Escambia Schools Are Losing $18 Million — and the State Isn’t Paying Its Bills
The school board held a three-hour workshop Thursday confronting a financial crisis driven by thousands of students leaving for state scholarship programs — and a legislature that refuses to account for the ones left behind.
The Escambia County School District is staring down an $18 million revenue shortfall heading into the 2026–27 school year, the result of a years-long drain of students to state scholarship programs that has left the district educating children it isn’t being paid for.
Despite Sen. Don Gaetz’s efforts, the Florida Legislature didn’t fixed the problem in the 2026 session.
The school board spent nearly three hours Thursday at a workshop dissecting the problem. The numbers are stark: the district is projecting a total loss of roughly 7,000 students to scholarships, with departures running at about 500 per year over the last five years. In February alone, 335 students were listed on voucher rolls while still sitting in Escambia classrooms. At roughly $9,000 per student, that’s more than $3 million the district is providing in services without a dollar of compensation.
Superintendent Keith Leonard told the board he has drafted a letter to the Florida Department of Education demanding payment. The district, he noted, is financing those students’ transportation, their meals, and their access to workforce education — all without reimbursement.
- “Our school board finances the transportation of those 335 students,” Leonard said. “They finance, making certain that those students have the opportunity to eat breakfast and lunch. Our school board finances the opportunity for workforce education programs. Please let us know when or if you believe we will receive the funding for those students.”
The Board Wants an Invoice — and Legal Action Is on the Table
Board member Kevin Adams didn’t stop at a letter. He wants an invoice attached — and a 90-day deadline for the state to respond.
- “I support your letter. I support you throwing an invoice in there and give them 90 days,” Adams said. “Terry can make up one of them things like you get from — this is your third notice. And they pay it. And I’m trying to figure out why would they not pay it because you would just submit the amount of students you got and you pay it.”
Adams called the situation legally indefensible: “How is it legal for us to have students sitting in seats that we’re not getting paid for? It can happen. It should not happen.” He said legal action may ultimately be necessary.
Board member Paul Fetsko went further, arguing invoices should cover prior years — and that accountability should fall on the parents whose voucher money went to private schools their children never attended. “Along with rights come responsibilities,” Fetsko said. “If they had the right to have an agreement with another party to serve that child, then they have the responsibility to go back and get those funds and give it to the facility who is serving that child.”
- The buzzword is school choice and everybody’s afraid of it — because there is no accountability for those scholarships outside of the local school districts. None. Nobody wants to face it in the legislature.— CFO Terry St. Cyr
Board Chair Tom Harrell noted that a House bill to address the problem failed to pass this session. He was pointed about who bears responsibility.
- “It’s not the superintendent’s fault. It’s not anyone on the superintendent staff or anyone at this board sitting up here,” Bergosh said. “But there are people who are elected that it is their fault. Those in the house have not stepped up. That means we might want to pay attention to those people — how they voted on this issue in the house.”
The Fund Balance Is Falling. School Closures Are Looming.
Beyond the voucher fight, the broader financial picture is deteriorating fast. The district’s general fund balance has dropped from a healthy 10–12% to a projected 4.3–4.8% — below the preferred 5% threshold and dangerously close to the 3% floor that would trigger state takeover. Two Florida school districts are already operating under state-appointed financial boards.
The district’s general fund is projected to fall to $19.4 million — approximately 4.3% of general fund revenue. The state-mandated minimum is 3%. Two Florida districts have already lost financial autonomy after falling below that threshold. One major storm or unexpected expense could push Escambia below the floor.
- With 85% of the budget tied up in personnel, the math is brutal. The board discussed eliminating positions, converting full-year jobs to 10- or 11-month positions, and pausing new bond issuance for construction. HR chief Kelly Krostag confirmed the combined savings from position eliminations and staffing grid adjustments total roughly $2.3–2.4 million — a start, but a fraction of the gap.
Board member David Williams, a former principal of Pensacola High School and school administrator, said belt-tightening alone won’t close the distance. “We keep tightening our belt, we’re going to pass out soon or later from strangulation,” he said. He called on the board to begin actively planning for school closures now, noting that neighboring counties have already started. The district has closed 23 schools over 17 years — and doing so again, Fetsko noted, “has never hurt students.”
CFO Terry St. Cyr offered the session’s most blunt assessment. A self-described conservative who philosophically supports school choice, he said the current scholarship system has no accountability — and the legislature knows it.
- “I’ve been doing this for a long time and I’ve never seen this kind of a decrease in revenue and the kind of pressure that’s put on the district’s fund balance. Never,” St. Cyr said.
The board voted to formally authorize the superintendent’s letter — and invoice — at an upcoming regular meeting. Leonard said a three-year financial plan will come before the board at the start of the next school year. The question is whether that plan arrives before the bleeding becomes permanent.
