Editor’s note: This story, originally published Jan. 29, 2025, at 6:13 p.m., was updated Feb. 4, 2025, at 3:44 p.m., to correct that the proposed $298.7 million increase is the total increase from fiscal year 2025 to fiscal year 2026.
Margot Pendergast, a 15-year-old high school student, who communicates with assistive technology, does not attend a Montgomery County public school because the school district does not provide the support she needs, according to her father, Matt Pendergast.
So Margot knew exactly what she wanted her father to share with Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Superintendent Thomas Taylor during Tuesday night’s community session on his proposed $3.61 billion budget: She needs a one-to-one aide.
“[An aide is] the difference between being able to be in the school building and being locked out because of your disability,” Matt Pendergast told Taylor during the session at Burtonsville’s Paint Branch High School.
The community session on the proposed budget, one of three held by the district to explain the plan and hear from the public, highlighted concerns about special education, as well as questions about programming. The remaining community budget session is scheduled to be held virtually from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday.
Taylor’s proposed spending plan for fiscal year 2026, which begins July 1, represents a nearly 9% increase over current spending. According to a budget spreadsheet shared online by the district, Taylor is requesting $2.4 billion from the county, which is $291 million above the state-mandated maintenance of effort requirement. State law requires the county to provide the district with at least the same amount in local dollars from one year to the next. The maintenance of effort amount for fiscal year 2025 is about $2.1 billion.
The proposed $298.7 million increase from fiscal year 2025 to fiscal year 2026 comes in the wake of a difficult budget season in 2024 in which the county school board had to make significant cuts. The cuts were needed to close a spending gap after the County Council approved a fiscal year 2025 MCPS operating budget that was $30.5 million less in spending than the school board requested. The operating budget for fiscal year 2025, which ends June 30, is $3.32 billion.
Doubling down on special education staffing
Taylor is proposing the addition of 688 special education positions – at a cost of almost $46.7 million.
During Tuesday night’s session, an MCPS staff member said school communities are being “tested to the limit” by the shortage of paraeducators and confusing gray areas that make it difficult for families to find resources.
Taylor, who assumed the superintendent’s role in July, responded that he has discovered the experience of special education students and their families has been “not awesome.”
“I have not been able in the last seven months to go to a single conversation with anyone, public or private, where special education has not been a major feature of the conversation,” he said. “The reason for that is because of just what we’ve been talking about tonight — that there’s limitations to services, there’s lack of financial support, there’s lack of physical support.”
Taylor said that of the 688 proposed positions, 500 would be paraprofessionals and about 360 of those paraprofessionals would be one-on-one aides.
Taylor told the Pendergast family, which included Margot’s siblings Evelyn and Kasey, that he hoped the budget was “representative of a historic investment in special education services.”
Evelyn and Kasey Pendergast, who attend Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, advocated for wider accessibility of assistive communication technology and funding for ADA compliance during the session.
“The sad reality is that this is just the beginning, and that there’s much, much more that we need to do to improve things in the classroom environment,” Taylor said.
Seeking equity in programming
Other students asked Taylor how he planned to bring more equity to school programming across the district. One Blair student said in that eighth grade, she applied to multiple magnet programs offered at county high schools, including those at Blair and Poolesville High, and is now attending a program at Blair.
Some of her friends’ lives followed “not very good paths” because they weren’t able to access better programs due to issues such as lack of transportation.
“I was given an opportunity, but in actuality, it’s not an opportunity that is fair,” the student said.
Taylor noted MCPS is spending $250,000 to study programs within the district, related to the expected fall 2027 opening of Crown High School in Gaithersburg, reopening of Charles W. Woodward High School in Rockville and an expansion of Damascus High School.
“It’s a perfect opportunity for us to rethink what programs are offered … who has access to what, and to make sure that every student has access to things that that you’re interested in,” Taylor said. “Although we have lots of great programs all over the place, there are some, I would say, programmatic deserts for high-performing programs. … We want to make sure that there are no deserts in the county — that everyone has great access to everything.”