Final tally: Seminole County Public Schools cuts 314 jobs while facing a looming deficit

Seminole County Public Schools has cut more than 300 teachers, staff and district employees to deal with a looming budget shortfall. Meanwhile Florida’s largest teachers union is suing the state over its public education funding, which is among the lowest in the nation. 

At Tuesday’s board meeting, school board members got a more detailed look at the final tally of job cuts for the 2026-27 school year. The district is facing a $26.4 million budget deficit for the 2026-27 school year in part because of a projected 2,000 student drop in enrollment, as more students use state vouchers for private school, immigration enforcement chills attendance and birth rates decline. School boards are funded by property taxes like city governments, but school boards are unable to change the rate that’s set by state lawmakers without going to voters for approval.

The final tally is 314 cut positions for the 2026-27 year, which is higher than initially projected last month. School Board member Kristine Kraus said the district is also looking through contracts for things like software to save money.

“We are looking for every nook and cranny to find savings,” Kraus said. “That includes some district staff here. This is hard. These are hard times. But we’ve got to work smarter, not harder, and as efficiently as we can.”

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In the original announcement about the cuts last month, SCPS Spokeswoman Katherine Crnkovich said the total would be 280 positions and only 173 of those were due to budget cuts. Of the 280, 224 were teachers, 42 were support staff and 76 were district staff. The district did not provide an updated breakdown for the new total by press time. 

“In Orange County, they have closed schools,” Dehlinger said. “It’s possible things could be worse than what we’re projecting. It’s very challenging times. When you cut 300 positions, it’s hard.”

Meanwhile, teachers are blaming Tallahassee for low education funding that’s hampered school budgets. A lawsuit by the Florida Education Association filed last week is challenging the state’s educational funding, arguing that the state has diverted $5 billion in public funding away from public schools and toward charter and private schools. The suit, which names seven educational board appointees of Gov. Ron DeSantis, argues the state’s current funding model is unconstitutional. In the meantime public schools are looking for alternate sourcing for funding.

Thomas Bugos, the president of the Seminole Education Association, the union that represents teachers in Seminole County, said he wanted to see the school board approve a referendum for November to increase the property tax rate to pay for salaries. Board members rejected that idea Tuesday night.   

Three school board members are up for election in 2026. Bugos said the cuts and the referendum are becoming political issues. 

“I would definitely campaign against anyone who thinks this isn’t a valid way to fight,” Bugos said. 

Abe Aboraya is a Report for America corps member.