The Palm Beach County School Board has given final approval to the school district's 2027 budget, capping a process district officials described as unusually difficult because of falling enrollment and a reduction in state funding.
"We're living in some difficult times right now, and a lot of this does come from the state of Florida with the monies that we receive," board member Marcia Andrews said. "The students come with the money. If we don't get the students, we don't get the money to keep moving in the way we've been moving in the past. And it's getting a lot worse with us losing students now."
Here is a quick Q&A about the budget:
How big is the budget?
The overall fiscal year 2027 budget is $5.88 billion — about $6.4 million larger than it was last year.
Board
members approved it unanimously during a meeting on Sept. 9.
Will homeowners pay more in school taxes?
No. Board members approved a small decrease in the schools property tax rate.
The owner of a $480,000 house in Palm Beach County with a homestead exemption will pay $2,860.59 in school taxes. That's $15.47 less than the owner of $480,000 property paid last year. But even with an exemption, take note that many homes across the county have appreciated in taxable value, so individual tax bills can go up.
What is most of the money spent on?
Salaries and employee benefits account for 55.5% of the budget, with purchases and services accounting for the next big chunk at 26.2%.
Most of those salaries and benefits are going to employees involved in instruction. The district's 12,811.5 instruction positions account for 56.6% of the district's more than 22,000 total positions.
How did declining student enrollment affect the budget?
The state provides funding for school districts based on their enrollment. Fewer students mean less funding.
District officials learned in the fall of 2025 that enrollment was down sharply and unexpectedly. The enrollment decline meant the district would get $65.3 million less in state funding.
Legislators agreed to a plan to cushion the blow felt by the Palm Beach County School District and other large districts throughout the state, all of which were experiencing big enrollment drops. The Palm Beach County School District got $10.7 million to offset its $65.3 million loss.
Schools took a $50.5 million cut, and district department spending was cut by $17.8 million.
What's next year looking like?
Superintendent Mike Burke summed it up in comments to the district's chief financial officer, Heather Frederick.
"I share your assessment this was a challenging year, and, unfortunately, it looks like FY '28 is going to be potentially even more challenging," he said.
The district's Aug. 24 count showed year-over-year enrollment was down by nearly 6,000 students, twice the decline that was expected.
District officials have already responded, instituting a hiring freeze and eliminating 214 teaching positions, 24 support staff positions and six administration positions.
It's unclear if state legislators will again mitigate the loss of state funding caused by enrollment decline.
Board member Matthew Jay Lane is calling on them to do more to support public education in the state.
"We're 46th in the nation in per student spending," Lane said. "We're behind Arkansas and Kentucky, just for comparison. There needs to be an emphasis in the Legislature to fund our schools. There's a saying that children are 20% of our population, but they're 100% of our future. An investment in schools is an investment in your future. We definitely need to address this abysmal situation in our state, and we need to emphasize the importance of education and the importance of our future."
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: Palm Beach County school board OKs budget shaped by enrollment decline
