ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – After a decade marked by rapid expansion, Orange County Public Schools is hitting the brakes on building new campuses, a move driven by a notable dip in student enrollment projections.
OCPS has opened nearly 30 schools over the past 10 years to keep pace with Central Florida’s booming population. But now, district leaders say that growth is slowing, and so is the demand for new schools.
“We have some declining enrollment projections,” said Rory Salimbene, OCPS chief facilities officer. “That reduces the need for new schools. We don’t foresee a need for a new school after the ones that open in 2026 until 2030.”
According to the district, enrollment is expected to drop by more than 3,000 students next year. One major factor: Florida’s expanded school voucher program, which is shifting thousands of families toward private and home-schooling options.
“This has been the case for a few years,” Salimbene said. “As we look out 10 years, we’re projecting fewer schools than what we’ve had in the past. But we still have a very robust renovation program, we’re as busy as we’ve ever been.”
OCPS leaders emphasized that the pause in construction is not tied to funding challenges.
“This is based upon the need for the new schools. It has nothing to do with funding,” Salimbene added. “We have great support and we’re very appreciative of the support we get from Orange County taxpayers.”
The final three campuses currently in the pipeline include Luminary Elementary, set to open this August in Lake Nona, and two additional schools expected in 2026. No new campuses are planned until at least 2030.
Despite the slowdown, OCPS says it remains focused on long-term planning, especially in rapidly developing areas such as Lake Nona and Horizon West.
In a statement, a spokesperson said that while the district is only opening new schools whose processes began before 2031, there’s a list of facilities projects and responsibilities it seeks to complete in the meantime.
These include:
• The comprehensive renovations to 30 schools (schools that need to be upgraded and improved due to their ages)
• Capital renewals (smaller scale refreshes to the systems or physical campuses such as HVAC upgrades or painting) for most of the buildings in the district
• Classroom additions to three schools
• The repurposing of three campuses
• Planning, design and construction for the two new schools we have proposed to open in 2031, as well as planning and design work for the three schools we plan to open in 2032 and 2033
• Maintaining the buildings and grounds for the over 200 schools and buildings throughout OCPS
As you can see, new school construction is a small piece of the larger work done by the facilities team.
Andy Orrell, Facilities Communications senior manager at Orange County Public Schools (excerpt)