ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – St. Johns County Schools Superintendent Dr. Brennan Asplen is wrapping up his first year on the job with a district grade he’s proud of — and a budget fight he didn’t see coming.
Asplen spoke with News4Jax about the challenges and wins of his debut year, a projected $23 million budget deficit heading into next school year, and a public dispute with Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas over allegations Asplen flatly denies.
A district that grades itself an A
When asked what grade he would give himself, Asplen deflected — but he had no hesitation grading his district.
“I don’t want to grade myself,” Asplen said. “You’d have to talk to some of my colleagues about that. I think the grade I give our district is absolutely an A.”
That A-grade standing is nothing new for St. Johns County Schools. Asplen said the district has held that top designation every year since 2004 and expects to maintain it this year.
He also pointed to several wins in year one: expanded pre-K enrollment, growth to 30 career academies across eight high schools, and promising midterm test score data.
“Our students are doing very, very well,” Asplen said. “Our teachers, same. They’re fantastic. And we’ll finish out the year strong.”
Budget cuts loom heading into next year
The biggest challenge Asplen faced when he took over last summer was financial. He said the district discovered a $3.5 million shortfall early on.
“Right at the beginning of July, we found that we were gonna be three and a half million dollars short,” Asplen said. “So the first thing I had to do is cut 4.5 million dollars out of the district office.”
That was round one. Asplen is now projecting a $23 million deficit for the upcoming school year. To close the gap, the district plans to consolidate several schools, reduce leases and portable classrooms, and cut approximately 130 teaching positions and 20 district office positions.
Asplen attributes the shortfall to the growing use of school vouchers, which he says diverts state funding away from public schools and toward charter schools, private schools, home schools, and micro schools.
“Now instead of just the public schools having their hand in the cookie jar, it’s public schools, charter schools, private schools, home schools, micro schools — everybody has their hand in the same cookie jar taking the dollars,” Asplen said.
Commissioner’s public letter draws sharp response
The budget situation put Asplen at the center of a public dispute with Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas. At the end of April, Kamoutsas posted a letter on X directed at Asplen, citing complaints from teachers who claimed he urged them to speak out against the state’s scholarship program and encouraged them to vote legislators out of office.
Asplen said the allegations are false and that he was never contacted before the letter went public.
“I received no call about any situation from him and so I was kind of surprised or taken back by it,” Asplen said. “And I still haven’t heard from him. I have not heard one thing from Tallahassee about that.”
Asplen said his conversations with staff about the budget were about transparency, not politics.
“Absolutely false,” Asplen said of Kamoutsas’ claims. “What I’ve been doing is basically going to our faculty and going to anyone who invites me in the community to explain how the taxpayer dollars are being used and why we are $23 million in the hole.”
Asplen said he has encouraged anyone — employees, residents, taxpayers — who wants to make their opinion known to contact their local legislative delegation, the same avenue available to any citizen.
“At no point did I ever say or tell anybody how they should vote for anyone,” he said. “I never singled out anyone, and I never told anyone how to vote for or against anyone.”
Asplen said he wishes Kamoutsas had called him before posting the letter publicly. Despite the dispute, he said he holds no ill will and plans to stay focused on solving the district’s budget challenges heading into next year.