In a work session today, the Orange County School Board discussed the 2021-22 budget and the state’s legislative update.
The interim Chief Financial Officer reviewed the operating and capital budget with school board members in regard to the estimated revenue, appropriations and future issues. The budget includes an increase of 4,006 students bringing the projected Full-time Equivalent to 204,857 students.
Operating budget impacts include:
- $8.4 million for Florida Retirement System rate increases
- $25.5 million reduction of Class Size funding
- $3.2 million increase for Teacher Salary allocation
- $1.2 million increase for Mental Health Assistance allocation
The future issues to consider that may have an impact on the operating budget include: legislative funding for public education, Special Millage sunsets in 2023, and preserve academic programs, retain highly qualified teachers, and protect arts, athletics and student activities.
The proposed capital plan includes:
- New capacity projects based on recommendations from the Advance Planning Committee
- Funding for Functional Equity projects
- Pre-2003 Sales Tax schools
- Funding for repurposing schools
- Capital renewal funding throughout sales tax program
The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund is intended to help states and school districts safely reopen schools, measure and effectively address significant learning loss, and take other actions to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on students and families who depend on our K-12 schools. The district will receive ESSER funds in three phases. The ESSER presentation provides expenditure and goal information.
The Chief Communications Officer presented a state budget overview and a 2021 legislative update that included, education-related legislation that passed last session. View the entire Legislative Updates presentation for details.
Next steps:
Superintendent prepares the budget for school board adoption
Public hearing on Tentative Budget - July 27
Public hearing on Adopted Budget - September 14
Here is the Operating and Capital Budget presentation. All budget work sessions are also live-streamed on the School Board's YouTube page and accessible after the meeting.