The Leon County School District has revealed new details on who will be impacted by the sweeping cuts Superintendent Rocky Hanna is proposing to save nearly $7 million in the 2026-27 budget.
In a bid to be transparent with parents and the school community, the district launched an explainer website Feb. 9 at 3 p.m., the same time the school board held a workshop meeting and listened to district administrators justify the cutbacks. Hanna warns even more drastic reductions could be added if the state doesn’t send more money to the district.
Hanna was absent from the agenda review meeting Monday but has urgently called for financial belt-tightening as the district grapples with an approaching budget shortfall fueled by declining enrollments, rising operational costs and a legislature that has shifted public school funding to charter and private schools.
The recommendations also come as one school board member, Alva Smith, has been calling for the district to seriously consider closing schools to save the budget and pay teachers more. Hanna disagrees, calling the move excessive, he said in order to give teachers a 3% pay increase at least six schools would have to close.
“Over the past five years, district enrollment has remained largely stable. While there has been a small, gradual decline since 2022, the total change is about 1.3% over five years,” the school’s website states.” That level of change does not justify closing neighborhood schools. The data tells us this is a time for monitoring and thoughtful planning, not permanent decisions that would disrupt students and families.”
Each proposed budget cut is listed with a dollar savings amount and brief description of how each reduction could impact students and staff.
“The recommendations outlined below reflect efforts to preserve core instructional services while acknowledging that many of these reductions will have real impacts on schools, staff, students, and families,” the webpage says.
Here are the cuts:
Interventionists ($1.75 million): Staff to provide specific academic assistance would be reduced from two to one per elementary and K-8 school. “While intervention support would remain, fewer staff would be available to provide targeted academic assistance.”
District Cost Centers ($1.5 million): “District-level support services would be reduced, leading to slower response times and fewer resources for professional learning, curriculum support, and data services,” the website states. “This category also includes district staffing reductions, identified with department input.”
School Social Workers ($1.24 million): The district would reduce its 27 social workers to 10 roles. “This change is expected to increase workloads and may limit the level of direct social-emotional support available on campuses.”
Campus Security Monitors ($660,000): These positions, which were added before the statewide requirement for an armed officer on every campus, would be cut districtwide. “Schools may choose to fund these positions through conversions, but without that, administrative responsibilities related to campus supervision would increase.”
School-based/ flex budget ($560,000): Schools would see a reduction of $20 per Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) student. “Principals would be required to shift funds, reduce non-essential spending, and make adjustments throughout the first year of implementation to absorb the impact.”
Arts and athletics ($500,000): District spending on middle and high school programs will be cut by half. “As a result, families may face higher participation fees, and some programs may be scaled back or eliminated entirely. These reductions could significantly affect extracurricular opportunities that contribute to student engagement and school culture.”
Reading Categorical funding ($215,000): Limits contracted professional learning services for district and school staff. “Travel related to professional development would continue to be scaled back, and fewer individuals would be available to provide instructional coaching and training.”
Community group funding ($125,000): “Funding for community groups would be cut by half.”Funding for community groups would be reduced by 50 percent, which may limit student participation in district-sponsored programs and enrichment activities that rely on these partnerships.”
If those cuts aren’t deep enough to balance the budget, the district has a plan for even deeper cuts. Those would lead to administrators being furloughed and teachers could be laid off or not rehired, which would lead to larger class sizes. The seventh period could also be removed from school days, “which would reduce elective offerings, limiting student choice and flexibility in scheduling.”
Under another section on the site titled “moving forward,” a statement clarifies that the cuts are merely recommendations and the board “would have the ability to review the superintendent’s recommendations and determine which individual items, if any, to implement.”
However, during the board’s meeting, one of the reductions presented in the options from Hanna has already been implemented, which is cutting at the district cost centers.
Assistant Superintendent Sunny Chancy told the board that nearly 27 administrative positions have been cut or frozen at the district office since August, saving the district nearly $2 million.
School Board Chair Marcus Nicolas expressed his own concerns about the decision to cut two developers, an integral role for teacher support and professional development.
Leon County Schools Board member Roseanne Wood, left, reviews data regarding enrollment throughout the county during the LCSB retreat on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026.
“I don’t want us to fix one thing, just to break something else,” Nicolas said of the cost-cutting.
School Board Member Rosanne Wood reminded her colleagues during the discussion that the budget is not the only impact they are navigating, it’s people.
“There are people who just think we need to trim the fat at the district level, but this proves that we’ve done that and there’s only so much we can do,” Wood said.
The board will hold a formal business meeting Tuesday, Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. No final decisions are expected, but the board does plan to discuss the cuts further.
Learn more about the cuts at www.leonschools.net/budgetreductions.
Alaijah Brown covers children & families for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached at ABrown1@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter/X: @AlaijahBrown3.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Leon County Schools reveal details on $7M budget cuts