School budgets are under pressure nationwide. Here’s what’s driving the cuts.

“Sign up for Chalkbeat’s free weekly newsletter to keep up with how education is changing across the U.S. School districts are under pressure this year. Some of the largest in the country are handing out pink slips. Cancelling technology contracts. And even slashing specific medications from employee health plans. As many school boards debate their budgets for the upcoming school year, a Chalkbeat analysis found a common thread: More than half of the country’s 50 largest school districts are poised to or already have made cuts, or are facing a reported deficit. Budget timelines vary from state to state. And it’s not fully clear if this year amounts to the “big shrink” that some in school finance have predicted . But experts say schools are facing a daunting combination of financial roadblocks. Some of them are wildly specific to the times in which we live: rising healthcare costs linked with GLP-1 weight loss medications , immigration fears keeping some students out of school , and rising gas prices . “There are a lot of expenses that are out there that are increasing and the districts don’t have a lot of control over them,” said Michael Griffith, an analyst at the Learning Policy Institute who studies school finance. But districts are also feeling the impact of yearslong declines in enrollment. Nearly 30 of the 50 largest districts have recently cited declining enrollment. Most school districts are funded based on how many students they have, so lower enrollment makes it harder to keep up with rising costs. The result: school closures, beloved staff members losing their jobs, and higher class sizes . Some districts, like Broward County in south Florida, say they have little choice. Enrollment in Broward County Public Schools — the sixth-largest in the country — has declined by nearly 40,000 students, or 17%, over the past decade. In what the district has billed to the community as a “realignment,” Broward is cutting its staff by 1,000 positions . The district is also closing six schools , with more closures possible. Superintendent Howard Hepburn said these are the toughest decisions he’s had to make in his two years leading Broward. “It costs us a lot of money on the operation side, so we’re spending more money on operating the school rather than spending a lot of money on actually educating kids in that school and providing all the bells and whistles that come with a school that’s at capacity,” he said. Why are school districts cutting staff and programs? Griffith and other experts say there’s not one overarching cause hurting school budgets. Decades-long enrollment decline is one driving force. This year appears to be a year for reckoning over enrollment for a lot of big school districts. Take Los Angeles Unified, the second-biggest district in the country. Like Broward, the district has hemorrhaged students over the last decade , with a 28% enrollment decline, according to state data. In February, L.A. Unified took steps to lay off as many as 3,200 people , though about 650 actual layoffs are expected, due to attrition and other strategies. Julien Lafortune, a senior fellow with the Public Policy Institute of California, said districts in his state this year are confronting enrollment declines of as much as 20%, in the case of some districts in the Los Angeles area. So even while total per student funding has increased in California — a fact politicians often tout — district administrators still have to cut, because they have fewer students. “You can have a situation where funding is going up, but districts are in deficits, are trying to find ways to cut, because the overall student count is going down, and so the total pie of funding is going down,” he said. Enrollment declines themselves have different causes in different districts. For example, the Trump administration’s intensified immigration enforcement has led some families to keep their children home or move away. But there are several other reasons districts and outside experts have cited for cuts or potential budget cuts. Rising inflation, including food and fuel costs, has hit schools “across the board,” Griffith said. Many districts also agreed to teacher pay raises in recent years that are now hard to pay for at their current staffing levels. While states may be funding education at higher levels, federal pandemic relief funding has ended. Some districts still have employees and programs once funded by that money, a fact cited by Philadelphia’s school superintendent in explaining planned budget cuts this year. The same is true in Chicago, where leaders say they are facing a deficit of more than $730 million . Many school districts have not been able to find new local money to offset their rising costs. In Montgomery County, Maryland, the nation’s 14th-largest school district, county officials are balking at raising taxes to cover the school district’s budget request . A Michigan study found voters are rejecting property increases at the ballot at higher rates than in the past . Healthcare costs are also rising, Griffith said. While overall the costs of employer-sponsored plans are going up , the increased use of GLP-1 medications for weight loss is a notable factor. Some districts, including Broward County, are cutting employee coverage of these medications . Regardless of causes, some say that reductions are appropriate. They’ve pointed out that overall, schools are receiving more public funding than ever , even as the country’s test scores have declined . Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, has been an outspoken supporter of legislation passed last year to merge school districts into bigger, more efficient systems with class-size minimums, in order to cut costs. “In the last five years alone, property taxes have increased by over 40% with fewer kids in our schools, fewer opportunities in the classroom, and more inequities from town to town,” he said in a press conference in December. But Griffith said those critiques ignore the difficult reality of budgeting. For example, enrollment declines usually don’t happen evenly, so district officials may have to employ the same number of teachers to maintain state class size standards, even with fewer students. “Can there be efficiencies? Probably, you know, there can be efficiencies just about anywhere, right?” he said. “But the main driver right now is just inflation and the loss of students.” Painful school budget cuts in south Florida There may be no better region than south Florida that illustrates the complications of school budgeting this year. Overall the population of the state is increasing, including the number of people under 18 . But school enrollment in several big districts like Broward and Miami-Dade Counties has declined . That’s likely due to declining birth rates, immigration policy, and an array of school choice measures giving families options outside of district schools. “I love competition,” Hepburn said. “I support parents’ rights to choose. So as a system, what we have to do to react is actually compete better and market ourselves.” Broward faces a $90 million budget deficit. The district’s budget for the current school year is $5 billion.To try to close the budget gap, district officials are cutting 1,000 positions. Of those, 700 are already vacant — the other 300 will be layoffs. Included in those layoffs are nearly 40 student support instructional specialists, who among other things identify students who may need help with their mental health. Slater Pauff, 14, an eighth grader at Westglades Middle School in Parkland, said the cuts mean he and his classmates will lose an adult he trusts enough to come to with sensitive problems. “It’s just important to have her, because a lot of kids know her, no one else really knows anyone else in the school board ... it’s important to have someone that actually helps,” he said. As the district grapples with layoffs that will go into effect at the end of the school year , Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School media specialist Diana Haneski said some of the decisions board members are signing off on don’t make sense at the school level. “It feels like they don’t really understand what it’s like working at school,” she said. Lily Altavena is a national reporter at Chalkbeat. Contact Lily at laltavena@chalkbeat.org .

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