Florida public schools are facing a severe financial crisis driven by major budget deficits, declining enrollment and expanding voucher programs to divert funds.
School districts like in Broward and Lee counties have been dominating the news because they are facing cuts in the tens of millions of dollars.
No district is immune and a very frank discussion about it happened in rural Highlands County recently when the school board gathered for a workshop on the matter.
The board learned the district must take action to blunt the losses and keep the state from taking over its finances. It is health-care costs — not just declining student enrollment — that is driving this.
The last time the Highlands County School District had a surplus of funds — set aside for health care costs — was at the start of the school year in 2023.
There was $2 million dollars in the health fund then. But that surplus dried up and the fund balance turned into a negative $2 million not too long after. And the fund continued to bleed red according to Andrew Lethbridge, a district deputy assistant superintendent.
"I just won't ask you to do mental math, but between those three figures, we're around $8.5 million negative in health alone, that claims have surpassed revenue," Lethbridge said. "The bottom line — that is having a tremendous impact on our budget. And if we had $8.5 million in our budget for our health fund, we would not be having these conversations right now."
Simply put, the skyrocketing cost of health care is impacting school districts.
"This probably does need to be said three times, as any good teacher would really hit the key points that what we're experiencing is truly a health care crisis. And this isn't only for Highlands County. This is across the state. This is across the country, with different people that are struggling with health care and the rising costs of health care," he said.
Public school districts in Florida must have at least three percent of their budget set aside in reserves. Schools that don’t, such as neighboring Glades County and Union County in North-Central Florida, are deemed fiscally broke. When that happens, the state steps in to oversee finances.
Lethbridge told the board that declining student enrollment projections as well as increasing health care cost put Highlands on the path to state oversight unless major cost-cutting actions are taken.
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