SB 2514-E makes two changes to Florida education law. First, it amends the New Worlds Scholarship Accounts program so that a student’s account must be closed and any remaining funds returned to the state after a finding of fraud or abuse, or after one consecutive fiscal year of inactivity, replacing the bill text’s earlier fixed date language. Second, it creates a new “declining enrollment supplement” within the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) for school districts that lose unweighted full-time equivalent (FTE) students from one year to the next.
Under the new supplement, the decline percentage, as set in the General Appropriations Act, would be multiplied by the current-year FEFP base amount and added to the district’s allocation. The bill also requires fiscally constrained districts to receive a larger percentage calculation than non-fiscally constrained districts, giving those districts a more favorable adjustment when enrollment falls. The act would take effect July 1, 2026.
The bill would amend sections 1002.411 and 1011.62, Florida Statutes. It would tighten the conditions under which unused New Worlds Scholarship Account funds revert to the state and add a new funding mechanism for school districts experiencing enrollment declines. In practice, it would affect scholarship account holders, the Florida Department of Education, and local school districts—especially fiscally constrained districts—by changing how unused scholarship balances are handled and how state operating funds are calculated for districts with shrinking student counts.
The available context suggests the bill was treated as a budget/education funding measure rather than a highly controversial policy proposal. There are no committee transcripts or recorded votes provided, and the bill ultimately died in conference committee even though a companion measure passed. That outcome suggests the underlying ideas may have had some support, but the specific vehicle did not advance to final enactment.
The main policy issue appears to be the distribution of state education dollars in response to declining enrollment, particularly the requirement that fiscally constrained districts receive a higher supplement than other districts. That feature could draw interest from districts facing budget pressure and concern from districts that do not receive the enhanced calculation. A secondary point is the scholarship-account provision, which narrows when unused funds must be returned to the state; this is likely less contentious than the funding formula but still affects program administration and account holders.