The Montgomery County school board on Tuesday tentatively approved a $3.65 billion operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year — adding nearly $37 million to Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Superintendent Thomas Taylor’s initial proposal.
The unanimously approved budget reflects an increase of $36.7 million from Taylor’s proposed budget but a reduced request for county funding. The change is in large part due to anticipated additional state funding that comes with mandated spending to meet state requirements.
The tentatively approved proposal now goes to County Executive Marc Elrich, who will review it while preparing his proposed fiscal year 2026 county operating budget, including MCPS spending, that he will release in March. The board’s tentative approval follows several work sessions, public hearings and community meetings on Taylor’s proposed spending plan during which community members focused mainly on a call for decreasing class sizes.
“It is unfortunate that we don’t get to fund everything we would like to fund, but we are definitely doing the best that we can with what we hope to give,” board member Brenda Wolff (Dost. 5) said before the vote.
Taylor presented his proposed spending plan for fiscal year 2026, which begins July 1, in December, describing it as an attempt to provide the district with “long-term stability.”
His recommendation 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, an increase of $284.9 million from fiscal year 2025. Tuesday’s amended budget proposal asks for $283.9 million from the county, or about $991,000 less than what Taylor initially requested.
That decrease is reflective of additional funds the district is expecting from the state, which will also include the additional spending requirements. Those requirements include implementing mandates under the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, the state’s 2021 landmark education reform law. According to Tuesday’s presentation to the school board, the district increased the amount of its expected state aid from $11.5 million to $49.3 million in its budget proposal.
The tentatively approved budget also includes a $1.18 million trim recommended by the school board at its Jan. 30 budget work session, including cutting funding for renaming Col. Zadok Magruder High School in Rockville, a social-emotional learning specialist and central office professional development.
The board’s budget amendments approved Tuesday also include adding the additional funds to meet state requirements, which include spending $20.8 million to implement the state’s proposal to shift pension costs from the state to local governments, for a total of $36.7 million added to Taylor’s $3.61 billion budget.
The proposed $300 million total increase in MCPS spending 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 spending 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.
The additional $300 million would help pay for spending that includes an expected 3.25% base salary increase for staff and the proposed addition of 688 special education positions. Other proposed expenditures include $5.47 million for an equity addition to the school material funding formula.
Board member Karla Silvestre noted that fixed costs such as staff salaries and benefits make up nearly 90% of the MCPS budget.
“There isn’t a whole lot of other dollars that can be utilized to cover all the increasing demands of our school system,” Silvestre said.
