ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Florida lawmakers are meeting again this week to continue work on the state budget after failing to reach an agreement during the regular 60-day legislative session.<\/p>\n
That delay is creating uncertainty for school districts across the state, including in Central Florida, as education leaders work to prepare budgets for the upcoming school year.<\/p>\n
Many school districts, including Orange County Public Schools, say the delay is forcing them to make major financial decisions without knowing exactly how much funding they will receive from the state. District leaders say the uncertainty comes at a time when enrollment is declining and costs are rising.<\/p>\n
Orange County Public Schools leaders outlined their concerns during a school board work session on April 28. District officials said the delayed state budget has left them without clear funding levels for the 2026-27 school year.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the district says it expects enrollment to drop by more than 3,000 students next year, which could also lead to less funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like a budget that fully funds public education, that prioritizes teacher pay, the safety of our schools and our mental health,\u201d said Angie Gallo, OCPS board member.<\/p>\n
Gallo said she is hopeful state lawmakers will prioritize education funding as budget negotiations continue, especially as the district remains at an impasse with the teachers union over health care costs and teacher pay raises.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really hard as we\u2019re rolling out this health care plan that is unaffordable. It\u2019s really hard to back up with any sort of raise that we\u2019re bargaining. We need that budget so we know how much money will be available and what we will be able to truly offer,\u201d Gallo said.<\/p>\n
State leaders have agreed on a framework that includes more than $16 billion for pre-K through 12 education. Gov. Ron DeSantis has also highlighted education spending plans, including more than $1.5 billion for teacher pay increases across the state.<\/p>\n
For now, districts say they are in a holding pattern while waiting for final funding numbers from the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt delays the process of being able to negotiate with the union and reach a settlement on raises,\u201d Gallo said.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s delay comes as lawmakers continue efforts to reduce overall state spending. House Speaker Daniel Perez said the proposed budget would reduce government spending for the second year in a row.<\/p>\n
Last year, lawmakers approved a $115 billion budget after months of negotiations. School districts across Florida say the longer the delay continues, the more difficult it becomes to plan for staffing, programs and student services before the next school year begins.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers are expected to return to Tallahassee starting Tuesday to continue working through the budget process before the new fiscal year begins July 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Florida lawmakers are meeting again this week to continue work on the state budget after failing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4495,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[4996,9995,4318,3140,6507,113,115,1335,139,141,140,99,135,835],"class_list":["post-266148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-app-education","tag-app-latest-education-stories","tag-app-latest-local-state-politics-stories","tag-app-local-state-politics","tag-ashley-engle","tag-education","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-politics","tag-tampa","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}