WOKC Local News – June 29, 2026, 7:40 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. Schools may tighten budget with WOKC News. I’m Charles Murphy. The state budget finally finalized and Okeechobee schools will begin their review of budgets in July. They have a goal of a 5% fund balance. It’s less than that now for the first time in years. They had 17 vacant positions entering summer and they had suggested in May that over 25 positions could be cut. Superintendent Dylan Tedders agrees some 30 positions could now be impacted. Potentially. I mean, we’re just looking at every position that’s open. I think right now there’s 17 vacancies. So we really look at those and look at student numbers and see how we can finagle things, why those positions are unfilled. But we’re not gonna go without. You know, if you absolutely have to have a spot, I mean, we’re gonna take care of those positions. Schools are dealing with declining enrollment. More students are homeschooled and some are taking advantage of private school scholarships. Highlands County schools have also been losing kids and funding their fund balance down to 1.3%. The school board and superintendent differing on how much to cut as far as laying off employees. Donna Howerton admits all these cuts are gonna be very tough. They’re all needed, but there comes a time where can we afford it? Nearly 21,000 have been deported through Alligator Alcatraz, which is now closed. Governor DeSantis says he’s confident the federal government will reimburse the state for the construction and operation of the Alligator Alcatraz. The state has already spent over $600 million. He notes it’ll take time. He says he thinks Alligator Alcatraz fulfilled its role. Having this has led to almost 21,000 deportations. And those would be people by and large who would have been released back into society in Florida. Some Florida counties taking steps to prevent data centers from coming here. Pinellas County considering a ban. DeSoto County went with a one-year ban. Okeechobee recently rejected a data center. The counties and cities, though, could be circumvented by Senate Bill 180 that limited local control of zoning. Pinellas County Commissioner Kathleen Peters is mostly concerned about the increases in water bills and electric bills people and residents would see. She says it’s a hard time to approve a data center politically. Right now we’re in such a drought that we can’t afford to be using water for cooling these data centers. A developer pulled a application for a data center in Indiantown and also one in Citrus County. Residents there are pushing for a one-year moratorium. It has begun to feel miserable living here when I see so much of the nature that makes this a place of beauty being destroyed. Now there is a proposal for 800 more acres to be stolen from us. There’s also a controversy in Fort Meade. Commissioners had approved the data center but are now subject to a recall election. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).