As a new school year gets underway, we’re once again taking a closer look at the region’s public high schools. Using the latest data from the Florida Department of Education, our annual report card highlights key measures of performance, including average SAT scores, graduation rates and senior class sizes. We’ve also explored the challenges facing Orange County Public Schools and how the district is emphasizing points of strength while continuing to work to find necessary solutions to best serve its students.

Looking Forward

After a period marked by unique challenges and hard decisions, Orange County Public Schools is approaching the next school year with a sense of hope and optimism.

There has been much discussion over the past year about the future of Orange County Public Schools (OCPS), as the district has been facing some major challenges and concerns around both funding and the number of enrolled students in the traditional public schools. 

As enrollment numbers have declined by 4% or over 8,300 students in the past year, the difficult decision was made to close seven different schools after the 2025-26 academic year to save approximately $10 million. The remaining student populations for the now closed schools will be consolidated and transferred to other locations within the district beginning in the fall for the 2026-27 school year. 

In order to address concerns raised by those in the community around the trials the district is facing, district officials, including several school board members and OCPS superintendent Dr. Maria Vazquez, held a press conference, focusing on problems, how they plan to fix or mitigate those problems and points of strength.

“We are proud to be one of the highest performing and most efficient school districts in the state of Florida. We are proud to be an A-rated district, and all indications show that we’re on track to earn another A rating for the third consecutive year in a row. … These results reflect the hard work and the commitment of our teachers, administrators and support staff, the involvement of our families and the strength of our community partnerships,” Vazquez said during the press conference. 

She went on to explain that OCPS maintains one of the lowest administrative cost structures in the state despite being one of the largest public school districts in Florida before describing the contributing factors of the recent decline in enrollment being attributed to lower birth rates, changes in housing trends and the federal immigration policy, and the expansion of school choice and voucher programs. 

“We are now taking a thoughtful pause to develop a long-term plan for under-enrolled schools, while continuing to deliver a high-quality education for every student that walks through our doors,” Vazquez said. 

Vazquez further emphasized that for the upcoming school year, the district does not anticipate any further school closures and is in the process of repurposing the seven closed school buildings to meet the needs of the community and potentially enhance the educational opportunities provided to the students in the district. 

OCPS is currently working to develop new school choice options for the families it serves, including micro schools like the baseball/softball academy that is currently available for students in grades three through six. New scholastic academies are also being introduced for those in the elementary and middle school levels. 

Besides ways of serving students already in the district, OCPS has also seen success with attracting students to its schools from across county lines through its magnet program, which it continues to promote to further attract more students.

Enrollment is not the only challenge OCPS has faced in the past year, with rising costs quickly outpacing revenue. One of the largest contributors to this issue has been the cost of employee health care increasing. 

Currently, the district spends $10,555 per employee for health care, but to keep the current plan that figure would have to increase to $11,611 for next year, which would require an increase of $145 million in funding to keep up due to being self-insured. 

Because of concerns around the higher cost to keep the current plan, in April the school board declared an impasse following negotiations with the teachers’ labor union, the Classroom Teachers Association and OCPS. 

“I want to be clear, this was not an adversarial step: It’s a responsible and necessary process under Florida law to keep moving forward as deadlines approach related to health care decisions. Without an agreement, the district could be required to allocate up to $20 million per month just to maintain our current health care plan. That’s not sustainable, and it’s not an ideal outcome for anyone, unless we can balance the rising cost of health care,” Vazquez said.

As they continue to seek a resolution and create a plan to move forward, the school board and OCPS have consulted experts in the health care industry and continue to present and consider the options available to them.

Additionally, this year the state only approved a base student allocation increase—the amount the district receives for each student—of less than 1%, which also plays a role in the ongoing funding difficulties, as the allocation is an integral element of the district’s funding. 

“That funding is critical because it supports classroom instruction and helps provide competitive compensation for our teachers and our staff. While we appreciate that increase, it doesn’t begin to keep up with rising costs,” Teresa Jacobs, OCPS school board chair, said during the press conference.

In November, this year’s election ballot will feature a renewal of the 15-year, $1 million property tax that directly funds the schools, helping to support 2,000 positions and a 16% pay increase for employees over three years. 

The investment was originally approved by voters and has the opportunity to be renewed by them in the fall to continue directly contributing to the programs and initiatives that benefit the students in the district. Ninety percent of the funding goes to compensation for teachers and support staff. 

“Every decision comes back to one principle: It must advance student success while honoring the public trust,” Jacobs said. “When … Orange County taxpayers invest in our schools, they deserve results, they deserve accountability [and] they deserve confidence that their dollars are being managed responsibly. That’s our commitment to our community.”