A County Council committee on Thursday supported a funding plan that would add nearly $30 million more to the public school system’s budget over what was recommended in March by the county executive.
Last month the council and school board announced a plan to fully fund the school system’s requested budget of $2.6 billion, which was short about $14.5 million in the county executive’s proposed budget.
County leaders identified about $5 million that would come from increased savings associated with a state bill that takes the burden off county agencies to support the state’s 911 operations, but didn’t disclose where the remaining $9.5 million would come from.
The picture became clearer during a council committee meeting Thursday, where members detailed a plan to not only fully fund the school system budget, but provide an additional $16 million.
“It truly takes a village and this village is what came through to give us what we have before us today,” Education and Culture Committee Chairman Craig Rice said. “We’ve accomplished a lot when we see what has come about here.”
The school system’s budget will total about $2.68 billion, more than half of the county’s overall budget.
The lions share of additional funding will come from the state and depends on the governor signing into law legislation spawned from the Kirwan Commission, a group that studied ways to improve Maryland schools. The legislation would provide $24.4 million for county schools in fiscal 2020.
“If the full amount is not approved by the Governor, the Council and the Board will need to revisit these proposed changes,” according to council documents, but council staff said they expect the legislation to be signed into law.
The legislation mandates how the additional funding must be used, including for special education services, to assist low-income students, provide mental health resources and increase teacher salaries.
“We’re not the 14th largest school district in the nation for nothing. We’re always putting schools and students first, and this is certainly a student and school-focused budget,” Board of Education President Shebra Evans told the Council committee. “We appreciate you all knowing the importance of the public education budget.”
Caitlynn Peetz can be reached at caitlynn.peetz@moco360.media
