Although the governor\u2019s\u00a0budget\u00a0was released before winter break for the\u00a0School\u00a0District of Lee County, it does not guarantee a certain amount of funding, but rather provides insight with fiscal future.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe governor\u2019s\u00a0budget\u00a0is not actuals. It\u2019s kind of an idea of where they might be thinking and heading as we head into the legislation,\u201d\u00a0Budget\u00a0and Grants Director Kelly Letcher said.<\/p>\n
The governor\u2019s\u00a0budget\u00a0recommendations include an unweighted full-time equivalent increase of $2,173.82 from fiscal year 2026 second calculation. The base student allocation has an increase of $100 from $5,372.60 to $5,472.60.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year it was $94. We ended up at $41. It\u2019s hard to determine where we are really going to land,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The total funding increase is $39,837,062. The Family Empowerment Scholarships is $13,035,229 and the district\u00a0schools and charters is $26,801,833.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things the governor does appear to be doing is breaking the Family Empowerment Scholarships out from actual allocations,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Family Empowerment Scholarship is still in place. It was intertwined with our student population. The governor is trying to pull those numbers out separately, so you know what dollars are Family Empowerment and which are for the district\u00a0schools and charter\u00a0schools. The Family Empowerment Scholarship is still going strong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some of the decreases include Educational Enrichment of $3.2 million, ESE Guarantee Allocation of $6.4 million and Transpiration at $1.1 million.<\/p>\n
Those that received increases include Safe\u00a0Schools at $471,000, Mental Health Allocation of $505,000 and Academic Acceleration of $628,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, they are proposing a 1.66% increase per FTE and scholarships a 3.76% increase for FTE,\u201d Letcher said.<\/p>\n
Board member Sam Fisher said as they look into the future and state revenues level off, they need to be prepared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to make sure we are pulling and stretching the dollars the furthest,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n