Hillsborough School Board will do the math

Materials have been posted for this afternoon's special Hillsborough County School Board meeting on the state budget, and they begin to tell a story.

Student enrollment is expected to increase by 1.5 percent, which translates to about 3,000 new students (no way of knowing how many will opt for charter schools).

Total state and local funding is expected to increase by slightly more than $41 million. This includes the money for all those new students.

But here is where things get dicey: Much of that money is earmarked for specific expenditures. Money for security, known as "safe schools" increases from $3.4 million to $9.9 million. Again, that comes out of the overall pot of money. There is also a new mental health allocation of $4.85 million. That replaces last year's "additional allocation" of $262,000.

As reported earlier, Hillsborough already was spending more on security than it was getting from the safe schools – about $13 million more. The additional $6.5 million this year in safe schools funding will not make the district whole if it has to put an armed officer in every elementary school. That requirement adds an estimated $10 million to the tab.

Total state and local funding is estimated at $1,582,726 this year, up from $1,541,424,631.

We hope to learn, through the board's 2:30 p.m. discussion, what adjustments the district plans to make.