearly 9,000 students over the past three years, along with about $17 million in state funding. Vanos said there are no plans to consolidate schools this year.
“We do not plan to close any schools this year,” she said. “We had seven schools that we had to consolidate in the past year. That was really driven by low enrollment numbers.”
Vanos said several factors are contributing to enrollment changes, including birth rates, housing trends, immigration and the growth of school vouchers.
“The taxpayer-funded voucher program continues to siphon off a large amount of money,” Vanos said. “This is education money that could be going to our public schools. In the last seven years, the taxpayer-funded voucher has increased in Orange County by 1100%.”
Vanos also pointed to a November ballot measure involving Florida’s homestead exemption, saying it could affect local government funding if approved.
She said that could have an impact on public safety agencies, including police and sheriff’s departments, and could force school districts to pay more for school resource officers.
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