PHOTO BY KASPARS EGLITIS VIA UNSPLASH.COM
The School District of Osceola County says it has cut 785 positions between last school year and this one as it faces a projected $100 million shortfall over the next four years. Voters will decide November 3 on a property tax increase that district leaders say is needed to avoid deeper cuts.
The reports do not say which jobs were cut, how many were filled or vacant, or whether employees were laid off, reassigned, or lost through attrition.
The reductions reportedly have saved $37.7 million in salaries, and the district has also cut about $15.9 million from school programs and initiatives, and spent about $20 million from reserves over the last three years.
District officials point to several causes, including enrollment falling by 1,450 students over four years, costing about $13 million in state funding. Costs for athletics, instruments, equipment, travel and school resource officer training have also risen.
The district is asking voters for an additional one mill, or $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value, in operating money. County commissioners voted in August to put it on the ballot. It would raise about $62.5 million a year for four years, starting in July 2027, and voters would have to renew it afterward. A home with a taxable value of $200,000 would pay about $200 a year. About a quarter of the money would go to charter schools, and an independent citizen advisory committee would oversee the spending.
District leaders say the money would pay for teacher and staff salaries, school safety, including 76 school resource officers, and academic, arts, music and athletic programs.
If the measure fails, Superintendent Mark Shanoff has said, the district would make more position cuts, reduce services and offer fewer arts and athletic programs. “We have nothing left to cut, and no money left to give. There’s no other way to handle this than to cut people.”
Early voting and Election Day details are available from the Osceola County Supervisor of Elections.
