Operating Budget Reflects $30 Million in Reductions to Meet Operating Costs

Today, the Montgomery County Board of Education adopted a $3.32 billion operating budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, an increase of $147 million or 4.6 percent over the prior year. Although the adopted budget allows Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) to maintain a high-quality teaching and learning environment with highly qualified employees, it reflects a $30 million reduction for a same-services budget as FY 2024.

The FY 2025 operating budget was developed to maintain the same level of services and operations as the current FY 2024 school year without introducing new initiatives. It also involved moving important resources and services from the discontinued federal emergency funding known as the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) grant to the general operating budget.

Investment Highlights
Next year's budget maintains essential services while including investments in key areas to ensure continued progress and improvement.

• Additional funding for special education. This budget proposes an additional $13.5 million to support our special education requirements.
• Maintaining student mental health supports.
• Implementing the Core Knowledge Language Arts curriculum, a new elementary literacy curriculum.
• Additional funding for the Community Schools program will increase the number of these types of schools from 34-53.
• Ensuring the two-year negotiated salary agreements between MCPS and its employee associations are continued.

Reductions
The FY 2025 Operating Budget approved today also includes reductions totaling $30,592,295. These cutbacks were realized through:

• Increasing class size guidelines by one student in K-12 classes. This is a reduction of 122.7 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, which are expected to be realized through retirements and other vacancies. 
• Reduction of 0.4 FTE staff development teachers in middle and high schools.
• Reducing contractual services across the district. 
• Eliminating 20 central services positions from all employee groups. When combined with the superintendent’s proposed budget reductions from December of 2024, the total reduction in central services is nearly $18 million and 95 positions.
• Eliminating the Montgomery Virtual Academy.
• Eliminating the FY 2025 accelerator for musical instrument repair.
• Delaying the expansion of the pre-kindergarten program until, at least, the 2025-2026 school year. One school, Stonegate Elementary will continue to implement an expanded program in FY 2025 based on a grant received in FY 2024.

"This budget does not include everything we would like, but what it does include is critically important," said Karla Silvestre, Board of Education President. "We are supporting teaching and learning with investments in well-being so students are ready to learn, curriculum that builds key literacy skills, and salaries and benefits for our hard-working staff."

“We thank the Board of Education for the collaborative work on the operating budget for next school year,” said Interim Superintendent Dr. Monique Felder.  “Despite reductions, this budget preserves the services and supports that our students and staff need right now.” 

Resources:

• MCPS Superintendent’s Fiscal Year 2025 Operating Budget memorandum to the Board of Education.