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Pasco School District board meeting, Sep 8, 2026

1 h 17 min · 2 videos

Enrollment ▶ 3:31Vouchers and school choice ▶ 2:58

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 1 h 17 min.

  1. Who spoke · first speaks at
What happened

What happened at this meeting

Part 1 · 36 min

Pasco school board adopts $2,326,913,451 final budget for 2026⁠-⁠2027 13:57

  • The board held its final public hearing on the proposed 2026⁠-⁠2027 budget and passed motions adopting the millage resolution and the final budget resolution. 3:05
  • The superintendent said the 26⁠-⁠27 annual budget is $2,326,913,451 and the total millage for the fiscal year is 6.184, a decrease of 0.090 mills. 3:32
  • Board members Jessica Wright and Megan Harding said funding for charter schools and Family Empowerment Scholarships flows through the district budget. 11:16
  • The board also approved the consent agenda. ~29:12
Item by item (9)
  1. Opening and approval of minutes 0:00
    • The meeting opened with the district's public comment procedures, the vision statement and the Pledge of Allegiance. 0:00
    • The board considered the draft minutes of the August 25th, 2026 board meeting. 2:52
    • The chair announced that the motion to approve the minutes carried. 3:05
  2. Budget hearing and millage resolution 3:05
    • The superintendent said a homeowner with a $350,000 home assessed value after the homestead exemption would pay $2,010 in taxes, a $29 decrease from last year. 4:16
    • The board's attorney said no green speaking cards had been received for the hearing, and the chair read a rollback rate of 6.1490 mills and a millage rate of 6.1840 mills. 6:51
    • Jessica Wright said 90% of the district's funding is directed toward school-level services. 12:06
    • The chair announced that the motion to adopt the resolution determining revenues and millage levied carried. 7:42
  3. Final budget resolution 13:57
    • Megan Harding said the general fund includes approximately $16.5 million more for Family Empowerment Scholarships and $14.9 million more for charter school pass-through funding. 15:44
    • Megan Harding said 90.8% of general fund operating appropriations support school-level services and 3.7% supports district services. 16:49
    • Cynthia Armstrong thanked fellow board members for their comments on the budget and said there was nothing to add. 18:56
    • The chair announced that the motion to adopt the final budget resolution carried, and the public hearing was closed. 19:11
  4. Public comment on agenda items 19:35
    • A speaker at public comment spoke about Labor Day and thanked district employees. 19:56
  5. Board committee reports 20:42
    • Jessica Wright said the Large Capital Committee met August 5th and discussed an appraisal of a parcel of land adjacent to Pasco K-8. 20:48
  6. Superintendent and staff reports 21:24
    • The superintendent said the district would launch a thought exchange and a web page the next day to gather public input on declining enrollment. 21:28
    • A finance staff member said the total millage of 6.184 mills is 0.5% higher than the rollback rate of 6.149 mills, so it must be advertised as an increase. 23:31
    • A staff member gave an update on middle schools and K-8 schools, saying several schools were surpassing results from last year in the first round of testing. 27:01
  7. Consent agenda 28:44
    • No board member asked to remove an item from the consent agenda. 28:44
    • The chair announced that the motion to approve the consent agenda carried. 29:12
  8. Board member reports 29:12
    • Jessica Wright said staff preserved $2.4 million in federal UNISIG funding for 10 Title I schools under item 10.1. 29:33
    • Megan Harding said Newport-Richie Rotary would hold an ice cream party at Richie Elementary School for young students who learn the pledge. 32:54
    • The chair thanked school leaders for their work on the school improvement plans in item 9.5. 34:36
  9. Non-agenda public comment and adjournment 35:56
    • No speaker cards were submitted for public comment on non-agenda items. 36:02
    • The chair said the next board meeting would be held on September 22nd, 2026 at 6 PM in the boardroom. 36:02

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

Part 2 · 41 min

Pasco school board workshop reviews traditional school enrollment down 2,415 at 10th-day count 0:51

  • The superintendent said this would be a multi-year discussion and that losses at some schools were getting close to triple digits a year. 0:14
  • A district staff member presented 10th-day count figures showing traditional school enrollment at -2,415, about 400 below what the district anticipated, while charter schools were at about plus 1,518 over last year. 0:51
  • The staff member tied part of the decline to a falling birth rate and projected 3,700 kindergartners in traditional schools next year. 4:36
  • A staff member said the district would launch a community Thought Exchange on September 9th and run it through September 18th, 2026, with feedback expected in October. 27:20

Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →

Item by item (8)
  1. Opening of workshop 0:00
    • The workshop was called to order with all board members present except one member with an excused absence. 0:00
    • The superintendent said the session would review 10-day count enrollment and that it looked to be a multi-year discussion. 0:14
  2. Enrollment at 10th-day count 0:51
    • A staff member said traditional schools were at -2,415 compared with a projection of -2,000, about 400 below what was anticipated, and charter schools were at about plus 1,518 over last year. 0:51
    • Megan Harding asked whether more students were going to charter schools, and the staff member said some went more to charter this year. 3:08
    • Jessica Wright said some of the high school difference was absorbed by charters and the other was likely through FES. 4:12
  3. Birth rate and kindergarten trends 4:36
    • A staff member said the U.S. birth rate peaked in 2007 and has fallen most years since, and projected 3,700 kindergartners in traditional schools next year. 4:36
    • Megan Harding asked whether the district was reaching out to other preschools to help with enrollment. 7:30
    • A district staff member said the district could go for a bigger piece of the pie, but the pie was getting smaller and would keep shrinking over the next 5 years. 8:09
  4. Elementary school capacity and low enrollment areas 11:44
    • A staff member presented a map of low enrollment concern and said 9 elementary schools are below 60% and just 3 are over capacity, with the highest at 110%. 11:44
    • Megan Harding asked whether there is a capacity tipping point where cost per student changes, and a staff member said there is no official tipping point but operating well under capacity involves a lot of overhead. 15:27
    • Megan Harding asked whether residential development was factored in, and a staff member said the tables do not factor it in but longer-term projections would. 18:22
  5. Rate of decline and long-term outlook 21:08
    • Jessica Wright asked what the FES cycle would look like in 5 to 10 years and whether the district could face overcapacity again. 23:06
    • One board member said the board has to look at the whole picture and said they would advocate in Tallahassee for a state ID number for every student. 23:50
  6. Middle and high school capacity 26:10
    • A staff member said 4 middle schools and 6 high schools are over 100% of capacity. 26:10
    • Cynthia Armstrong said high schools would be impacted by the birth rate down the road. 27:02
  7. Community Thought Exchange and enrollment webpage 27:20
    • A staff member said the district would launch a Thought Exchange on September 9th, run it through September 18th, 2026, and share feedback in October. 27:20
    • Cynthia Armstrong asked whether the Thought Exchange would link to the workshop or presentation, and a staff member said an enrollment trends page with slides and a link to the workshop would launch the next day. 30:21
    • One board member suggested offering iPads at school open houses so families could take the survey. 32:32
  8. Board comments on next steps 33:33
    • One speaker said having the conversation does not mean decisions have already been made about individual schools. 34:23
    • One board member said they did not want to simply manage the decline and asked for a strategy for competing for students, as well as a clear decision-making process before any boundary or consolidation recommendation. 35:23
    • One board member said past school combinations, including the Chasco K-8 merger and the Hudson Elementary closure, gave students additional opportunities. 38:32

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “Pasco County School Board Meeting- September 8, 2026”