The Montgomery County Board of Education on Thursday night unanimously adopted a $3.35 billion tentative operating budget for the coming fiscal year for county public schools that secures funding for the Montgomery Virtual Academy and includes several positions originally slated for elimination.
The budget proposal for fiscal year 2025, based on an amended plan submitted by Montgomery County Public Schools officials, includes $38 million in state funding plus revenue expected from a class action suit with the vape company, Juul. The amended budget stands at $3.353 billion, showing a $188 million increase, or 5.94%, over current spending.
In December, a $3.32 billion budget proposal was unveiled by former Superintendent Monifa McKnight, who resigned earlier this month in the wake of a controversy over sexual harassment allegations against a former principal. That proposal represented an increase of 5%, or $157 million, more than the current budget.
MCPS officials have said that calculating the budget was particularly challenging this year because the district is reaching the end of federal funding provided during the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding priorities included continuing academic recovery from the pandemic period, providing support for social-emotional initiatives for students and dealing with the high costs of goods and services from inflation.
The board adopted its tentative spending plan after listening to testimony from students, parents, teachers, MCPS staff, advocates and community members during three public hearings held since January.
Tuesday’s final hearing focused on gathering input on three programs that the board was reconsidering in its funding proposal: the Innovative School initiative, a program that increases the annual number of instructional days from 180 to 210; Montgomery Virtual Academy, the district’s online schooling program; and the Leader In Me program, a social-emotional learning curriculum, which was initially eliminated from McKnight’s recommended budget.
The school board is expected to send its tentative budget plan to County Executive Marc Elrich and the County Council for consideration by March 1. Elrich is expected to announce his recommended FY 2025 county budget on March 15. The County Council then will vote on the county budget in late May and the school board will vote to adopt its operating budget June 6. The next fiscal year begins July 1.
Here are the adjustments recommended by the board under the spending plan:
Roscoe R. Nix Elementary School will no longer be an Innovative School
The board decided to move Roscoe R. Nix Elementary School in Silver Spring from the innovative school year calendar to a traditional calendar. According to the amendment, Arcola Elementary School in Silver Spring will continue as part of the Innovative School program for another year.
The district’s Innovative Schools initiative began in the 2019-2020 school year with Roscoe Nix and Arcola elementary schools. The program adds 30 days to the traditional school year calendar with an earlier start to the year. The goal of the program is to reduce summer learning loss and jump-start the school year.
“We have heard from the community and staff that this innovative calendar has created strains for this school community. In particular, because Roscoe’s sister school, Cresthaven [Elementary School in Silver Spring] adheres to the traditional calendar,” board President Karla Silvestre said.
Roscoe Nix Elementary serves students from pre-K to second grade. Students later move on to their “sister school” Cresthaven to complete grades three to five. The difference in school year calendars was difficult for some families in the community who had children in both schools, especially when it came to planning summer break.
Board members also assured that the school will have a Title I summer program available to the Roscoe Nix community the following summer and would continue to monitor the efficacy of the program at Arcola.
Roscoe Nix parents have been outspoken about their less-than-ideal experience with the innovative school year calendar due to student and teacher burnout and student achievement data that showed no significant impacts in a longer school year. Arcola Elementary parents defended the program and its benefits for their community of low-income and working-class parents. Both are Title I schools, which are identified for federal funding due to a high level of students coming from low-income households.
The removal of Roscoe Nix from the program amounts to a reduction of $997,077.
Continue to offer the Montgomery Virtual Academy (MVA)
The board recommended that the district fund the full program in response to community reaction to the potential elimination of the program. A petition urging the board and MCPS to continue funding the program garnered more than 2,000 signatures as well as video messages of support from students who attend the academy.
Funding of the program in the fiscal 2025 is projected to cost approximately $4.26 million.
The academy is a personalized virtual learning program serving first through 12th grade. The program was created during the pandemic but has since been an option for students with special needs, learning differences and medical conditions as well as those looking to learn without distractions or bullying. Students must apply to be admitted to the academy.
Board members asked MCPS administrators to continue to analyze the academy’s elementary school offerings with the intent of eventually phasing them out. They also asked the district to continue to examine the secondary school portion of the academy.
The virtual academy is “a setting that allows our families and our students to have an option that for some, the traditional setting is just not what they’re comfortable with. And then for others, they may have some medical reasons,” board member Shebra Evans (Dist. 4) said.
Reinstating positions originally recommended for elimination
The restored positions include one instructional specialist position in the Department of Special Education K-12 Program and Services, a manager and a specialist for the Career Pathways program, one consulting teacher in the Office of Human Resources and Development (OHRD), one counseling coordinator in the Office of Student Support and Well-Being, and one media service technician to support arts programs at A. Mario Loiederman Middle School in Silver Spring.
The district’s Department of Talent Acquisition faced more than $338,000 in spending cuts in MCPS’s initial operating budget proposal, eliminating one pathways manager position and one program specialist for the Career Pathways program.
The Career Pathways program supports SEIU Local 500 members with career development and training and connects employees with educational certificates and higher education opportunities.
Kirby Rowe, a special education teacher at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, testified at a board budget hearing that the program helped him transition from a school support role to his current job. “I could not image making this career change alone,” Rowe told the board.
Addition of a senior certification specialist position within OHRD
The specialist’s role would be to strengthen oversight and ensure the district can continue to deliver on its public commitment to stronger accountability, according to the board.
The addition and restoration of positions totals $974,380.
Other key changes in the budget as of Thursday’s board meeting include:
- A $28.1 million increase in state aid from Gov. Wes Moore’s (D) proposed fiscal 2025 state budget to be spent on initiatives focused on implementing the Blueprint for Maryland’s future.
- McKnight’s proposal initially estimated that MCPS would receive about $10 million. According to school officials, $5 million of the additional state aid is restricted for Community Schools – schools that have been established as community hubs that provide students and families with wraparound services, according to MCPS. An additional $20 million will be added to the Employee Benefits Trust Fund.
- $1.2 million from a settlement from a Juul legal case. MCPS officials said the money would pay for vaping education and prevention programs, seven additional security guards and temporary part-time funding, and maintenance of vape detectors;
- Restoration of an instructional specialist position for emergent multilingual learners, one of the school system’s fastest growing populations; and
- The addition of $4.4 million in school bus camera revenue collected by the county.