District Budget Watch
Florida school districts ranked by their reported 2026 budget gaps — two districts in state financial emergency, and cuts almost everywhere. Every source cited.
Florida districts by reported 2026 budget gap
| n | amt | disp | tag | what | cuts | note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duval | 100.4 | “$100M+” | disputed | The district's own shortfall claim for 2025-26 — publicly challenged: Jacksonville Today reported it was a projection of a potential reserve drawdown that never materialized, and the district ended the year with a 13% reserve balance. | ~500 positions cut (mostly vacancies); 13 schools closed since 2020; 4 more consolidations in 2026-27 | Confirmed hits are far smaller: ~$17M lost to vouchers and $3.2M in state acceleration funding. A state representative demanded answers about the budget claims used to justify consolidations. Projected savings from closures shrank from $22M to ~$8M because ~15% of displaced students left the district. |
| Lee | 92.4 | $92.4M | Projected 2026-27 operating deficit before cuts. The tentative budget published July 24, 2026 lands better than that: general fund spending exceeds incoming money by $27.7M, drawing the balance from $147.0M to $119.4M. | 457 staff non-renewals, including 275 teachers. The tentative budget books 5,193.53 teacher positions against 5,726.93 in the current amended budget, and 10,905.57 total positions against 11,880.30 — but tentative-stage figures exclude federal grant positions and get trued up at the Day 14 count. | The capital-to-operating transfer grew to $52.2M (from $45.4M) and the five-year plan assumes it continues. Contingency reserve set at $30.6M, essentially exactly the 3% floor in board policy, against a stated 5% goal. Vouchers take $110.6M off the top, up 16.1% in a year. Per-student state funding falls $8,643 → $8,595. Superintendent Denise Carlin, May 2026: prior budgets reflected “irresponsible spending that had not been adjusted for years.” First enrollment decline outside COVID in district history (~1,650 students), though the budget assumes funded FTE rises 3.1% next year. Final budget hearing September 8. See our full translation of the tentative budget on the Board Meeting Watch page. | |
| Broward | 90 | $90M | Deficit for 2026-27 (estimates evolved from $60M in Oct 2025 to $80–94M by spring). | 1,000 positions (700 vacant eliminated, 300 layoffs — the only mass involuntary layoffs in Florida so far); 6 schools closed | Ending fund balance revised down $205M → $164M; the board has discussed the risk of falling below the state's 3% reserve floor. Down ~40,000 students over a decade; projects losing ~20,000 more within two years. Lunch prices up $1 as a revenue measure. | |
| Polk | 67 | ~$67M | Total 2025-26 hit announced July 2025: $45.7M diverted to voucher/charter allocations, a $2.5M state voucher under-estimate, and ~$21M in frozen federal grants (most later released). | No layoffs announced at the time; district-office restructuring (~$1.2M) for 2026-27 | Voucher cost in Polk grew from $41M (2021-22) to a projected ~$143M (2025-26) — 16.3% of its state allotment. Superintendent Fred Heid: “The state seemingly underestimated the fiscal impact that vouchers would have.” 2026-27 numbers not yet published. | |
| Miami-Dade | 63 | $63M | below3 | Proposed cuts for 2026-27 — on top of a $100M cut last year and an $89M mid-year cut during 2025-26. | Support staff and central office; 9 schools closing or consolidating in 2026-27 | Reserves are below Florida's 3% statutory floor (WLRN). Enrollment down 13,200 in one year — called “unprecedented” — with ~8,000 more projected gone in 2026-27; voucher students projected to reach 82,500. International-student registrations fell from a typical 14,000–22,000 to ~3,000. |
| Sarasota | 45 | ~$45M | Approximate scale of the deficit: WGCU reported the ~$45M/year now diverted to vouchers is “enough to erase the current budget deficit if redirected.” | 136 teacher positions cut for 2026-27 (an earlier plan was 180 instructional + 79 classified); staffing down ~6%, administration down ~14% | Every dollar of Sarasota's state operating funding now flows to vouchers — one of five districts with no net state funding (with Collier, Monroe, Martin, Union). $115M in COVID relief that funded 182 positions has expired. Reserves remain above the 3% floor. Leadership calls it “a financial correction, not a crisis.” | |
| Collier | 42.2 | $42.2M | Projected 2025-26 deficit, after a $9.3M actual deficit in 2024-25. The district says the gap would exceed $100M without its voter-approved referendum. | No mass layoffs; a Spending Reductions Work Group has cut $20M+ over three years | Its “Reserve for Future Budget Shortfalls” ($53.1M at end of FY24) is “projected to be nearly depleted.” Also one of the five districts receiving no net state funding after voucher pass-throughs. 2026-27 figure not yet published (the state enrollment count was delayed). | |
| Palm Beach | 41.8 | $38–42M | Projected 2026-27 shortfall ($41.8M including compensation proposals), after a $14.8M gap in 2025-26. | ~250 positions at risk (192 teachers) after the board approved a 3.5% raise at impasse; layoffs expected to be finalized by October 2026 | Lost 7,000+ students in 2025-26 — 18× the projection, the largest decline in district history — costing ~$66M in state funding. Unassigned reserves ~$160M, about one month of payroll. Of 4,273 departing voucher recipients, only ~1,800 had actually attended district schools. | |
| Lake | 35 | $35M | Reported shortfall (WFTV, Central Florida budget roundup). | Not detailed in available reporting | Part of the same Central Florida squeeze reported alongside Orange and Volusia. | |
| Orange | 27 | $27M | Expected 2026-27 state funding loss from ~3,000 more departing students — after a $41M reduction already made to the 2025-26 budget. | 200+ district-level positions eliminated (most vacant) to protect classrooms; 7 low-enrollment schools closing summer 2026 | A separate $145M employee-healthcare trust shortfall is projected by 2027 — board chair Teresa Jacobs: “It's alarming, but it's catastrophic.” Enrollment down 6,786 (3.3%) in one year; ~10,000 projected over five years. Teacher-contract impasse went to a magistrate in July 2026. | |
| Volusia | 25.8 | $25.8M | Amount being covered from reserves (WFTV, Central Florida budget roundup). | Not detailed in available reporting | Drawing down reserves rather than cutting to balance. | |
| Hillsborough | 18.3 | $18.3M | Shortfall entering 2025-26 (~$11M enrollment decline, ~$3M county property-tax reallocation, $4.1M state cut). No single 2026-27 figure published yet. | Graham Elementary and Madison Middle closing; Pizzo K-8 closing in 2027 (a near-tenfold rent increase from USF); Sulphur Springs K-8 dropping middle grades | General-fund reserves ~$283M → ~$266M projected. Enrollment down 7,000–10,000 (figures vary by count date). A charter operator sent co-location notices to 20+ Hillsborough schools. | |
| Pasco | 15 | $15M | Health-insurance fund shortfall in the 2025-26 budget; plus a $3.6M revenue loss from a projected 638-student decline. No single 2026-27 deficit figure published. | Nearly 500 positions eliminated ahead of fall 2026 (9 administrative, 150 instructional, 256 school-related), via attrition — district says no current employee lost a job | A fast-growing county with shrinking school enrollment — charters and vouchers each projected to gain ~1,645 students. Renewal of the local-option tax that funds salary supplements is on the November 2026 ballot. | |
| Charlotte | 9.5 | $9.5M | Projected 2025-26 shortfall (announced July 2025); by May 2026 the district described the budget as “stabilized” heading into 2026-27, with money left for raises. | 83 teachers/staff non-renewed for 2026-27 — roughly double the prior year — plus $8.4M in district-level cuts (district budgets −27.9%, district-office staffing −19.9%) | In April 2026 the district's independent oversight panel rejected a board proposal to spend $4.2M from referendum reserves, warning more reserves are needed. Its 1-mill referendum expires after 2026-27; renewal expected on the November 2026 ballot. | |
| Highlands | 4.5 | $4.5M | Cuts needed to keep reserves from falling to a projected 1.3% — below the 3% statutory floor (target: 3.7%). | ~19 positions | A small district squeezed by the same voucher diversion (WGCU). | |
| Union | 1.4 | $1.4M | emergency | Deficit — and a projected fund balance below 2%, with a financial condition ratio of −9.14% as of June 30, 2026. | Lost 103 students in the state's third enrollment calculation — $947K less funding | IN STATE FINANCIAL EMERGENCY: the Commissioner appointed a financial emergency board in April 2026. Also one of the five districts with no net state funding after voucher pass-throughs. Before this year, the only precedent was Jefferson County in 2016. |
| Glades | 0.337 | $337K | emergency | Shortfall from losing 46 students — enough, in a district this small, to fall below the 2% reserve threshold. | Not detailed in available reporting | IN STATE FINANCIAL EMERGENCY: state-appointed financial emergency board, April 2026. A reminder that these figures are not scaled to district size — the smallest dollar figure on this list is one of the two most serious situations in the state. |
| Pinellas | — | No single published deficit figure; the squeeze shows up in positions and closures instead. | Just under 400 positions cut for 2026-27, including ~$500K in administrative salaries; Cross Bayou Elementary closed, Disston Academy closing after 2026-27, more consolidation recommendations due October 2026 | Enrollment 74,203 — down 3,651 in a year, with ~45,000 empty seats. District cites $9,130/student state funding vs. $12,491 needed to match inflation. Its doubled voter-approved millage (~$145M in 2026) was described as the only thing preventing “one of its worst financial pictures in years.” |