With enrollment numbers continuing to dwindle, Orange County Public Schools is boosting its efforts to bring students back to the district.

As enrollment numbers continue to decrease across Orange County Public Schools (OCPS), officials in the district have sounded the alarm. The decrease in students will mean a decrease in state funding—to the tune of an estimated $28 million lost in 2026—and the domino effects have become a concern as budgets have been slashed by 2% district-wide and teachers worry about job security.

Some have identified the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program as the main driver for students leaving their public school setting. Originally designed to help low-income families, the program was expanded in 2023 to include any Florida student.

Scott Howat is the chief communications officer for OCPS and says that while a decline in birth rates during COVID has contributed to a lack of new students coming through the pipeline, the universal vouchers have certainly been a major contributor.

“Our kindergartners were down about 25% largely because of the decline in birth rates. But the other piece we’re seeing is a decline in enrollment due to the universal vouchers. … There is a trend of those that are currently in private schools taking those dollars, but also those that were potentially intending to go to a public school taking those dollars and either homeschooling their children or sending them to a private school that accepts the taxpayer-funded voucher,” Howat says.

With roughly 3,130 fewer students attending district schools next year, one creative approach that OCPS has taken is partnering with Cassia K-12, a third party strategy firm that has been enlisted to help bring students back to the district. For every student who re-enrolls and attends a school in the district for at least 30 days, the firm would be paid $935. But OCPS would receive roughly $8,000 for every returning student, and if an increased number opt to do so, it could mean millions in state funding making its way back to the district.

But Howat points out that it’s not all doom and gloom as the district is exploring various options as it works to address the issue while reassuring students and their families—as well as teachers—that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

“As this choice has evolved, so has the need for us to showcase what we have to offer [at OCPS],” Howat says. “It is about serving parents and children and what their needs are within the educational setting. And that’s really different than what it has been five, 10, 20 years ago.”

We spoke more with Howat to learn about how OCPS is addressing the issue.

With dwindling student enrollment continuing to be a concern, what are some of the biggest challenges the district is facing and how is it actively working to combat them?
We know that neighborhood schools are the best opportunity for the children in our communities to get a high-quality education. Those public schools, we know a lot of them need some assistance in getting their information out as far as what they offer, whether it’s elementary school, a middle school, a K-8 school or a high school. And so we’re working directly with principals—and we focused on middle schools mainly—to get that messaging out, to be able to share with families that are coming in [to the district] and provide insights into what is happening on their campus and how families can plug in and get their children connected to that community.

We’ve been working on that over the past year, specifically around 10 schools, but also working to roll that out [further]. We know our principals and our teachers are really focused on educating our children and making sure they get a high-quality education. We’re in a time now where competition is rampant. I mean, every opportunity that a parent wants to take to educate their child exists. And so we have to look at it differently in order to show parents the great things that are happening within their schools. And so we’re working very hard on that internally.

Can you elaborate more on the partnership with Caissa and the hopes that it can help bring students back to the district?
We’re working with an external partner, Caissa K-12, that is contacting families whose children have recently left the district to talk them into coming back. We are basically talking to them about the programs and the things that we’re doing, and getting them to re-enroll in public schools. And so that’s part of that effort to train our principals on what they should expect and look for when it comes to marketing their school, and then working with this partner to help contact families to bring them back to the schools in order to reconnect and to get them involved.

With the decrease in students leading to a decrease in state funding, what does that mean for current projects/improvements?
Well, we’re really fortunate because we’ve had great support from the voters in our community who just renewed a one-half cent sales tax back in November of 2024. That sales tax goes directly to our facilities when it comes to maintaining and renovating those facilities to make sure that every 25 years we’re getting all the systems changed and upgraded.

We also have a capital renewal program that ensures that if there are systems that break or fail, that we can go in and adjust and address those right away. So we have to thank the voters of Orange County for supporting us in a big way. And they have in the past; we have a one mill property tax that’s levied for operational expenses in order to support arts, athletics, teacher pay, and also to support student programs. That was renewed in 2022 and will be up again in 2026. So some of those things helped to offset the decline in state funding that we’ve seen, or the lack of increase that we would need. So we were very thankful to the local community for that.

What we have seen because of the lower enrollment is we’re projecting a reduction in between $27-$28 million for next year. Now, when you have a decrease in students, you adjust your staffing levels accordingly. So, for example, if you don’t have as many students in a school, you may not have as many teachers, and therefore, those deficits begin to reduce. We want to make sure that we have as many students and as many high-quality teachers as we can have in our schools. So for us, a declining enrollment and a decline in our staffing levels is something that we want to address in order to ensure that we have the students in our schools that live in our communities and the teachers that want to teach are in our schools. We don’t want to have to make adjustments in staffing levels because of the decline.

We also have seen only a 1.57% increase in per-student funding, which does not keep up with the consumer price index of inflation of 3%. So essentially overall, we’re losing ground because the funding from the state legislature is not keeping up with the inflationary costs in order to give our teachers raises, in order to give our support staff raises, in order to hire more bus operators, etc. And so we’re concerned about that. There is an increase in student funding, and certainly I’m sure the state will say it’s the highest ever, but it’s not high enough in order to keep up with inflation.

And on a side note, they are funding the taxpayer-funded vouchers at a clip of $4 billion a year, which is coming directly out of what would be public education dollars. For us in Orange County, we’re about 7% of the [state’s] total education budget. So you’re looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of roughly $300 million that could go to Orange County Public Schools, but is instead being diverted that taxpayer funded voucher.

What is the feedback you are hearing from families about why they are leaving the district; is it mainly due to the expansion of the state’s school voucher program? Are there other factors that are playing a part as well?
I think it’s an avenue. The taxpayer-funded voucher is an avenue for parents to take their children out of an educational setting that they believe is not right for their child. And so I believe that it’s not that they may be leaving the district, but really parents leave their local educational setting. Whether that’s a traditional public school, neighborhood school, a charter school—they’re electing to move because of what’s happening or not happening for their child at that school. And so, they’re not saying, we’re leaving because of Orange County Public Schools. We’re leaving because this setting for our child isn’t the right setting for them at this level, and they have more choices than they’ve ever had. We’re not against choice. Certainly, we want to make sure that they know that we have opportunities for their children within our schools, like magnet programs. We have open enrollment that they can choose other schools to go to. So there’s opportunity, and we need to let them know that.

What is the overriding message to families who remain in the district, as well as those you are trying to persuade to return, to reassure them that OCPS is not only a viable option but also continues to evolve?
It is really about listening to what parents are looking for in an educational environment and trying to offer those to our families. But then also, if these things already exist, to share what is available for your child, and here’s how we can best serve the families within our district.

Again, I think it’s important to emphasize that we support choice, and we know that once parents put their child in an educational environment, if they don’t feel it’s right for them, they’re going to move them and they have the ability to do it. We want to provide opportunities that meet the needs of our families so they don’t feel like they have to go outside of their local school or a magnet school in order to get what they need. We want to provide that here within Orange County Public Schools.

What about teachers in the district—how do these decreased numbers continue to impact them?
Every year we go through the process where teachers are because of contract status—they have a one-year contract or a temporary contract or they’re probationary—and because of numbers, they may not get reappointed. And then we work with those teachers in order to get them reassigned or replaced into a school setting that works for them and works for the school. We’re always going to have attrition. We’re going to have [teachers retiring], we’ll have individuals that have to leave because of personal reasons or they’re moving. And so there are vacancies there and the ability to be able to take the teachers that were non-reappointed and to match them with positions that work for them and for the school is important. We’re continuing to work through that process with our teachers. We do it every year, but I think it’s even more important this year. And one of the things that we have dealt with during high growth times is having vacancies within the districts. And this year, we hope to be able to fill all of those vacancies with teachers that want to continue to teach here in Orange County Public Schools and deliver a great product for a family.

Despite these enrollment challenges, what keeps you optimistic about the future?
We’re always trying to improve on what we do. We’ve seen some outstanding academic results after this year. We have a graduation rate that’s 96% amongst our traditional public high schools, and we’re very proud of that.

We’re rolling out a new strategic plan that is really focused on preparing, inspiring and empowering our students, and leading them to success. And I think that we’re going to continue to work for families right here in Orlando to know that Orange County Public Schools and their local public school, or magnet school, or other choice school, is the best opportunity for their child to succeed.

Part of our strategic plan is “people first,” and I think that we need to really hone in on that and understand that families have many choices, many more choices than they’ve ever had. I will be coming up on my 34^th year in public education and it’s a different mindset. Today, we have to understand that parents have choices and that we need to make sure that they know the benefits that we offer them as well as the choices that we offer within Orange County Public Schools. And so, yes, we need to continue to work to share the amazing things that are going on within our system and then improve on the areas where our families are saying that that they’re looking for us to meet the needs of their children. And so anything we can do to improve in those areas becomes critical to our mission.