More than $3.5M in federal grants on hold for Seminole County Public Schools

Seminole County Public Schools is missing more than $3.5 million in federal grants for the coming year, and is also bracing for a $2 million cut in state money to middle schools.

The cuts in state and federal funding are creating budget pressure in the district, which is also seeing drops in enrollment. The school board gave early approval for its proposed property tax rate for the 2025-26 budget year, which will actually be a slight drop in the tax rate. 

Overall, School Board Member Robin Dehlinger said things could have been worse. Florida lawmakers were at one point considering a change to the reimbursement rate for Advanced Placement, or AP, courses and similar accelerated programs. 

Dehlinger thanked the parents, students and teachers who contacted lawmakers. 

“The impact of losing [that] funding would have cost more than $17 million and, more importantly, lost opportunities for our students,” Dehlinger said at Tuesday’s school board meeting, which you can watch here.

While lawmakers ultimately backed off on cuts to the AP, IB and career and technical programs, there were changes in the reimbursement rate for certifications middle school students can get. That change alone is expected to cut about $2 million in state funding next year. 

Seminole County Public Schools has $3.5 million in federal funding on hold, and is seeing enrollment declines. Pictured: SCPS Vice Chair Autumn Garick and SCPS Chair Kristine Kraus at a workshop Tuesday. (Abe Aboraya, Oviedo Community News)

“While we saved most of it, the middle schools were left with a big, big deficit,” School Board Member Autumn Garick said during a workshop Tuesday.

Final budget votes coming in September

The school board on Tuesday approved a preliminary budget for 2025-26, which you can read here. 

The proposed property tax rate is 5.249 mills. That equates to about $525 in taxes for every $100,000 in taxable value for a home.

For Seminole County Public Schools, the millage rate includes 3.0010 mills for the Required Local Effort set by the state, 1.5 mills for capital improvement taxes, and 0.748 mills for the schools discretionary operating millage. The Required Local Effort is the tax rate set by state lawmakers that allows the district to receive state money, and has been steadily declining in recent years. Florida ranks among the 10 worst states in the country for education funding per student.

In total, the district’s overall millage rate actually is a slight drop from last year – about 0.5% less.  It is higher than what’s called the rollback rate, the amount the district would have to charge to keep its revenue flat. Seminole County Public Schools has a $1.3 billion budget.

Required Local Effort 3.0010 $178,181,536

District Local Capital Improvement Tax 1.5000 $89,061,081

District School Tax Discretionary Millage 0.7480 $44,411,792

In Seminole County, the average home has a taxable value of $243,680, after exemptions. That would translate to paying $1,279 for schools annually. A homeowner’s total tax bill, though, would also include property taxes for Seminole County – which are expected to increase in 2025-26 – and municipal property taxes if you live within city limits. Oviedo and Winter Springs are not planning to increase property tax rates for the coming year. 

The state’s per-student funding for next year is expected to be $8,897.59, an increase of about 2%. But because the district is losing about 1,322 students, the district is losing $11.5 million total. 

The district is offsetting that by taking $15 million in capital money and using it to pay for bus driver salaries, a change now allowed under state law. And the district is making $11 million in other cuts. 

A large portion of this is by cutting 98 instructional positions and 4 paraprofessional possessions, saving the district $7.9 million. Another $1.6 million is saved by reducing school support positions as well.

One big unknown for the coming budget: What will happen with federal grants. The district has $3.5 million in federal grants that are on hold from the U.S. Department of Education.  

“We’re proposing to maintain the budgets as-is for those three programs in the federal funds, with no impact to staffing, but holding on non-position costs to the extent feasible until the review is complete,” Chief Financial Officer John Pavelchak told the board. “Initially, the ’25-’26 costs for each of these programs would be funded with the carryover balances. We believe those will carry those programs into September, so that’s the good news.”

There are three federal grants under review, and include 45 full and part-time employees who are dependent on the funding. That translates to 24 full-time equivalent employees.

The grants under review are: 

Title II-A (Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants): $2,152,304

Title III-A (English Language Acquisition): $519,536

Title IV-A (Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program): $897,447

“The best news is no staff will be impacted,” Kraus said. 

“That is the plan, absolutely,” said SCPS Superintendent Serita Beamon. 

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Abe Aboraya is a Report for America corps member.