Sarasota schools leader outlines issues but also optimism

It's not an ordinary time for Sarasota's school district. 

The district has had to contend with a variety of issues — nine, to be precise — that Superintendent of Schools Terry Connor has identified as impacting its financial state. 

However, he says there are also promising developments as well.

During the State of the Community luncheon on April 14, an event series hosted by the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, Connor addressed a room of officials and business leaders to paint a picture of the district at the Carlisle Inn and Conference Center.

It was a conversation he described as both "sobering" and "optimistic."

The district, which serves about 45,000 students, and a total of 57 schools, is being impacted by issues at both the national and local level, he said. 

"Orange County just closed seven schools in the last week," he said. "Hillsborough just consolidated five schools in the last week. Broward is cutting 3,000 jobs over the next three years," he said. 

Connor said one of the factors behind the changing educational landscape is declining enrollment, which is driven partly by an increase in options beyond traditional public schools, even over what was available 10 to 15 years ago. 

About 81% of students choose a traditional public school nationally, Connor said, as well as about 69% in Florida and about 70%, or around 36,800 students, in Sarasota. 

Since 2020, according to his presentation, there were about 116,725 students who left Florida's public schools for charter schools since 2020, along with an increase of about 45,000 among charter school students.

Meanwhile, he said, microschools, small schools that serve groups of around eight-12 students, have grown 300% in the last four years, along with with a 46% increase in homeschooling.

Another factor he noted was declining birthrates, with over 600 more current seniors in the cohort than incoming kindergartners.

He said among the 4,800 students have accepted the Florida Family Empowerment Scholarship, which funds private school tuition and fees, around 3,000 of them were never in the district's public schools.

He explained that fixed costs, like those of school resource officers, lights, air conditioning and other resources still remain, despite fewer students. 

Another issue Connor cited was a 2% commission charged on the district's referendum, which has been passed by taxpayers for 24 years. 

The referendum increases property taxes by one mill to provide the school district with additional resources, although he says 2% of the funds will now now go toward the Sarasota County Tax Collector. 

He said the district is working with its legal team around this change, which is estimated to cost the district $2.2 million in one year and around $10 million over four years.

However, Connor discussed ways that the district is consolidating its operations through aligning staff to enrollment, managing costs of benefits while sustaining high-quality ones and removing expenses that relied on one-time funding. 

"Bottom line, the landscape has completely changed for us," he said. "We have to think differently. We can't keep doing the same thing."