The Alachua County School Board unanimously approved a plan to restore the district's financial stability at a meeting Tuesday night.
The plan comes in response to a $6.5 million decrease in general fund revenue triggered by a mid-year state revenue reduction reported by the Florida Department of Education in March.
The general fund is the chief operating fund of a school district. It is used to account for all financial resources of the school district, except those accounted for and reported in another fund. A district may have only one general fund.
Florida school district funding is primarily determined by the Florida Education Finance Program, which allocates funds based on student enrollment, district needs and local property values.
ACPS’ lost revenue due to lower student enrollment and late FEFP calculation by the state. The district is allocated money from each full-time student by the state.
The latest state calculation was late by a few months, Superintendent Kamela Patton said.
“The last five years, we always got that calculation in January,” she said. “With the previous 15 years, we got it in December. So this is highly unusual that it took the state that long.”
The district’s general fund ending balance also fell below the board's required minimum threshold of 5%, resulting in a projected shortfall of over $1.7 million, according to the document.
To mitigate the financial shortfall, the district introduced a series of immediate corrective actions, including a hiring freeze of unfilled positions and significant budget restrictions to “critical spending only,” according to the document.
The district is experiencing financial instability, Board Vice Chair Tina Certain said, especially in allocating teacher salary increases, which still remains uncertain.
“Financially, we’re not in a good place right now,” she said.
In addition to immediate measures, the district is implementing long-term strategies to ensure fiscal sustainability, including providing monthly updates to the board on fund balances and plan progress.
The district must address the shortfalls by the end of June. The next ACSB meeting is April 15.
Contact Sara-James Ranta at sranta@alligator.org. Follow her on X @sarajamesranta.
Sara-James Ranta is a third-year journalism major, minoring in sociology of social justice and policy. Previously, she served as a general assignment reporter for The Alligator's university desk.
