The Palm Beach County School Board gave tentative approval to the district's $5.8 billion budget on July 29, bringing it one step closer to a final vote on Sept. 9.
Heather Frederick, the district's chief financial officer, said this year's budget process was among the most challenging she's faced in the 19 years she's been working for the district.
"Went through the Great Recession," Frederick said. "Went through COVID, and this has been one of the most challenging of the years since I've been at the district primarily because of the unanticipated and unexpected decline in enrollment."
The budget is a 93-page document and includes such easy-to-understand terms as "roll-back rate," "millage" and "internal service funds."
So, to keep eyes from rolling
back into heads, here's a 40,000-foot view of this year's budget, based on questions parents and other taxpayers would want answered:
Will homeowners pay more in school property taxes?
No. The proposed budget includes a .54% reduction in the school property tax rate. That means the owner of a house valued $480,000 would pay $2,860.59 in school property taxes, a reduction of $15.47 from the year before.
That's not a lot of coin, but homeowners have been facing bigger tax bills in recent years because of rising property values. Government entities, facing rising costs, often hold tax rates steady, resulting in a bigger bill for homeowners.
The roughly half-percent tax cut means homeowners won't have to dig deeper to pay for public schools.
Why was this year's budget process so tough?
Frederick said it: declining enrollment and a corresponding loss in state funding.
The 2027 budget was built with the presumption that enrollment will decline by another 3,000 students this school year. That would mean an enrollment drop of 10,000 students over the past two years and a corresponding loss of $100 million in state funding, which is based, in part, on enrollment.
State legislators did give the district $10.7 million to mitigate its loss of funding, but budget writers still had to find spending cuts.
What got cut?
The Palm Beach Post has reported on the 76 media clerks whose jobs were eliminated by the district, a move district officials say saved $3.3 million.
Some of those clerks opted to retire, and the district has placed some others in different positions.
District officials said the job cuts were necessary after school board members approved a 3.5% pay raise for teachers. For their part, teachers have taken to social media to push back hard on the district's contention that it had to cut those jobs because teachers got a modest raise. They argue the district had other ways to reduce spending and that teachers are a critical part of why the district consistently gets high marks from the state.
Overall, the budget calls for a $50.5 million reduction in spending at school sites and a cut of $17.8 million in district department spending.
What's next?
School board members will take a final vote on the budget on Sept. 9, and, if approved, it would go into effect on July 1, 2027, at the start of the new fiscal year.
Frederick said the future trend lines promise more challenges ahead.
"We are, unfortunately, looking at a potential (enrollment) decline in the next several years and, since our revenue is driven by enrollment, that is going to continue to have a significant impact on our budget," she said.
Large districts across the state have been losing enrollment and have responded with more dramatic actions than have been taken so far in the Palm Beach County School District.
"Unfortunately, we did have to lay off people, but I'm happy that we're not like other school districts and have to close schools," School Board member Gloria Branch said.
Wayne Washington is a journalist covering education and Riviera Beach development for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at wwashington@pbpost.com. Help support our work; subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Enrollment drops, $50M budget cut ahead for Palm Beach County schools
