Osceola County voters approve first-ever operational millage for schools

Osceola County voters delivered a major win for their local school district by approving a new property tax to fund teacher salaries, safety personnel, and student extracurricular programs. The vote marks the first-ever operational millage for Osceola County schools.District leaders say they turned to voters for help after years of budget cuts and growing financial uncertainty, including the potential passage of Amendment 3, which added further pressure.The Osceola County School District had already made deep cuts before the vote. Heather Kahoun, chair of the Osceola County School Board, described the financial strain leading up to the election.“Over the last two years specifically, we’ve made more than $20 million in cuts to our budget. We’ve dipped into our general fund pretty drastically,” Kahoun said. “We’ve really cut as much as we could. Osceola County would have had to get much leaner. That would have required us to cut more positions.”District leaders had projected a $100 milli