Seminole County schools begin nonrenewals as district eyes 281 cuts
Seminole County schools have started nonrenewing staff as leaders move to close a $26.4 million deficit with 281 cuts, most of them school-based.
Seminole County Public Schools has begun telling teachers their contracts will not be renewed for next year as the district tries to erase a projected $26.4 million budget shortfall. The cuts, which district leaders say total about 281 positions, are expected to ripple into class sizes, elective choices and student support across one of Central Florida’s largest school systems.
At an April 14 budget work session, Superintendent Serita D. Beamon said the district was planning to eliminate more than 280 positions across school and district staff, producing about $23.4 million in savings. About 205 of those cuts are teacher and support staff jobs, while another 76 are district-level positions. Seminole County Public Schools is still a large employer in the county, so the reduction will be felt in classrooms and in the local economy.
The district’s financial squeeze tracks directly to enrollment loss. Seminole County schools lost almost 2,000 students this year from a population of roughly 60,000, and leaders project another drop of about 2,000 next school year. That decline has been compounded by falling birth rates and by more families using state voucher dollars to move children into private schools, a shift that has changed how public schools are funded in Florida. State data show 69% scholarship participation in Seminole County in 2024-25, underscoring how deeply school choice has reached into the system.
Even after the cuts, the district is still searching for savings. Leaders have looked at travel, including out-of-state professional development trips, and have pointed out that substitute teachers can cost more than $100 per day per teacher. The district also briefly moved to stop approving out-of-state and overnight student field trips before walking that decision back after parents and students objected at the April 14 board meeting.
The staffing reductions come as Seminole County Public Schools continues to serve 67 traditional schools, including 40 elementary schools, 12 middle schools, 11 high schools and four combination schools. County materials put the district at the 13th-largest in Florida and the 55th-largest in the nation in 2020-21, with more than 66,729 students in 2022-23. The Seminole Education Association’s contract runs through June 30, 2027, a factor that could shape how the district handles layoffs, seniority and vacancies as the school board continues budget work at the Educational Support Center in Sanford.
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