Soon. This is chairwoman jane lichter. I call to order the meeting of the board of
education of baltimore county for tuesday, january 13th, 2026.
this evening's board of education meeting is being broadcast through the bcps
online live meeting broadcast and on bcps tv, comcast
xfinity, channel 1 0 7 3 and verizon fios, channel 34.
in order to efficiently conduct this meeting, all voting items this evening will be done by
roll call vote. May I have a motion to go into the closed session
as permitted by the open meetings act as found in the annotated code of
maryland general provisions article three dash 3 0 5
b one b seven and b eight to discuss the appointment,
employment assignment, promotion, discipline, demotion, compensation,
removal, resignation or performance evaluation of appointees,
employees or officials over whom it has jurisdiction or any other
personnel matter that affects one or more specific individuals. Consult
with counsel to obtain legal advice and consult with staff, consultants
or other individuals about pending or potential litigation.
so moves leski. Thank you. Is there a second? Second
doki. Thank you. May I have a roll call vote please. Ms. He?
yes. Ms. Fong.
ms. Harvey? Yes. Ms. Abe?
yes. Ms. Leski? Yes.
dr. Savoy? Yes. Mr. Mcmillian? Yes.
ms. Poey. Mr. Young?
yes. Ms. Doki? Yes. Ms. Lichter? Yes.
thank you. Thank you.
good evening. This is chairwoman jane lichter. I now call to order the
meeting of the board of education of baltimore county for tuesday, january 13th, 2026.
I invite you to recite the pledge of allegiance to the flag to be led by ms. Foresight onga.
we'll then have a moment of silence and recognition of those who have served education
in baltimore county,
ance to the flag of the united states of america and to
the republic for which it stands, one nation under god,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
thank you. Tonight's board of education
meeting is being broadcast through the bcps online live meeting broadcast
and on bcps tv, xfinity channel 1 0 7 3
and verizon fios, channel 34. In order to efficiently conduct
this meeting, all voting items this evening will be done by roll call vote.
the first item on the agenda is the consideration of the january 13th agenda.
are there any additions or changes to tonight's agenda, mr. Young?
yes. Mr. Lichter. I move to add contract rbe dash 8 0 2
dash 26 edgemere elementary school deed of easement to
the, to the agenda as item l 24. Thank you.
is there a second? Second eski. Thank you. Is there any discussion?
may I have a roll call? Vote please. Ms. Hem? Yes.
ms. Harvey? Yes. Ms. Oobe?
yes. Ms. Leski? Yes. Dr. Savoy?
yes. Mr. Mcmillian? Yes. Ms. Humphrey? Yes. Mr. Young?
yes. Ms. Doki? Yes. Ms. Lichter? Yes. Thank you. Thank
you. The revised agenda is approved
and the agenda stands as now presented
earlier this evening. The board met enclosed session pursuant to the open meetings act for
the following reasons to discuss the appointment, employment assignment,
promotion, discipline, demotion, compensation, removal, resignation
or performance evaluation of appointees, employees or officials over
whom it has jurisdiction or any other personnel matter that affects one or more
specific individuals. Consult with counsel to obtain legal advice
and consult with staff, consultants or other individuals about pending or potential
litigation. The closed session summary and the open session information summary
can be found on board docs under the board meeting agenda date.
the next item on the agenda is personnel matters, and for that I call on mr. Mccall.
good evening. Good evening. Chair, ter, vice chair, harvey, superintendent, dr. Rogers
and member board. I'd like the board's consent for the following
personnel matters. Tonight we have retirements, resignations,
leaves, and educator licensure appointments.
thank you. Do I have a motion to approve the personnel matters as presented in exhibits
d one through d four? So move
young. Thank you. Do I have a second? Second, harvey.
thank you. Any discussion?
may I have a roll call vote please. Ms. He? Yes.
ms. Harvey? Yes. Ms. Oobe? Yes.
mr. Luki? Yes. Dr. Savoy? Yes. Mr. Mcmillian?
yes. Ms. Ey? Yes. Mr. Young? Yes. Mr. Romanowski? Yes.
ms. Ter? Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Our
next item is public comment. This is one of the opportunities the board provides to hear
the views and receive the advice of community members. If not selected to address
the board, members of the public may submit their comments to the board members
via email@boeatbcps.org. The baltimore
county police department's homeland security unit and office of school safety
has recommended safety and security protocols, which are posted in
the boardroom and available in board docs and on the board's participation
by the public website. While we encourage public input on policy programs
and practices within the purview of this board and this school system, this
is not the proper form to address specific student or employee matters or
to comment on matters that do not relate to public education in baltimore county.
inappropriate personal remarks or other behaviors such as language that promotes
violence against a-b-c-p-s employee or that disrupts or interferes with
the conduct of this meeting are out of order and will not be tolerated. Persons
who otherwise disrupt or disturb this meeting will not be allowed to continue their remarks and
will be escorted from the meeting. Please observe the three minute clock, which will let you know when
your time is up. The microphone will be turned off at the end of your time or prior to the time
at the discretion of the board chair.
at this time, we will start with school system affiliated groups and our
speaker is ms. Leslie weber from our pta council of baltimore,
and I believe she is virtual. Ms. Weber.
yes, I'm here. Can you hear me? Hi. Yes. Good evening. Thank
you. Good evening, chair lichter, vice chair harvey board of education members
and dr. Rogers. I'm leslie weber, president of the pta council of
baltimore county, a county council public hearing featuring testimony
on ice and two bills to support and protect. Our immigrant mixed status community
is taking place tonight, the chair of our justice equity, diversity
and inclusion committee, edwin perez, who often testifies before the board
of education registered to speak on behalf of pta council
bill 97 25 would establish the office of immigrant affairs
and a permanent chief of immigrant affairs bill 98 25.
the trust act would ensure that county employees and police focus on public safety
rather than civil immigration status. National pta recognizes
that the separation of children from their families or the looming threat of it creates
toxic stress and trauma that cause lifelong harm to a child's
brain development. Many of us are aware that a number of bcps parents
fear sending their children to school, which is a tragedy. These bills
are about dignity, safety, and equity. They ensure that baltimore county is a place where
every student, regardless of their family status, can reach their full potential.
national pta's position, rights and services for children in immigrants
and mixed status families asserts that all children have the right to a quality
education. Adequate food and healthcare national pta
recently shared important know your rights resources with members. These were
resources from the national immigration law center and center for law and social
policy, explained the rights of parents and caregivers who are being apprehended
and detained resources from the immigrant family mental health
advocacy program at the institute for juvenile research. Detail how
families can talk to their children about what's happening with immigration enforcement.
as noted in the national pta information shared with members, national
pta urges everyone to take action to support policies, the support of safe and
supportive school environment for all families and students, including students
in immigrant and mixed status families. We're happy to share national pta's
position and resource resources with anyone. Thank you. Thank you,
ms. Weber. Our next category are our unions, and
our first speaker is mr. Billy burke from case who is
also virtual. Good evening chair,
mrs. Lichter, members of the board and superintendent dr. Rogers. Thank
you for the opportunity to speak to you on behalf of case. I want to begin
by acknowledging the shared gravity of this moment. We are under no illusions
regarding the fiscal climate facing our county. We recognize that
the budget before you requires making the impossible choices that define
leadership cases always sought to be a partner in these difficult
conversations. In fact, just last year, our members stood in
solidarity with the system by signing a memorandum of understanding
to delay pay increases until january. We did that with one
goal in mind to protect the positions and livelihoods of our case
members and to prevent the very cuts we are discussing tonight.
however, as we look at the fy 27 cost saving budget,
we must be honest about the human cost of these efficiencies.
the proposal to reduce 524.6 positions, including
over 324 due to staffing formula changes, 40
assistant principals positions and 36 central office
positions reaches deep into the heart of our school communities. While
these are presented as fiscal adjustments, they will be felt as service adjustments
by the most important clients. We serve our students. When
these cuts take effect, the environment changes. Fewer staff members will
be available for the critical supervision of students at the car lines and in the hallways
during arrival and dismissal. We must also acknowledge that 36
central office positions being cut represent a loss of the vital expert
backbone of our district. These individuals provide the specialized curriculum
support, legal compliance and operational logistics that allow,
that allow our school-based administrators to focus on their buildings.
some case members were called to hr meetings today. I can only assume the
reassignments have begun. When central offices thinned, the administrative
burden inevitably shifts back to our principals and aps
reducing 40 assistant principals place as places an immense burden
on the remaining administrators who are already working at capacity to
ensure safety and instructional excellence. Beyond the logistics, our
administrators will spend the coming months as the primary support system
for teachers and staff entering the priority transfer process
to mitigate the instability of the this, that this causes
cases making a formal request to the board tonight, as assistant principals
and central office case members are reassigned dues to these cuts,
we request that no new hires either internal or external
be made until every single impacted case member has been
placed in either a promotional or lateral position. We must prioritize
the talent and dedication of those already serving bcps
before looking elsewhere. We acknowledge that the cuts are unavoidable.
however, we advocate tonight for the members of case who will bear the brunt
of these reductions we proved last year through our mou there
that we are willing to sacrifice to save jobs. Thank you
for your time and your partnership. Thank you mr. Burke.
our next speaker for unions is ms. Kelly olds from tabco.
good evening. Good evening. Thank you. Chair
lichter, vice chair harvey, dr. Rogers and members of the board for the opportunity
to speak tonight. I want to acknowledge and appreciate that the
budget presented yesterday includes the funding for the third year of our bilateral wage agreement.
I particularly appreciate treating our bilateral wage agreements as fixed
costs. We agreed to a three year contract so we could spend time
focusing efforts on initiatives that advance students, educators, and schools
away from the bar, and that is where we turn our attention
now. These cuts are too deep. We are
concerned they will be detrimental to the gains our educators have helped win
with our students. We must work together to curb
their scope, size, and impact. The reason I say we are concerned
about these cuts instead of something more definitive is because we also
call for additional transparency around these cuts. To have the
public discussion about cuts and losses, the public needs to know fully
what is planned. The more the public, including our county
leaders at the courthouse in towson, understand what could be lost. The more we
can together work to increase county funding to reduce the potential harms
that would fall upon our students. In my 22 years at lans
zone high school, we had years with large cuts, painful
cuts to our faculty. The years after those cuts,
morale was impacted. Students lost access to the adults and resources
they needed. Class sizes grew to sometimes unmanageable numbers,
which brought all the negative results of students having less access to
caring adults working with them.
sorry, I have to turn the page. It's got stuck. . It limited
educators to work in small groups. It limited educator's ability
to work in small groups with learners and reduced the individual attention. That can
be the true catalyst for learning. I've also seen when
former students come back to the school to see a beloved educator that is particularly
heartbreaking when they find out that they have been transferred because of cuts.
it reduces community continuity and works against the, and
works against the gains in cultures outta school. All of
this is to say the work now is to reduce the size of these cuts.
I've said it here before I've said it to any of you that I've
met with and I will say it again. Now let's work together
transparently with our cards on the table to call for more
than 2% over maintenance of effort at the budget budget release
event. Yesterday, dr. Rogers talked about the loss of over 2000
students from our system. We share the concern with student loss
and firmly believe that we must maintain resources in our schools to
continue to make baltimore county public schools the best place to educate children in this county.
thank you, . Thank you, . Our next
category are nonprofit community groups, and our first speaker is marietta english from
the baltimore county naacp cp.
good evening. Good evening.
good evening. Chair lecter, vice chair harvey, board members and superintendent
rogers. My name is marietta english and I'm chair of axo
and the education committee for the baltimore county branch of the
naacp. The baltimore county branch of the naacp
represents the entire county and our membership is far and wide
and I'm happy to be back after suffering from a fall and
the flu. If you notice, I haven't been here, so I'm happy to be here to speak with you today.
I would like to commend dr. Rogers and the staff of bcps on
having high schools in the top 50 in the state, including pikesville
where my granddaughter attends and will be graduating in may.
and this is a great accomplishment for baltimore county public schools.
I would like to commend dr. Rogers and the board and on the presentation
of the budget yesterday. The accomplishments of baltimore county
are outstanding. You have managed to do a lot with a little bit.
I was happy to see that the labor agreements will be met. This
is huge in the current environment. I know it was difficult,
but your inclusions of all the stakeholders holders as you
develop this budget is to be commended. I also said as
on some of the committees as a, as we, what our
budget priorities would be. We don't always get what we want.
however, we have essentials that will help us as we move forward.
we will be supporting you in annapolis as we fight for more funding
for our schools. We want to continue the growth of our students.
what you have accomplished with just a little is amazing.
I wanna, again, thank you for your support of axo. I'm sure that
our students in axo who participate are enriched
by their experiences in the schools and help us move forward.
I look forward to working with you, superintendent rogers and
the board as we move forward. Thank you. Thank you. We're
glad you're feeling better. Thank you. Our next speaker is jacob
gerding from the maryland association of school librarians and also virtual
mr. Gerding. Um, good evening, uh, members of
the board and superintendent rogers. My name is jacob
gerding. I am the president of act as well as the
advocacy chair for the maryland association of school. Librarians.
maslow's submission is to ensure every maryland student has equitable
access to a high quality school library program
while being teachers of record for up to two classes a day
is less than ideal. We appreciate that bcps has worked
to retain secondary library positions in this budget.
the blueprint for maryland's future requires a total transformation
of our secondary schools to ensure college and career readiness.
a central strategy in the bcps blueprint implementation plan
is the integration of project based learning. Pbl
cannot succeed in a vacuum. It requires an instructional
engine, a specialist who can collaborate across departments
to teach students how to construct meme from complex research.
a secondary librarian is that engine. When
a librarian is, um, a teacher of record,
you shut down the pbl hub for an entire school building
during those hours. We recognize in this
moment the immense staffing pressures facing bcps.
we understand that in, in a fiscal crisis,
scheduling a librarian to teach two classes a day is a
necessary compromise. However, mazel must
be clear this is not an ideal solution and
going forward, it should not become a long term
strategy. By making librarians teachers of record,
you add the administrative weight of grade testing and conferences to
a specialist who is already tasked with managing a school-wide digital
collection and maintaining compliance with the freedom to read act.
mazel urges the board to commit to a sunset for this strategy and
to protect the flexible scheduling that makes secondary libraries work.
do not avail a premier district to create library
deserts in our middle and high schools. That's ensured that
the blueprint for maryland's future remains a plan for student excellence
with flexibly scheduled librarians and programs,
uh, that by certified librarians they have proven records
for improving student achievement. Thank you. Thank
you. Our next category are individual
citizens or students, and our first speaker is sharon soff.
good evening. Good evening. I hope you can hear me with
this on because I don't wanna spread what I have. Um,
I'm sharon soff, um, and I am a special education
advocate that's been working with this county for over 20 years.
um, and I saw a headline this
morning that greatly concerned me about
increasing class size to 25 students per teacher.
I deal with teachers and administrators and department
of special ed on a daily basis and one of the things that
comes up a lot is class size
came up this morning at a meeting where a concerned parent was saying,
well, what do I do? I have of
my child in a class of 26 kids and she's in
kindergarten. 26 kids in a kindergarten class
shouldn't be happening. But my other alternative
is take her off diploma track because
there isn't a lot of the in between.
we have to find a way to keep students in
smaller classes because our teachers are already
overburdened. They have fewer resources
and I can tell you how difficult it is to get
assistance, aides, paras, whatever you wanna call them, into
classrooms in baltimore county when they can make
more money in other districts.
you can't hand, you can't handle 25 kids in
a kindergarten class when you have ieps for
behavior for developmental disabilities. It's just
not a workable situation and I am
getting so many phone calls from parents with younger kids
this year that I am literally turning people away.
I cannot handle that kind of a caseload.
we know our special ed staff has been overburdened for a while.
we have fewer speech and language therapists, fewer special ed
teachers. We have to find a way to not
cut staff and to not increase class size
because the ones that are going to suffer the most are our students
and I'm already seeing it at the lowest grade level.
so I think that we should reconsider that class size.
thank you. Thank you. And we hope you feel
better too. Our next speaker is stacy nunn.
good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Chair lichter
to all board members and to dr. Um rogers superintendent, dr. Rogers.
my name is stacy nunn. I'm a library media specialist at southwest academy
who is enthusiastic and proud of this tireless work locally
and nationally. This evening I volunteered to speak for school
library media specialists in baltimore county as a unified voice
to affirm the critical instructional role of certified library media
specialists and the importance of our position. We've
all seen the breakdown of blue blueprint for maryland's future
and we are familiar with comar of course, but tonight
I am pointing out directly to baltimore county public schools,
um, policy 6,200. The board of education of
baltimore county recognizes that the school library media centers provide equitable
access to print and digital resources essential to 21st
century learning, um, teaching and learning throughout the district
school. Librarians uphold this policy daily by sustaining inclusive
resource rich learning environments that support both students and staff.
in alignment with the policy. Librarians collaborate and co-teach
with classroom teachers to integrate information literacy
research and technology skills and content area instruction. In
addition to these core responsibilities, librarians manage comprehensive
library programs that encompass collection development, digital
resource management, student access, instructional technology support,
and school-wide literacy initiatives. These duties are
foundational to student achievement and require specialized training
and certification. Collectively, baltimore county librarians
represent a significant instructional workforce. Our strength lies
in numbers. It also lies in our shared expertise and the consistent
impact of schools across the district. At the same time,
the scope of the responsibilities assigned to the librarians has expanded to
include teach the teaching of two additional courses outside of our certified content
area. As a result, library program data, including
instructional reach, collaboration and access metrics,
have been significantly impacted. Despite these measurable effects,
school librarians have met this challenge with professionalism, adaptability,
and continued commitment to students in schools. We raise these data
informed considerations to advocate for thoughtful alignment between policy,
practice and staffing while librarians continue to meet the expanded
expectations. Um, sustaining high quality instruction,
um, and equitable access at scale requires intentional support. In
addition to maintaining our positions, aligning workload and non certi
certificate instructional focus, we want to be reassured that
um, baltimore county school library
programs and
thank you. Our next speaker is
makita scott, who is virtual
ms. Scott. Yes. Hi, good evening. Can you hear me okay? Yes.
great. Good evening, chair lichter, vice chair harvey, members
of the board and superintendent rogers. Thank you for
the opportunity to speak this evening. I am here to follow up on the presentation
delivered to the equity committee and a letter I sent to the full board
regarding the equity council's recommendation for the fiscal year
2027 operating budget. These recommendations
are grounded in equity centered solutions that are essential
so that baltimore county public schools can create a system where all students
thrive. At the time of the presentation, the
supporting documentation was not available. It has since been uploaded to
board docs and I urge all board members to review it in full. The
recommendations reflect the collective work of the equity council, community
members, parents and educators whose lived experience and
professional expertise informed this process. This was thoughtful,
rigorous, work rooted in the real needs of our students and families. We look
forward to the full board's discussion on how these recommendations can be meaningfully
considered as part of the fiscal year 2027 budget.
our expectation is not simply acknowledgement but transparent
communication regarding feasibility next steps and timelines.
equity requires follow through and we remain committed to working in partnership
with the board to advance this work. I would also want like
to request an update regarding the board's required anti-bias
training for board members. Senate bill 2 93 requires due
to board of education members to complete anti-bias training at least once during
their term. This requirement took effect on july 1st, 2025.
at this time, we are requesting written communication from board leadership outlining
when this training will begin and when it will be completed. This is a matter of
both compliance and leadership. Finally, I'm requesting an update on the policy
introduced by ms. Ey at the prc committee meeting on april 1st, 2025,
drafted by tabco and casa. This policy was intended to provide clear
guidance to staff regarding parental consent for the release of information
and access to know your rights resources. If the board does not plan to
adopt this policy, we ask, uh, request a clear explanation
of that decision and information about what policy will be used in its place.
our schools and community really deserve clarity and consistency,
so we thank you for your service and your attention to these matters. And we
as the equity council, look forward to continued dialogue and concrete action in the
interest of equity, transparency and accountability team. Thank
you very much. Have a good evening. Thank you. Our next speaker
is ramona ba.
good evening. Good evening, good 2026.
I would say happy new year. Um, but based on everything that we've heard,
there's a lot of consternation, there are a lot of legitimate concerns, there are a lot of pain.
um, so I will say, um, good 2026 and we hope that it's
a better, a better year for everyone. Um, many
of you know me in my connection with the pta council. I come today wearing
my other hat and that's a volunteer coordinator and a
member of several national volunteer organizations, including americorps,
a former organization called the campus outreach opportunity league, the
corporate volunteer council of united way. I come in
support of policy number 1260
regarding volunteers and offer some, I don't know
if this is a time to do that 'cause I couldn't figure out the agenda. Um, but
to offer some suggestions and some feedback on how
we can look at volunteers in a new, especially in
light of the current staffing and budget situation. I've lived
long enough to know this is not new what we're going through, and I've
lived long enough to know that there's talent, there're volunteers,
and for some of my critics we're not saying have volunteers instead
of staff, teachers and workers. What we're saying is there's a
new look that we have to present on volunteers. First regarding
the policy. I would suggest that we include a statement about nonprofits
as a part of that. Secondly, the policy is written, focuses
almost entirely on training and what we are suggesting, what I'm
suggesting is that we include a statement that recognize the value
of volunteers from a youth
volunteer organization perspective. According to united states
sensors, volunteerism is rising.
um, 16 year olds and above are doing a lot of service.
75 million people are volunteering. The majority
of it comes from millennials. As we think about volunteerism,
let's have a policy and I would offer that we add a b that
will provide recognition for meaningful structured
student youth volunteer programs. And I would also
add a thank you and my c would be
to add a recognition component. And I'm using this as a very public opportunity
to say thank you because a couple of years ago I was
selected one of your volunteer champions. I hold that award out often.
my grandson says, why? I said, because it reminds me that
I'm not finished. So those are my suggestions. And in addition to implementation,
it says director, superintendent to implement the policy, excuse me,
address respiratory issues. Um, I would say add rule 20,
rule 1260 because if I'm looking at this the first time,
there are other opportunities for me to get more information.
thank you. We hope you feel better too.
our last speaker is, um, bs farone.
good evening. Good evening. Happy new year.
uh, happy for accomplishments, I hope.
um, please read my letter to you. I send my email. It's
lengthy. Um, I want to focus
on two points. I read,
uh, the good job that the, uh, uh,
the website has portrayed the students. So
a few days ago, basically the front page talks about
our students and what they accomplished
in the year 2025. And it's an interview
if you didn't see it with, uh, about 15 or maybe 20
students. So the first person
said, what accomplished in year 2025
said, learning music. The second student said,
I was accepted in college. That's great.
the third one said, I got a job. The fourth one said
I passed sat. The fifth
one said, I got rid of bad friends.
the sixth one said, I do not know.
the seventh one said, finally I can
make money. The f1 said, finally,
I can grow a goatee.
the next one said, I got a new car.
and the last one very impressive. I finally
made it to the end of the year.
so as an observer, it's a good job
done by the media department, but it really
shows the low bar that is set by the current
superintendent and the previous ones.
students portray that their aspirations
are low. Nobody said
anything about their accomplishment in
doing research or accepting accepted in hopkins
or university or research institution
or anything like that. You know, it's about making money. It's about
goatee music, et cetera. And I, I think if
you add that to the, um,
small amount of improvement
that the superintendent has made, which I talked about,
the system is not really set for progress.
thank you. I know three
minutes just flies by .
the next item on the agenda is the superintendent's report, and for that I call
on dr. Rogers. Thank you. Good evening,
chair lichter, vice chair harvey, and members of the board. Um, at
this time, the communications team has, uh, provided a
preview of the budget presentation. Um, all of you who are
familiar with team bcps know that we have been engaging in these conversations
around the fiscal climate for the last three years. Um,
and so we're gonna take a look back at some of the conversations that
we've had in the community, um, along with what our priorities
have been focused on our students. Thank you.
our systems key priorities and investments are all focused on moving bcps
forward. We know that implementation science tells us that it takes about
three years of investing in an infrastructure,
really focusing on professional development and implementation before
we start to see student progress move forward. We are fortunate,
uh, in bcps that it has not taken three years before we have started
to see progress in our students. Baltimore county public schools
has invested in early childhood education, high quality and diverse
teachers and leaders, college and career readiness opportunities for
students and more resources to ensure that all of our students are
successful. This will be another difficult budget cycle for our school
system and other leas across the state with the continued
expansion and implementation of the blueprint and probable
lower federal, state, and local revenue. For this
reason, we will ensure that our communities understand the differences between
the operating budget and the capital budget processes, know how our
funding is spent and accounted for, and understand how different roles
across team bcps directly impact the experiences
of our students. We have spent the last several months engaging our staff,
families, and stakeholders in conversations about the budget and priority areas
for our system. It is important to us that our community knows and understands
sources of bcps funding, how funding is spent, and
where they can find additional information. As we did with the last two budget cycles,
we will ensure that we give extra scrutiny to all budget submissions to help
identify potential savings that can be redirected to offset potential
shortfalls. Over the past two fiscal years, bcps
has made more than $168 million in reductions and eliminated
hundreds of positions to address budget shortfalls and including
69 supervisory level positions. I'll submit
a balanced proposed budget to the board of education for its review and deliberation.
some key things to note about the proposed budget, it will be aligned to the county
target of a 2% increase above what we receive in fy 26.
the proposed budget will include the full year three compensation package
for team bcps staff and to ensure that the budget is balanced and meets
the county target. It will also include additional reductions.
my commitment to you and to all of our employees is
unwavering. I wanna use this time to speak not only
to that commitment, but to reground us in what we
are all committed to, which are the 111,000 students that we
serve. My commitment to you is that I'm going to respond to
our students. I'm going to make sure that everything that we
do puts our students first, not only in
word, but indeed sustaining our forward progress will
require continued investment in the priority focus areas that we know
are working for our system. These investments will yield positive results,
not just for our system, but also for the county and the state.
next on the agenda is the chair's report, and welcome to our first board of education
meeting of 2026 and happy new year. I hope everyone had a restful winter break.
many thanks to tap go and e-s-p-b-c for organizing their annual
legislative breakfast at summit park elementary school this past saturday.
the event gives elected officials and board members an opportunity to hear and discuss
the efforts of team bcps focusing on successes as well as areas
needing improvement. I appreciate my fellow board of members and the many
elected officials who dedicated their saturday morning to attend, listen
and engage in conversation. Thanks as well to tapco and e-s-p-b-c
members who joined us. Your participation and insights are essential as
we work together to advance our system. I would also like to express
my appreciation for the opportunity I had to visit woodlawn middle school last
friday. As we initiate the fy 27 budget approval process,
it is essential to remain focused on our core purpose, our commitment to
improving student outcomes for all bcps students. Visiting classrooms
allowed us to watch and listen to teaching and learning. There was mutual respect
among staff and students. Notable examples of student leadership
and environment that was both safe and well organized. I'm very proud of the
work that is being done at woodlawn middle school under ms. Arch's leadership,
and I realized that we witnessed is not an anomaly, but rather an example of the
hard work our school leaders and staff are doing throughout bcps
on behalf of our students. This brings us to our budget. Shortly.
dr. Rogers will present the proposed fy 27 budget. I'd
like to thank her for assembling our school and system leadership team together yesterday
and providing a detailed overview of the proposed budget. Our presentation
offered valuable insight into the process and the
rationale behind the recommendations. I appreciate her commitment to presenting
a balanced budget while prioritizing full funding for our staff's compensation
packages. This reflects her ongoing discussions with our county executive,
specifically the percentage above maintenance of effort that the county executive has indicated
she would support achieving this funding priority. A full compensation
for staff requires careful adjustments in other budgetary areas.
the difficult decisions proposed have been informed by staff and community surveys.
dr. Rogers direct engagement with stakeholders across the county and
a research driven approach to budgetary reductions.
dr. Rogers, based on all information gathered, is putting forward a balanced budget
that reflects substantial input and thoughtful planning in a challenging fiscal
time. Though we are just at the start of the approval process,
I'd like to thank all those who contributed their feedback and to all of the staff
for the hard work that has been accomplished so far. While bcps has seen
notable progress over the past three years, more is needed for every
student to succeed. It's imperative that our budget decisions keep student
achievement at the forefront. Next on our agenda is our student
member of the board report. Good
evening board chair, mrs. Lichter, vice chair, mrs. Harvey, superintendent. Dr. Rogers
members of the board, staff families and bcps students.
the new year has started with momentum and collaboration across baltimore county public schools.
one of the most meaningful projects this month has been working last month has been working with our
office of school safety to develop a student centered psa explaining the il you guys
emergency response protocol. Ensuring that every student understands what to do in
an emergency is essential, and I'm grateful to be a part of contributing to a resource that will continue to support
school safety in all of our schools. I've also been working closely with
fellow board members to restructure and strengthen our area education advisory councils so they
better reflect the needs, identities, and voices of students and families they serve.
alongside this, I had the opportunity to attend the annual tapco and e-s-p-b-c
legislative breakfast where I heard directly from educators and legislators about
policy shaping our classrooms. I've also been recently recruiting students
for this year's student handbook review committee to ensure policy decisions remain grounded in
student experience. But the highlight of these past few months has undoubtedly been
the series of school visits. From conversations with administrators to listening
sessions with students, each visit offered something uniquely powerful. I heard about
activity buses expanding access to afterschool programs. I heard of pizzas with principals.
events that help rising sixth graders build early relationships with school leadership. And
I even heard about the inspiring learning and earning approach at general john stricker middle
school, where students are motivated to stay engaged, accountable, and supported. Across
the across the county. Principal advisory councils are thriving and it's encouraging to
see students not only included but uplifted within their school communities.
our baltimore county student councils has been going strong and we're excited to be hosting the
maryland association of student councils on january 20 at lock grave high school for
their annual legislative session. This is one of the most important events of the year where
students from across the state come together to debate and pass ma's official bill stances for
the legislative session. As one of ma's state legislative affairs
coordinators, I'm grateful for the opportunity to help facilitate these conversations.
during this session, we will also select the finalist for the position of the state student member on
the board. An essential step in elevating strong student leadership at the state level.
I hope to see many bcps students present as we come into the new year.
I also wanted to use this as an opportunity to restate and clarify the m's role.
the student member serves as a bridge between students and the board, bringing forward student perspectives,
highlighting concerns, and ensuring the lived experiences of young people guide decision making.
the smop provides insight. Insight that only someone living the day-to-day reality of
our schools can offer. In essence, the sm ensures that students are not just talked about but
truly heard. Thank you and happy new year to every student, stakeholder, decision
maker and educator who continues to speak up, engage and contribute to making our school system stronger.
thank you. The next item on the agenda is unfinished
business, the proposed fy 2027 county capital budget. And
for that I call on dr. Grim.
good evening. Good evening. Chair lecter, vice chair harvey, members of the board superintendent
dr. Rogers, uh, here this evening for the board's,
uh, vote and hopefully approval on the, uh, capital
budget request. Okay, thank you. May I have a motion to approve
the superintendent's proposed fy 2027 county capital budget.
so move young. Thank you. Is there a second? Second hen.
thank you. Any discussion?
just check teams. Okay.
may I have a roll call vote please. Ms. Hen? Yes. Ms. Harvey?
yes. Ms. Oobe? Yes. Ms. Leski? Yes. Dr.
savoy? Yes. Mr. Mcmillian? Yes. Ms. Humphrey?
yes. Mr. Young? Yes. Ms. Doki? Yes. Ms. Lichter?
yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay.
one second. Okay,
the next item on the agenda is unfinished business report on board
policies. This is the second reader for these policies and for that I call ms. Christina
pumphrey, chair of the policy review committee. Thank
you. Members of the board, the policy review committee asks that the board accept the committee's
recommendation to amend the following board policies, board policy 1260
school volunteers board policy 1600 publics charter schools
board policy, excuse me, 32 10 purchasing guidelines.
these policies are presented to you on tonight's agenda as exhibits j one through
j three. Thank you ms. Ey, board members, are there any separations
being requested? Okay.
okay. Then may I have a motion to accept the recommendations of the board's
policy review committee for board policies? Twelve sixty sixteen hundred and thirty two.
10. So moved. Thank you. Is there a sec? Oh, we don't need that because
comes from the board, from the committee. So may I have a roll call vote
please. Ms. Han? Yes. Ms. From, um,
ms. Harvey? Yes. Msee? Yes. Mr.
luki? Yes. Dr. Savoy?
I'm sorry. Yes. Thank you. Mr. Mcmillion? Yes. Ms. Humphrey? Yes.
mr. Young? Yes. Ms. Doki? Yes. Ms. Lichter? Yes. Thank
you. Thank you. The next item on the agenda is action
taken in closed session. And for that I call on ms. Ti.
good evening. Good evening, chair. Lichter, vice chair harvey.
dr. Rogers, members of the board this evening enclosed session you
considered and took action in appeal hea 26 dash 0 1 0.
this would be an appropriate time for the board to approve that action.
thank you. May I have a motion to approve the action taken enclosed session on hearing
examiner case hea 26 dash oh one oh and authorized
ms. Gover to sign for those board members not physically present.
so moved. Whoop . So move ms.
leski. Is there a second? Second, dominos. Thank you. Any
discussion?
may I have a roll call though, please? Ms. Ham? Yes. Ms. Harvey?
yes. Ms. Abe? Yes. Ms. Ky? Yes. Dr. Savoy?
yes. Mr. Mcmillion? Yes. Ms. Poey abstain.
mr. Young? Yes. Ms. Doki? Yes. Ms. Lichter? Yes. Thank
you. Thank you. The next item on the agenda is contract. Oh, thank
you. The next item on the agenda is contract awards. And for that I call him mr. Young
chair of the building and contracts committee. Members of the
board, the board's building and contracts committee met on monday, january 12th, 2026.
items l one through l 24 were forwarded to the full board for
approval. Thank you mr. Young. Board members, are there any requests for
separations? Okay.
do I have a motion to approve items l one through l 24.
so moved ky. Thank you. No second is needed since the recommendation comes
from the committee. Any discussion mr. Mcmillian?
uh, yesterday evening I got cut off
during the building and contracts committee. I was actually in a school and the service was
terrible and I got disconnected on the last contract
on the spares point contract for the track replacement. What's
the timeline of that, ms. ?
um, this summer as well. Excuse me. It'll be this summer. They'll be
starting. Um, you need to come to my, the microphone is azaria. I'm
sorry. It's okay.
the timeline in this one is similar to the other three that we've already
taken. Um, they'll be starting in the spring and, and it'll
be completed over the summer. So we'll be starting in
spring of 26 here in a couple months. Yes. Have you,
I'm assuming we coordinated with the school and the athletics and everything.
okay. Thank you. Thank you. Any further discussion?
may I have a roll call? Vote please. Ms. Ham?
yes. Ms. Harvey? Yes. Ms. Abe?
yes. Mr. Ky? Yes. Dr. Savoy? Yes.
mr. Mcmillion? Yes. Ms. Humphrey? Yes. Mr. Young?
yes. Ms. Doki? Yes. Ms. Lichter? Yes. Thank you. Thank
you. The next item on the agenda is the report on artificial
and turf grass fields. And for that I call on dr. Grim. And mr.
s good timing, .
good evening. Good evening. Good evening, chair lichter, vice chair harvey, superintendent dr. Rogers
board. Uh, mr. S and I are here this evening to provide
a report on artificial and grass turf fields.
so our purpose this evening is, uh, to share with you our status
regarding artificial and grass turf fields. Um, and briefly to
share with you. So bcps and rec and parks have collaborated
to develop and maintain athletic fields to effectively serve our, our
schools in our communities. And this really started back in 2006.
um, it started, uh, for a need based on durability
and playability because our fields were being so heavily
used, um, and we were struggling to maintain those natural grass,
uh, turf fields. Alright, good
evening. Um, there's been a lot of discussion nationally regarding synthetic turf fields
and natural grass at all levels of sport. Uh, I would like to highlight and
provide information regarding some of the differences as pertains to first heat.
um, as many of you are aware, um, natural grass,
uh, surfaces normally don't extend over a hundred degrees even in hot weather,
uh, whereas your synthetic fields can exceed 150 degrees in hot weather. Fortunately
for us, um, each one of our schools is equipped with a wet ball globe thermometer that
our athletic trainers and athletic directors use, which accurately measures direct
sun heat, and coupled with our heat guidelines, prevent us from having kids out and extenuating
heat on these surfaces. Um, as it pertains to safety, um,
older turf fields have shown higher rates of foot and ankle injuries, but subsequently,
newer turf systems show no difference between the two as it relates
into 70, 72% of most studies. Um, concussions for
all competitive sports were lower on ter synthetic turf fields. However,
uh, there have been a few studies among high school football players where there was a rising
in concussion rates. Um, this is normally a generally linked to increased
turf usage and poor turf maintenance. So if you're not taking care of the field the way
it's supposed to, chances are more than likely that you are pro, um, prone
to some more injuries. Um, as it pertains to environmental impacts,
synthetic turf fields hindered water infiltration and has disposed challenges with
chemical concerns from the crumb. Uh, rubber infill natural grass
requires heavy irrigation and chemicals impacting water use and waterway quality
despite ecological benefits. Um, bcps is looking into
alternative fillers. I mean, as you guys know, a lot of the, um, conversation
is regarding, uh, the rubber crumb infill. Um, but we are looking
towards plant-based alternatives and cork, um, solutions to alleviate concerns
around the ground rubber, um, trade offs and considerations to be considered,
uh, choosing between turf and grass involves balance, balance and safety, sustainability,
operational feasibility, and I say that bcps and b and recreation
and parks have benefited from the installation of turf fields across the county. Next slide.
um, bcps, um, recreation and parks collaboration on turf installation
at most of our high schools has been a complete success. Uh, currently there are
seven bcps high school sites that do not have synthetic, synthetic fields.
these schools include chesapeake, delaney, eastern tech lock, raven owens mills,
patapsco, and western tech. It is important to note that eastern tech and western tech,
um, both, uh, s both essex and uh, catonsville community
to host, uh, a majority of their athletic games that, uh, are on turf fields.
next slide. Status and funding. So where are we at?
um, uh, here's the status and the funding information. As it pertains to the schools who
currently do not have turf fields. Chesapeake high school, there is a local bond
initiative in place for partial funding of design. Uh,
they would need additional funding, uh, will be required to complete the design, and
then any, for any type of, uh, installation of a turf field.
delaney high school. Um, there is, um, a replacement
scheduled for turf field in their new design. So they are scheduled to get a turf
field installed, um, with the new design at delaney high school.
eastern tech also has a local bond initiative for feasibility planning
services for athletic master plan. Presently, there is conjecture regarding
the amount of space that they have on campus and the ability with that type of field there.
uh, western tech does not have any field space. They play all their
games off campus, hence it's why they used the community college. Uh, so there's nothing in
place for them and there is no funding at this time regarding the situations at owens
mills and lock raven. So with that, I will turn it back over to dr. Grim. Next slide.
so we wanted to share with you, uh, our two recent standalone
artificial, uh, turf field projects. Those were at kenwood and parkville.
this slide shows pictures of the kenwood turf field and the
parkville, uh, turf field, again as standalone projects. So just
the turf field, um, itself and, and sometimes some of the additional
infrastructure that's a part of that. Uh, kenwood was $1.4 million
and parkville was $1.2 million. Those projects
began, um, and were largely completed in, in 2023. I think they
turned into 2024 as well.
to give you some idea of artificial turf maintenance, as mr.
sy referred to, um, we have two different groups working
together, collaborating, and we referenced, um, baltimore county recreation
and parks earlier. It's really baltimore county property management that assists
us with our artificial turf maintenance. And so this
slide depicts what, uh, bcps grounds does on a, on either
a, a, a daily basis, again for these, uh, stadium
artificial fields and what, uh, baltimore county property management does
in terms of, um, their, um, their maintenance of
it. And so when you look at something like applying an anti-microbial
or the, the gmax testing, the, the shock attenuation, um, those are
our annual things that we coordinate again with the county
in terms of our grass turf maintenance. Um, this is
what includes the stadium fields. So these aren't all the other fields at these school sites.
these are, are specific to those stadium fields and, and what
we do because these are our grounds and how we take care of them,
again, on a, on a daily, weekly, or as needed basis.
to give you a sense of what some of the costs are. Um, for
artificial turf, again, we have, uh, 17 sites. It costs
us approximately $68,000 in total each year,
averaging $4,000 per site. This includes our labor and materials
only. It doesn't include vehicle equipment, costs, fuel,
um, and, and any other specialties that, that have to occur there. And again, that's,
that's our cost. That's not the county government cost.
our grass turf sites, the six sites that we do have total
about, uh, 81,000, uh, averaging, 13,500
per site. And again, they include the, the same type of breakdown.
and with that, we thank you, um, and we open it up for any questions.
are there any questions from board members, ms.
doki? Yes. Um, I remember a while back at a
delaney presentation, we were talk, I spoke to someone from the board of directors at the
maryland state fairgrounds, and there was some talk or interest in, um, possibly working
together to redevelop the infield at the maryland state fair
track to, uh, and cooperation with bcps to use that
as, you know, one of our field locations, I mean, the lighting, seating, parking,
everything seemed kind of ideal. It it would if
the cooperation would work. Was there any communications ever made
about that? Uh, to my, to my knowledge, we have not been
approached by the maryland state fair, uh, or state fair grounds with any type of
proposal or anything regarding those fields. Would it be them that have to approach you
or is it something that we'd have to procure or, I mean, could you,
would it be an open community? I just, I don't, how would that work exactly? Um,
like any community member that would like to en engage us in something that's their
property, they would typically reach out to us and, and say, are you, are
you interested in using our site or interested in partnering with us?
um, sometimes a local school site, if they have a need to use a particular,
um, particular site might reach out specifically, but that's not something the
school system would normally do. And you're saying they did not reach, reach out to you
to, to my knowledge, no. Because I think I, I, I think I remember that you were at
that meeting with delaney. Uh, it was a while. It was not. It was like in 24
probably, um, early on. And, um, I remember kathleen videll
was there and she came up, she's one of the, on the board there to, to my knowledge,
no one has reached, no one reached out, no one's reached out to me personally about using the fairgrounds
site. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Other questions, ms. Humphrey?
hi. Thank you for the presentation. Um, I requested this be added to the
agenda and unfortunately don't have the correct notebook for my questions. So I'm gonna try to recall,
um, why I proposed this initially. I know that we had two different,
um, stakeholder groups come out and speak to us about turf fields versus, um,
grass fields. One was the health and safety, uh, committee from pta
council. Um, and their concerns, which one of which I believe you addressed were the,
um, having glow thermometers available to test the temperature of the turf
fields. Um, so am I correct that you said they're available at every turf field that
we have at the moment? All 24 high schools have them. Okay, thank you.
um, and what was the other thing? Oh, well you mentioned alternative fillers. So is
that something we're looking into? Is that something that, um, might be
proposed for, um, upcoming, upcoming fields that are to be built at, you know, at
this point? Or replacing fields that are already,
you know, it's looking at? Well, to answer your question as to looking into the newer fields that will be
installed, I'm not quite certain if it is potentially possible,
but it is something that we will have a discussion regarding if that can be
changed out in terms of the rubber infill versus the, um, cork or the plant base.
but it is looking forward into the future in terms of, um, newer installs.
okay, thank you. Our our partners at recreation and parks are also looking into
alternative fills as well. Okay. Awesome. Um, and the other question,
I didn't just lose it. Oh, they also mentioned, um, possible,
if I'm recalling this correctly, signs posted at the
turf field locations to, um, note the safety hazards
and what to look out for the differences between, you know, when you're on a turf field as opposed
to a grass field. Is that something we've ever thought about? And like, again, I'm going without my
notes, so to be very specific, I'd have to go back and I will get back to you with that if you don't recall that conversation.
I don't recall that conversation at all. Okay. I mean, we have plenty of signage out and again, would
be willing to add any additional signage, um, that really has
not been brought to us in terms of posting signage about
any, um, risk as it pertains to, uh, turf fields. Okay,
thank you. Yeah, and I will, I, we will find that information from the meeting where they spoke
and send that out to you so that you're aware. And if any, there's anything I forgot,
, maybe we can, I can ask that question again. I appreciate your presentation, mr.
mcmillion. Gentlemen, uh,
dr. Graham, has eastern tech's feasibility study been, been
finished? Uh, no. It, it, I believe it was scheduled to begin
in, uh, december. And so we do, we would not have
the final, no, that's the money, the final report on that. That's the project that's funded by the legislative?
yes, sir. That's part of a, that, that was part of the legislative bond initiative
from 2025 from last year. And mr. S the
17 schools that currently have the turf, how many of them have,
have had it a second time? I couldn't give you that number off
the top of my field. I mean, off the top of my head, I know that catonsville some
the, the older fields that were part of the original start. Catonsville, woodlawn,
harford. Um, there are probably about two or three other schools, so I'm thinking about five
or six are probably on their second field. And any schools that have got it a third time,
I don't believe so. Okay. And is towson do to get it in their new construction?
I believe so, yes. That's one of the first phases of construction.
thank you. Thank you. Any other questions?
all right, thank you, gentlemen. Thank you. The next item
on the agenda is the report on the proposed fy 2027 operating
budget request. And for that, I call on dr. Rogers.
thank you. Board chair lichter, vice chair harvey, members of the board. I'm pleased
to present the official fiscal year 2027 proposed
operating budget. Before we begin, the communications
team has created an introduction video.
every dollar has a purpose. Each investment
strengthens our foundation. A budget is about more than
just resources and funding. It's about unlocking
potential, creating pathways for success.
investing in team vcps fast
forwarding student achievement, working together to
engage, empower, and excel every
dollar counts. Baltimore county public schools
is deeply committed to ensuring that every student, regardless
of background or circumstance, has access to the resources
they need to thrive. And we are putting those resources
where they matter the most. Closest to our students and schools.
we've made significant investments in early childhood education,
curriculum, special education, recruitment and retention,
professional learning infrastructure, school support,
community schools, and safety and climates, and those investments
are making a difference. In two years, we've made great strides
in our efforts to fast forward student achievement. Students are
demonstrating improved proficiency in math and language arts. We've achieved
significant improvement in higher rated schools. The number of
four star schools increased by 82%, and five
star schools rose by 21%. 64 schools
improved their maryland star ratings. Bcps has 23 5
star schools, the highest number in the state for the
second consecutive year. Our operating budget reflects
our values, high expectations for students and staff,
and commitment to pursuing excellence in all areas of
our work. The development of the bcps budget requires several
months of collaborative and deliberate work. Community engagement
and input is paramount. And team bcps stakeholders
are encouraged to engage in the process and provide feedback
through surveys, community meetings, advisory and stakeholder
groups, principal and central office meetings, board presentations
and more. Your voices played a critical role in the development
of the fy 27 operating budget. We are aligning
resources with priorities, allocating resources in an equitable
and transparent manner, and are committed to a balanced budget
that moves bcps forward. Let's stay the course team
bcps. Our collective efforts and strategic investments
are helping to make b-c-p-s-a premier system in the
state and nation.
thank you. If we could post the powerpoint
almost. All right. So we will begin this evening. The same way that I began
with the community yesterday. We exist to educate
all students. We exist to educate all students at high levels despite
what schools they attend, despite what their needs are in bcps.
over the last several years, our student demographics have changed over
the last five years. This slide depicts the increase in the
number of economically disadvantaged students that we serve.
the increase in the number of multilingual learners, our fastest
growing population in team bcps, and
you'll see a slight increase in the number of students receiving special education
services in baltimore county public schools.
three years ago, our charge was very
clear.
dunno what that our
charge was very clear. Our task was to identify
the priorities that were needed in team bcps to address the needs of our
students. We were to reverse a trajectory of more than a decade
of academic decline. We are very pleased
that we have been able to use community feedback. We've been able to
use examination of our data, as well as
review of our procedures and processes to identify four
priority areas. Those priority areas remain the same. They are
academic achievement infrastructure, making sure that our processes
help us to move forward, as well as state-of-the-art
facilities for our students. Safety and climate, both social emotional
as well as physical safety and climate and highly effective teachers,
leaders, and staff.
while some have criticized our gains as not enough,
I'm very proud of the progress of baltimore county public schools.
uh, one of the things that we wanna make sure that the community notes is
all of the data that we share publicly are either comparisons
to the rest of the state of maryland, all of the 23 of districts
or the united states of america. In this slide
in particular, this references the maryland report card.
this past year, every student group across all levels
demonstrated proficiency improvements in both mathematics and
language arts. It's also important to note that school quality and
student success improve for students at the elementary, middle,
and high school levels. In two short years, we have had significant
improvement in the higher rated schools, specifically for star schools.
those have increased in bcps by 82%,
21% increase in five star schools. 64
schools over the last two years have increased, improved
their maryland star ratings. For the second year in a row, we have the highest
number of five star schools in the state of maryland.
okay, I'm gonna have to say next slide if this is not working. Thank you.
this slide depicts the maryland report card star ratings. As I've shared before,
across all 24 districts, the maryland state department of education
ranked all schools and nine out of the top 10 elementary
schools in the entire state of maryland are in baltimore county public schools,
and two of the top five high schools are in baltimore county
public schools as well. Next slide, please.
this slide shows our year one and our year two results in
a variety of areas. All of these areas on the slide are
external. They are validity and reliability tested. The
data point that we point to the most that we work on together
collaboratively at the central office level, as well as in the school level
three years, day in and day out, is chronic absenteeism.
we believe that no matter what we have available for our students, what
resources, what supports, none of it will mean anything and will have
an impact on them unless they are in school. As a direct result
of our collaborative efforts, baltimore county public schools had
the highest percent improvement in the state of maryland. And over
two years, we have more than 9,000 students who now come
to school on a regular basis who were not attending school prior to that.
there are a variety of other data points here, including the state assessment
results, our improvements there, the wida assessment for multilingual
learners, teacher retention, as well as graduation
rate and mesa. Next slide please.
it's also important for us to share with our community that when
bcps had the opportunity to receive more funds, we
invested all of those funds directly in our students. The research
is clear about what it takes to reverse a trajectory of academic decline.
there must be an intentional and investment in the school
system in bcps. Since fy 25,
we have invested intentionally in early childhood, adding
more than 2000 full day pre-k seats curriculum,
making sure that now all of our students have literacy curriculum from kindergarten
through grade 12. That is evidence-based where we are teaching the
science of reading. And the same is true for english language development.
we have had a community schools expansion where now we have 110
of our schools that provide wraparound supports for our students and families.
we've implemented a differentiated school support model. This was to
ensure that all schools have different needs and that we were providing
support to our schools that were designated as highest needs, our
comprehensive school improvement and targeted school improvement schools, where they
received shoulder to shoulder support inside of the classroom,
inside of the leadership teams to help advance the progress of our
students. Professional learning has been a focus for us,
not only for schools, but also for central offices and all of
operations to make sure that everyone has access to the most
uptodate strategies to do their best work on behalf of the students
that we serve. You'll also know on this slide, recruitment retention,
increasing investments in special education safety enhancements
to also include additional mental health supports for our students
and infrastructure. Our enterprise resource planning project,
as well as 11 major construction projects
have been completed since fy 25.
next slide, please. One back
specific to how we have responded to the needs, we have added additional
positions to serve our schools. On this slide, you'll see the list of
positions that went directly into schools to support our
students and their targeted needs. Everything from iep facilitators
at the elementary level, to educator retention teachers to
additional counselors, charter of school positions, special area
teachers and student safety assistants have been part of our
investments in team bcps. These investments have been made
possible because of the support of the board of education, the support of our county
executives, as well as our county council, when times
were plenty and we were able to increase compensation and provide
enhancements, we did exactly that. The middle
column shows the direct investments that we have made in all
of our employees. Everything from raises for every single
employee and team bcps to being two years ahead of
the blueprint. Mandated 60,000 starting salary for teachers,
which brings us to, near the top of the scale in the
state of maryland, national board certified teacher incentives, several
memorandums of understanding for our staff members, including
caseload management, instructional leadership teams, particularly at
our elementary schools, to create the infrastructure needed for student
progress, classroom coverage, secondary extra class
period, and increase in hourly wages for contractual
employees as well as our bus drivers and attend assistance.
um, the total amount of that investment has
been $104.1 million in additional compensation
and enhancements. And as I mentioned earlier, we have had 11
new addition renovation or replacement capital projects. And
as of january 8th, the amount of money that has been
invested in infrastructure has been more than $569 million.
next slide, please.
and so it is important for us to point to the investments
that we have made in our students in schools, as well as
their forward progress. We know what the charge was three short
years ago. We have seen positive progress after
year one and year two. Year three is our opportunity
to either solidify our position as forward moving
as a school system and truly re reversing that trajectory or
an opportunity for regression.
it is our goal to make sure that we are moving forward. And so we
do not want to have anything that distracts
our teachers and staff from the work ahead of us and the
students that are in the classrooms. And so this budget that I am proposing
this evening for your review and consideration and deliberation
over the next, uh, several weeks, is
in with that in mind, it is informed by the feedback
of many people in team bcps. Next slide please.
next slide, please. And so it is very important that
we face our fiscal realities. We have a clear plan
for how to address the challenges that we see ahead
of us, and also to respond to the feedback that we have received
across the last several months. Before we begin with that,
we just want to make sure that there is clarity around the budget. The budget
includes six funds. Most of our conversation over the last several months
has been specific to the operating budget, which is includes
the general fund, which is all of our system operations. So
all salary, wages and benefits, and all of the day-to-day spending
for the school system is a part of the operating budget. It also
includes the special revenue fund and other components. The only other
thing I'll point to your attention in the orange section is the
capital projects fund. We have both the state capital budget and the county
capital budget, which the board of education voted on this evening.
those are very separate processes to make sure that we
deal with all of the construction needs of our facilities.
the fy 27 budget development process, uh, began several
months ago. As a part of that process, we engage with
many people. This slide depicts all of the
groups that we have had an opportunity to hear directly
from, from the advisories, pta councils, principals, and monthly
meetings, central office leadership. We have sent out surveys
to all stakeholders in the community as well as a, a separate
survey to our principals to which our reported those findings.
we had five different community conversations to hear directly,
um, from our community. The board of education
has also had the opportunity over the last several months to hear operating
budget presentations. Uh, they are listed on this slide,
as I have done for the last three years. We have also had two
by two small group meetings. Those were held in december. And this is an
opportunity for our board of education members to ask me any direct
questions that they have about the budget. Also this year, knowing
that we were in an especially fiscally challenging
time, um, making sure that I was hearing any and
all considerations for reductions in the budget
areas to, um, inspect for necessary
changes we're a part of those meetings. We also held the fy
27 budget overview presentation, I believe in,
uh, december as a part of the budget development process
to make sure that everyone had access to as much
information as possible, and everyone was able to weigh in
on what their priorities were. As a part of those discussions,
um, the responses came back and they were clear,
um, to the survey as well as individual face-to-face meeting.
um, our families, our staff members told us that
there was, um, concern over providing support
to struggling students. Um, we also heard that
there was, um, support for keeping class sizes
as small as possible. But what we heard the loudest,
um, from all, uh, stakeholders across the system
was to prioritize compensation. That prioritizing
the full compensation package was extremely important
to members of team bcps. And so this proposed budget
does just that. Next slide, please.
we have shared the budgeting elements, um, that we have used. On one
slide of this slide. It depicts research, uh, that
georgetown university, their omics lab, has been sharing for
the last few years, um, particularly with the ending of esser funds
for school systems to consider, um, to make reductions in their
budget as that was a fiscal reality, um, across
the united states. What you see that's unique to bcps on these
slides, you see the check marks for every area that we
have implemented as a school system. Um, next to that,
you have specific, uh, measures that we have taken in team bcps.
I wanna remind everyone that we are in a third year of a
central office hiring freeze. Uh, we have lifted our freeze,
uh, temporarily in the summers for a short period of time,
um, to staff. Um, the only other exception
is when a position comes up, if a, uh, chief from a
division believes that it is mission critical, they are able to apply
for an exception. Um, we do not automatically have,
not automatically, will not automatically fill, uh,
positions that become open, whether they are for retirements, for,
uh, promotions, or for resignation of staff members.
as part of our fiduciary responsibility, um,
contract review for the first time this year, uh, we reverse sorted
all of our contracts that we had in team bcps from the most
expensive contract to the, um, smallest contract
that we had and what we were looking for as a cabinet. What, uh,
chiefs went back and looked for in their teams was an opportunity
to either renegotiate contracts for a, um,
reduced price to reduce, um, amounts
of goods that we procured if we were pro procuring a certain,
um, amount of an item, or to
eliminate contracts in their entirety. And in a few slides, I will share
some of the results of that. Uh, zero based budgeting. This is our third
year in a row of implementing zero based budgeting where we
evaluate all expenditures. We require evidence,
um, of actual either expenditures or
escalations, uh, that are in contracts. Um, we do
not automatically provide for all divisions, uh,
the same amount of, uh, budget all budgetary allocation that
they receive the previous year. Um, we have no new initiatives
in this budget unless, uh, mandated. And, um,
we also, uh, ex ex took extreme
scrutiny, uh, around our new request, and you will see the results of that shortly
as well. Uh, we also engage in a position analysis
this time, uh, with an external source. Uh, for the last few
years, as you know, we have made position reductions in team
bcps. We have normed with our, um,
uh, other neighboring districts. We wanted, because
we had such a, um, heavy lift in front of us,
we wanted to have national comparison and wanted to benchmark
with a partner that deals with budget benchmarking. And I'll
share that data shortly. Uh, we reviewed all of our master schedules,
uh, to make informed decisions based on courses where
students were currently enrolled, uh, to ensure that
our recommendations were aligned to our student needs.
um, and we looked at all of our formulas, our formulas that are public
facing, ensuring that, uh, what we had
as a formula was what we had implemented in our schools
and additional grant offset opportunities where there were there opportunities
in federal funding for us to move additional
positions from our operating budget to our grants. Next slide, please.
over the last two fiscal years, we have reduced
the operating budget internally by $169 million.
this includes a reduction in central office supervisory
positions. One of the pieces of feedback that we heard from our
community members was around the size of our central office.
um, we examined that feedback. We, uh,
reviewed our positions. We looked for efficiency and made
those changes. Um, I also want to note, uh, for our
community members that part of these $169 million
worth of reductions, um, really focus on central offices,
uh, uh, large portion of our reductions.
were in the central offices over the last two years. Uh, we also
last year were able to, uh, not make any changes with
our staffing allocation formulas. Uh, as we looked school by
school of all of our formulas to make sure that we were in alignment,
uh, the first year we eliminated vacant positions that for years
we had had on our books we were budgeting for. Um, but they
remained open and we made reductions in built-ins. Everything
from reducing travel, reducing, um, cell phones,
stip stipends, reducing, um, supplies and et cetera,
were part of the work, uh, that we engaged in for
the last two years. Uh, this is important to note, uh, because
now we have come to a, uh, portion when we have the
third year of reductions where these opportunities
are no longer available in the budget. And so they require
us to make difficult decisions in order to honor
the feedback that we have received from our stakeholders about the priorities
for fy 27. Next slide. Please
also wanna make sure that we highlight where the funding comes from.
um, bcps is not revenue generating. We receive
all of our funding from the local, state, and federal government.
um, a small portion from other, you'll see on
the, uh, pie chart that the majority of our funding comes from the
local government, um, followed by the state, as well
as a smaller portion from the federal, um, government.
uh, we have heard comments about how much money, um, baltimore
county public schools receives for the budget. We receive a
generous budget. Um, we want to, uh, reiterate that maintenance
of effort is the law. Um, our budget is likely
the third largest budget in the state of maryland as we
are the third largest school system in the state of maryland.
um, we are grateful, uh, to be in a county
where our local partners have funded us above maintenance
of effort, meaning above what is required. Last year,
our funding was 3.5% above what is what was
required. And so out of the funding that we received, um, last
year, we received, uh, approximately 30 million additional
dollars above what was required. But the bulk of funding that we
received was required based on the per pupil
appropriation. So the number of students that we have, um, in our schools
and the funding from the year before, our funding target this year,
uh, from our county executive, is 2% above
what we received last year. If we want to compare that
to maintenance of effort, that is the equivalent to 3%
above maintenance of effort. Um, as I stated, we do not generate
our own funding. All of our funding comes with strings attach.
all of our expenditures must be accounted for, whether these are
expenditures at the central office level or at the schoolhouse
level. Um, you will note, as happened this evening, uh,
part of what happens in many board of education meetings are
contracts. Um, as a part of those contracts that are listed on board
docs, there are budget appropriation limits. There are terms to the budget
and specific vendors. Uh, those terms apply to
all schools and all offices. We have individual
spending transaction limits, and we have return reporting
and external auditing requirements in team bcps
for all of our funding. Next slide, please.
many factors have changed since january, 2025. Um, as
we have shared, this is a challenging fiscal climate.
um, factors at the federal level has changed. Uh, bcps
we are watching, um, with you at the same time about the changes
at the us department of education and what the impact might
be on us directly as a school system. This is important to
us because we have more than 1100 positions that
are funded by grant funds. Um, the
future of this funding source is unknown. Um, however,
we are, um, uh, pleased that federal
funding is appropriated one year in advance
of when, um, we plan to, uh, use those funds.
um, at the state level, uh, the structural deficit
has, uh, increased. I believe the most recent number is about a $5 billion
structural deficit. Um, while school system funds
are in a protected trust, uh, known as the blueprint,
the concern that we advocate for is, um,
the, uh, budgets moving forward that stretch
out the funding. The only way that that is able to be stretched
out is by, um, providing less than anticipated
annually to the school systems. And so last year, uh, we
advocated in annapolis, um, for that not
to happen. Um, it was a, uh, good year for school systems
last year at the state level. The governor's budget has not yet been
shared for this year. However, we do, uh, know of one risk that
I will share, um, uh, shortly. And, uh,
we plan to be in annapolis. Again, I invite any and all
members who want to advocate on behalf of team bcps to join me,
uh, as I will be there, often advocating on behalf of our 108,000
students. And at the local level, uh, what we have to appreciate
is that they receive their funding from the federal and the state level. And
so, uh, a reduction at those levels also
impact them. And so I am, um, grateful that our
county executive not knowing what will come out of this legislative
session, which I believe, uh, begins tomorrow, um,
has committed to team bcps an above maintenance
of effort budget. Um, what she has committed to is,
uh, the equivalent of $29.73 million
above what is required, um, for the
school system based on our enrollment in our formulas.
next slide, please. And
so, it's important that we take a look at student enrollment, um,
as, uh, you are aware of, as we have shared this previously. Enrollment
has not bounced back, uh, since covid. This is the trend
in the state of maryland and baltimore county. Public schools is no
different. Uh, we have had an opportunity to examine some of the
reasons, um, for the decline in enrollment. What we have learned
is over the last 10 years, particularly in baltimore county, um,
or specifically in baltimore county. And, uh, there are, uh, some
data to, uh, support this. There is a lower birth rate overall,
um, over the last 10 years, which has an impact on the number of school
age children, um, that are available to come to our public schools.
uh, there has been an increase in homeschooling, uh, since, uh,
the pandemic, although this last year we were successful and attracting,
uh, more homeschooling families back, uh, to our online
programs. Um, in bcps, we have noted for this last
year, the immigration policy has had an impact on our multilingual
learners and their, um, attendance in school. And so
these are some of the reasons. And, um, at the same time, as you know,
wages and benefits are increasing. And I bring this to your attention
because all of our funding sources, um, at the federal
level, at the state level, and at the local level, they are tied
directly to enrollment. So based on the number of students that
you have attending, whatever the formula is, it is multiplied
by the number of students. And so when you have fewer students attending,
there are fewer funds coming into the school system.
if we take a closer look, next slide please. At
student enrollment, um, we will share, uh,
some data that is specific to, uh, what we
are anticipating for fy 27. Um, important to
note on this slide. Um, it includes, uh, not only the
wages, but the benefits as well. Um, so for fy
27, we are anticipating $46 million worth
of additional revenue for team bcps. Um, some of
that is at risk, which I will share in the upcoming slide. Um,
and it is also important to share that under
any funding scenario that we had planned for team
bcps, um, all members of team bcps were to
receive a raise. The second half of the year two compensation
was built into any and all projections that we had.
um, that amount is $28.1 million.
so $28.1 million of the 46, uh, million
dollars increase, um, was something that we planned for.
um, $60 million is the cost of additional compensation
for the three year, the year three of the compensation package.
when you add the benefits, it increases to $64.9 million.
so right here on this slide, um, we can see the math problem
that the budget, um, poses for us in team bcps,
right there, just in compensation is a $47 million
gap. This does not include increased costs for fuel,
for, uh, contracts and et cetera. This is just for compensation.
next slide, please. As I stated before,
there is a risk of the full state funding that we are aware of,
uh, prior to covid. You'll recall, uh, that school systems
compensatory education or what we used to call farms.
um, specifically we are speaking about economically disadvantaged
students. That number was determined based on farms or
snap, uh, certification. There is, um,
a potential risk to move away from the hold harmless,
um, that we have been operating under to going back to
direct certification using forms, um, or snap
benefits. Um, as I shared with you, everything that we do is based
on enrollment. So based on the number of students that attend baltimore
county public schools, there is a potential loss of $15.45 million.
uh, we have already started working on this, um, in
november, when this information came to us, um, state, um,
association of superintendents, we all came together,
the executive, uh, team of which I am president elect. We
wrote a letter to the governor requesting two things that are depicted
on this slide, and overall hold harmless for fy 27.
so we do not have this negative impact on our school system
budgets and a provision that would ensure that no school system receives
less compensatory funding. In other words, less funding
for economically disadvantaged students than was provided in this
current fiscal year. As well as a continuation of hold harmless
for community eligibility, uh, programs of which
we are a part of that. Um, as you know, we provide free meals,
breakfast and lunch to all of our students. This is the third year
in a row, and we do not want anything that would jeopardize,
um, our students having access to meals and
reintroducing food insecurity in our schools. Next slide, please.
and so, one of the questions that we wanted to answer very clearly and very plainly
for all members of our internal community and all members of the external
community, is about bcps, uh,
spending and the, uh, amount of funds that we receive.
um, sometimes in isolation, hearing the size of the budget,
um, uh, people ask the question, well, where is the money
going? Uh, the purpose of this graphic is to answer that
question. Um, 82 cents of every dollar
of our $2.7 billion goes
to employees in baltimore county public schools. And
while sometimes it is stated, if only you do x,
you'll be able to close the budget gap. We wanna make sure
that people know that that is not correct. 82 cents,
what you see in dark green shows you the percentage
that goes to different members of team bcps.
so it is proportional. And so comments about non-represented
staff. Non-represented staff are part of the one
penny that also include contractual employees.
the largest portion of our budget, and rightfully so, goes
to represented tabco represented employees.
that is followed by afscme represented employees,
e-s-p-b-c, followed by case ope,
and then all others. What's important to note is 18 cents
is what else is used to operate the entire school system.
when I say operate the school system, I mean all
of the lights, the light bulbs, the light builds, everything
that you can think of. All of our, um, rental
agreements, our buses paying for non-public placements
supplies, it is 18 cents. And so no
matter how much work we do around the edges to
trim, cut, reduce, find efficiencies
for the 18 cents. At the end of the day, 18 cents
is still 18 cents and everything has a cost. Next
slide, please. So, as I alluded to earlier,
we engage in a staffing analysis, um, to ensure
that there were no blind spots that we had missed either internally
or with making comparisons to other school systems. In
maryland, we partnered with education resource strategies. They have been
working for more than two decades with schools, districts, and state
leaders. More than 30 systems, um, focused
on budgets, focused on how to shift resources and
opportunities to ensure that, um,
staffing is aligned, um, to create budget
efficiencies while still meeting the needs of the students. Over the next
few slides, I will share some of the findings.
so this first slide depicts leadership in central office management
positions. Um, you'll note for each one of the slides,
uh, there is baltimore county, and then a comparison to the
median. Uh, while they have worked with well over 30 districts,
they identified the eight districts that had the eight school
systems that had demographics that were closely aligned,
uh, to baltimore county public schools and identified the medium. Uh,
what you see here is our percent of overall staff and leadership and
management is leaner less than
the median in baltimore county public schools. When you take a closer
look at the adjusted leadership and management, and you're looking at
specific position areas, um, executive directors, area
officers, coordinators, managers, et cetera, um, you will also
note that our positions are
much less than the median of the comparison
districts. Next slide, please.
when we look at instructional ratios, this is what's happening inside of our school
buildings and special education positions. Uh, the first,
um, graphs in, uh, the golden rod and
eggplant, those are the instructional ratios. We first have
teachers only when we're comparing all teachers to our student
population. And then what you have in purple, our teachers and what they
are terming teacher assistants, tas include all of our
paraprofessionals, any classroom assistants, as well as paraeducators.
um, baltimore county. Um, our instructional ratio of
students to all teachers, and our instructional ratio of teachers
and tas is higher than the median. If
we take a look at special education teachers, so only special education
teachers assigned to our special education, uh, students,
which that staffing is separate and different from our general
education, uh, students. Um, you will note that our staffing,
again, is higher than the median. Um, they
have identified the, um, the implied number
of ftes higher than the median, where we have well over a hundred
positions higher in than the median. Um, this is, uh, pointing
to that our, um, in these two areas that
baltimore county public schools is well-resourced.
and the final slide from the staffing analysis is around our student support,
uh, services positions. Um, how are we supporting our
students outside of the classroom? So the first area is around pupil
services and enrichment. That includes, um, supervisors in this area,
coordinators, managers, social workers, guidance counselors, um,
that service our students. You will note that bcps is,
um, right at the median with 3.6. Um,
but what I wanna call your attention to is the green and the dark
blue. Um, while we are at 3.6 and aligned with the median
by overall positions, we have fewer, uh, middle management
positions, which are highlighted in green and more counselor positions,
which provide direct services to our students. To take a closer look
at counselors, um, you'll note the last bar graph, um,
the median while the ask a recommendation is two 50 to one,
um, baltimore county public schools is continuing to make headway and very
close to that recommendation. We are at 2 69. Um,
we are lower, um, than the median in
terms of the number of counselors that we have provided for our
students over time. Um, I have shared highlights from this report
as part of what is posted on budget 1 0 1. Um,
the report for baltimore county public schools will be posted there along
with the comparison of the eight other districts, um, that will be posted,
uh, this week. Next slide, please.
and so we have made reductions. Uh, this slide speaks to our
reductions in built in costs. Uh, built in costs are not optional. These
are fixed obligation, um, everything from transportation
to, um, textbooks, technology license, telecommunication,
paying insurance, and facilities maintenance is a part of this.
uh, what's highlighted for you in bold are the areas where we
are reducing our built in costs. Those are diesel and unleaded
fuel, telecommunications facilities, maintenance
devices and software license fees, reduced workforce
development carryover and it contract services
and vehicle parts. Our total reductions in built-in costs
is $4.07 million. And this is at
a time where costs are rising. Next slide, please.
um, as I shared, we reviewed all of our contracts, and some of
this work is ongoing as we are working directly with
vendors, uh, to renegotiate. This slide captures,
um, negotiations that have, um, uh, continued
opportunities to, um, uh, avoid different costs.
um, you'll see here, uh, assessments, uh, from,
uh, research, accountability and assessment facilities,
transportation information tech technology and
curriculum and instruction. Reduced costs
from, uh, the price of, um, cost for assessments,
our facilities, support services, cost avoidance, and on budget 1 0 1,
we will have posted those specific, uh, contracts, um,
that have allowed us for fy 26 and moving forward to,
um, avoid, um, this, uh, tremendous cost,
um, elimination of duplicate, uh, gps,
our ability to reduce our ukg, um, license,
our ability to align our microsoft license to positions that
people have. Um, in across our system, the
board approved, uh, pause on, um, ib in
elementary and middle, which has yielded, uh, forward progress for
those students. That, uh, pause also comes with a savings and
the continued use of structured literacy as part of our
hmh, um, contract, uh, that is
separate from our costs that we have in our budget for
contractual personnel. Um, across our budget for years,
we have had contractual personnel either, uh, work for
a certain period of time over the school year to address needs
in departments and divisions or work. Um, throughout the year,
uh, the team has gone in and made reductions in excess
of $8.6 million in this area,
reductions in new spending. So typically, um, there is
new spending that must be added to the budget, uh, based on
the needs of the school system. This slide shows for you the historical
bcps new spending, uh, for the years of 2021 and
2022. Um, the amounts in the operating
budget were lower than before, and that is because we were receiving
esser funding. Um, part of that esser funding went
specific lead to salaries, wages, contracted services and
benefits. Um, the numbers that you see on these, uh,
line items for 20 21, 20 22, they don't reflect
all of the esser spending, or excuse me, all of the esser funding that we have
received. They only reflect the additional esser funding
that we used, uh, for wages and benefits in those
two fiscal years. Um, in 2025, uh,
we had 69.7 or $69.8 million
of additional new spending. Last year, we reduced that amount
dramatically, um, to $24.4 million.
and this year, we are moving forward. Uh, I am proposing
a budget that reduces that amount by 73.6%
to $6.4 million. Next slide, please.
even with all of the reductions that I have detailed for you, that is not enough.
I recall your attention to the, uh, enrollment
and our enrollment, the gap between our revenue
and the costs for compensation and our commitment to fully fund
both year three of the compensation package in addition
to the second half of year two. And so this slide
details the additional reductions, net position reductions.
um, we have, uh, this number includes 594.4
for a total of $58.9 million. It includes
111.5 school-based positions tied to enrollment. This
is a number that you will see in our operating budget annually.
um, it is always, um, tied to the september 30th enrollment
and tied to the funding that we receive from our sources. In addition to that
324.8 position tied to a change in
staffing allocation formula on this slide, you will see the proposal
to have no change to our youngest learners, uh, pre-k and kindergarten
at 22. Um, but moving grades one through 12
to 25 actualize those save savings. It's
important to note at this time. Um, in our, uh, master
agreements, we have no layoffs and no furloughs. Um,
our these reductions, um, can be actualized,
the majority of them through annual attrition. Uh, annually
we hire hundreds of teachers into baltimore county public schools.
um, what this means is that we would hire fewer teachers
in fiscal year 2027. Um, we also have
36 additional central office positions, 40
assistant principal positions over the formula,
23.3 staff development positions, 12.3
secondary reading positions based on the schedules
and the actual sections, uh, that our students are in,
what their data, uh, calls for that they need, uh, 5.2
reduction in online learning programs and an additional
$449,782 in
contractual employee services. Um, we have, uh,
met with our directors of title one and,
um, community schools to review opportunities to offset
positions from the operating budget to the grants. This has yielded
in a reduction of 41.6 positions, totaling $5.2 million.
um, it includes, uh, ppws counselors, reading specialists
and staff development positions. Um, additional it
reductions for $2.75 million and reduction in summer
school costs for, uh, $432,000.
also, want to highlight for you, uh, the increased
use of fund balance. Uh, last year we had some conversation
about our use of, uh, fund balance, if you will recall,
in the fy 26 budget. We began with proposing,
uh, $18 million to be used from the fund balance. We increased
to $30 million of the fund balance to fund additional compensation,
uh, for our staff members. Um, after our final,
uh, negotiated agreements, uh, we moved to $37.8 million
of use, um, of our fund balance. This fy 27
budget proposes that we increase even more
to $50 million of, uh, fund balance use
for the upcoming year. Um, it's important to note that when you
look at the fund balance, you will see the cushion that is necessary,
um, from the county re uh, recommendation for
emergencies and contingencies. And you will see, um, I
believe it's another $20 million. Um, above that
I want to call your attention to a few slides ago. And the
state funding risks that we have of, um,
14, uh, more in excess of, uh, excuse me, $15 million.
um, what it means if we do not, um, ensure
that we have proper fund balance available and we are not successful,
um, in our advocacy in annapolis, is
that we would be looking, uh, for $15 million.
um, and I believe that's the correct, uh, number of additional
reductions to the budget. Um, and so I just want to, um, highlight
that for everyone, the need that we are indeed increasing
the use of fund balance to try to mitigate and offset some
of the, um, reductions that we have to make internally,
and the need for us to be fiscally responsible and ensure
that there are funds remaining in the fund balance in case,
um, we receive some, uh, information from this legislative
session, um, in annapolis. Next slide.
our new spending, as I shared, is minimal. Um,
we are moving from 24.4 million to 6.4 million.
uh, what is on this slide is what is absolutely necessary. You'll
see $3.46 million for our two charter schools
that are coming online as is required. And, um,
uh, speech and language pathologists we have invested
in reducing the caseload. Um, you'll see that the
amount here, the, the cost, um, needed to continue that
and special education, um, nine special education paraeducators
and 11 special education teachers for a total of 20 staff
members to support our scls, our cls
and our continuum of service, um, programs in our schools
to directly meet the needs of our students. That is a total of an additional
spending of $5.23 million in academic
achievement in the area of infrastructure.
the only things that are here are, um, required.
um, you'll notice facilities, uh, management, uh, the
12 building service workers that are needed, um, for the additional
square footage and our new projects. So you'll note ock,
sos point high school, lansdown high school, and deer park,
um, elementary school. The square footage has requirements on, uh,
staffing to maintain that square footage. Uh, you'll also,
um, note, uh, where I see a,
uh, typo, where you see the fte and it says 20 under
research, accountability and assessment, please let the record reflect
that is false. It is zero in that line,
and what is uploaded will be corrected. Uh, but what we are requesting is
$55,000 for a contractual transcripts,
um, office, uh, person to respond to all of
the transcript requests for the, um, school system and,
um, data analytics, um, office, which I believe is,
um, uh, $110,000 or $55,000,
pardon me, $55,000 for that amount. So that correction will be made.
um, uh, for the record, uh, in safety and climate, I wanted to share,
while we have no new expenditures, I did want to respond to our community.
as you know, one of the things that, uh, we did was put out a
survey, uh, directly to the community regarding
the continued use of omni alert in our schools. And we
had a sev separate, uh, one question survey that went directly to our
principals about the continued use of omni alert in our schools.
um, it was very important for us that we heard directly from principal principals,
uh, because as you know, um, if there were any emergency,
they are indeed the first responders in a school. Um, what we
heard from our communities, more than 2,700 responses,
um, more than 75% of the members of the community,
um, uh, said that they supported continued
funding of omni alert in schools. When we looked at the data from our principals,
eight out of every 10 principals, 80% of our principals, um,
requested the continued funding of omni alert in schools. And so wanted to
make sure that we closed, uh, the loop on that. Next slide, please.
this slide, uh, details the compensation costs while I gave an
overview and reference to enrollment. Um, this slide, the
first, uh, column represents our unions. We also have non-represented
here, um, the year two, as I indicated, every budget
scenario accounts for raise for all employees. So what the
cost of that is broken out by union is in the second
column. Uh, the third column, um, details the full
year three compensation costs. These include the
benefits that we are required to pay. And so you see the total cost,
um, represented both in table form as well
as the pie chart.
next slide, please. And so we'll move into the financial summary. So when
we look at the general fund revenue, um, the local proposed budget
is, um, uh, a little more than, uh,
a, a billion uh, dollars here. Um,
you see the state is 992.5 million,
and for other and federal funds, 67.9,
uh, totaling, uh, two, uh, almost 2.1 billion.
next slide, all funds revenue. Uh, this shows you the general
funds, but as I, uh, shared before, the operating budget has
six different funds. And so this slide, uh, captures those six funds.
you'll see the general funds special revenue, which are all of our grant funds
for the operating budget subtotal. Um, uh, listed
below are the internal service funds, capital project funds,
uh, which is, uh, dramatically smaller as this is not a bond
year, uh, for construction projects, uh, debt service
fund and enterprise funds for a total of, uh,
almost 2.5, uh, billion for the fiscal
year 2027 proposed budget.
and so I want to, um, uh, close by highlighting what
the fy 27 proposed budget, um, does. The fy
27, uh, proposed budget, um, acknowledges
and addresses the, uh, conversations that we've been having over the last,
uh, three years. Um, that, um, we are in fiscally
challenging times. Uh, we have challenges, um, um, across
levels. Um, we, we have, uh, social challenges, uh, political
challenges and fiscal challenges. Um, we have, uh, done
our due diligence to go out into our communities, um,
to hear about what is most important,
um, understanding and recognizing that we can't do everything.
what is most important. And what we heard, um, loud
and clear was prioritizing recruitment and retention by honoring
year two and year three of the compensation package for
all members of team bcps was most important. And so
this proposed budget includes both things
in our budget, year two and year three, our balanced budget
also acknowledges and extends gratitude to our county
executive for while not having, uh, what is
going to be proposed in the governor's budget, still making a commitment to
the school system of funding us above maintenance of
effort of funding us 2% increase above
the, uh, funds that we received last year, which as I shared previously,
equates to 29.73 millions of dollars.
um, not receiving this funding, jeopardizing not receiving
above maintenance of effort, uh, would call for additional
reductions, um, in an already challenging, um,
budget season. I think what we wanna make sure that everyone understands,
um, is that we absolutely have a plan, um,
to address the priority that bcps has
laid before us. Um, we are, uh,
understanding that our students now more than ever,
uh, need us to focus on them and what it is that
they need in the classrooms. Um, when, uh, everyone
sees our budget book posted, uh, tomorrow, which it will be online
tomorrow, um, our cards are on the table. Our books are open. There
will be no questions about, um, how we are making
changes, what positions are being reduced. And so I think, uh,
one of the questions we heard earlier was whether or not, um, we
have started reassignments. We have not started reassignments, um,
as, uh, this is a proposed budget for fiscal year 2027,
as is my, um, uh, requirement, uh,
in this, uh, position for the board's review, deliberation, and final
decisions. Uh, but we also believe very strongly as we as
focus on climate and environment, um, and
safety, not only physical, but social emotional, um,
that also is true for our employees and team bcps. And
so while we post positions in a budget book, we
owed it to our staff members for them not to come to work tomorrow,
uh, to open a budget book and find out that their positions were
proposed for reductions. And so there were courtesy conversations
to let staff members know what, um, if something
impacted them, that it was indeed in the, uh, budget book,
uh, we remain in a freeze. Um,
I want to, um, uh, start to close with the same way that I closed yesterday.
uh, we exist to educate students, all students. We
acknowledge the tight fiscal times that we are in.
our responsibility at this time is to do everything that we
possibly can to remain focused on the needs of our
students. We have to spend the next few months delivering
high quality instruction and all of our classes
the very first time. Because our 108,000 students, no
longer are they 110,000, our 108,000
students are depending on each and every one of us. This
is the opportunity for baltimore county public schools as,
um, uh, judged by maryland state
department of education as compared to 23 all other
districts in this school, uh, in the state of maryland, as compared
to other school systems across the nation. This is our opportunity
to determine whether or not year three marks
continued forward progress for our students who are counting on them, or
are we going to regress because we are losing focus on what
is happening in the classroom, and we are not listening to
the messages that people have communicated. I fully acknowledge
that this is tough and this is difficult. Um, if we
had a choice, we would make different choices. But in tough fiscal
times, in tight realities, we need to present
a budget that addresses the information that we have
received. We have received loud and clear that compensation must be
a priority. We have received loud and clear from our largest
funding partner that the commitment that can be made
is 2% above last year. I believe
that part of my responsibility in representing team bcps
is to respect the message from our funding partners. And that
is what this proposal brings forward. I am
open for any and all additional funding sources.
I absolutely have a plan for ways that I would be restoring
positions, um, in the budget. If those funds come, uh, to
fruition, I will be right back in annapolis, the same place I
was last year, um, on countless visits, advocating
for our students who are counting on us. I invite any and all members
of team bcps, the public at large, uh, all of our
esteemed board members and et cetera. If you would love to join me in
baltimore county in moving to annapolis on behalf of our students,
please feel free, uh, to come and advocate on our students.
and so with that, we are here for the students. We are committed to
continuing our work throughout the rest of the year, and I look forward to
the open conversations around the fiscal realities
and the fy 2027 proposed budget. Thank you.
thank you. So thank you dr. Rogers, for that very detailed report. That was a lot of information
for us to digest. A lot of information for you to present. Um, you obviously
know this information 'cause I'm sitting next to you and didn't see any notes, but it was all,
it was all coming out. So, um, thank you for our public. There will be a
public hearing on tuesday, january 20th, 2026,
um, in person in this room. So sign up for speaker. Registration
was open this morning online, and it will close at 3:00 pm on monday,
january 19th, 2026. A waiting list will
also be available 30 minutes prior to the start of the meeting in person. Again,
that's next tuesday, january 20th, our public hearing on the
proposed budget board members, that was a lot of information to digest, so please,
um, submit any questions that you may have on this proposed operating budget
to dr. Rogers by wednesday. Whoops.
we're, we're going to submit questions and come back. Not really about
the, it's not a budget question. Question about, okay, let me just, can I finish this
in the, okay. Um, right. Submit any questions you have
about the information provided. And again, the budget book will be online to dr. Rogers
by wednesday, january 21st, so that she can be prepared for discussion
at our january 27th work session on the budget. Okay, ms.
doki, it's more of a, um, in alignment with the calendar. We were
supposed to get the proposed budget book today. I was just wondering what the reason was for delaying
until tomorrow. So, um, what
we shared several months ago is that we are going to provide, uh, printed
copies of the online budget book for anyone who requested. I believe ms. Gor,
um, took a list of names or, or she
will take a list of names of anyone who wants a printed copy. Um,
and she'll share the process that she's using to get them to you.
why wait till tomorrow to post the online version then?
so that's what we have done annually, yes.
but according to the calendar, we're supposed to receive it today,
the budget calendar on our website, and
I don't, I didn't get an email about the, on, about a printed one. I don't know if
anybody else did. Yes, you received that, uh, several months ago. Um,
I believe in august, um, where we shared
that we would be printing them on the night of the budget meeting.
um, and this was to avoid any confusion
about the online book versus the hard copy book. Uh, because
the budget team works until the, uh, 24th hour,
making sure that they're reviewing all funding as they receive new and
updated information from state and other, um, uh, offices.
they make sure that those numbers are correct. And so that was provided,
uh, I believe late august, um, to all
board of education members that moving forward ms. Gor would be printing
online versions to ensure that there was, uh, no,
uh, difference between the hard copies and the online
version of the book as previously, I believe it was a two
week window in advance when those books were printed. Sorry, just one last follow
up. So is the, is it finished the books, is the budget
book finished? Like, is it ready to be posted? I'm just curious as to
why we're not getting even an online version. Why wouldn't, since we, we, we
switched, we're switching. We're not getting it for anyone unless we request one. Why we're not posting it
now online so we can start looking at it.
she will post it first thing in the morning. As far as the request for written,
um, written format. Can we still make that? I, I don't recall.
yes. Okay. Yes. Just lemme know if you, if you wanna print one,
please let her know. Asap so that she can get 'em to us.
go ahead. Do that now. Yeah. Before we leave. Yeah, of
course. She can send you an email. Whatever she feels is best,
however you'd like to tell it. You can email her right this minute and say, I want it. You can let her know before
you walk out. Um, go ahead. How will
we get it in time to submit questions? Can we
have it by this delivered as we do the hearing? Right? She will have 'em delivered to your home.
I think our questions are due. Well we can extend. Okay. Thank you.
the deadline for the questions from wednesday. I'll let you know when the
deadline for the questions is. Was that all the, there was hands up over
here too before. Did that answer all your questions? Mine was answered. I over, I must have overlooked
to august email. I don't remember seeing that email. So that answered my question. Thank you.
okay. Other questions? Lemme make sure online,
okay. I'm not
sure ms. Grover will either resend it or we don't even need the email
at, we just need you to tell her yes, I'd like a printed how many people would
like a printed copy of the book?
okay, we will assume it's okay. It's okay. We will
assume that, um, or you can find out from dr. Savoy and ms. Harvey
if they too would like it. And ms. Um, fong. Is that everybody?
yep. Okay. Whew, that was
miss pump free . Okay, let me go on to the next thing.
alright, the next item and the last item is board member comments
and any agenda setting items. So if you have a comment or an agenda setting item,
please raise your hand. You can always send me your items.
um, ms. Eski, thank you. This is, um, a second request
for a presentation on elementary science.
um, okay. Just an overview of elementary science. So we
had one of thought, right? And I know that there was a lot of, um,
follow up information that the public was asking for in terms of learning time
and how many minutes per day were spent with science
and how instruction was impacted if certain schools focused more on ela
and math, you mean currently how it's being delivered. So just
sort of a follow up presentation regarding okay. That impact.
thank you ms. Umen. Thank you. I have two agenda requests.
one is a deep dive presentation on the staffing benchmarking
report that we heard about tonight. Um, I'd like to request that board
members get copies or I heard dr. Rogers say that the report will be shared
publicly online. Um, if that could be made available at least two weeks prior, um,
to the presentation so that board members can submit questions in advance. And,
um, yes, so we can submit questions in advance
for that. My second, um, request is also data intensive, but I'd
like to request historic attrition, um, data that we can
and trend analysis information as well as the fiscal impact
on instructional salaries and the impact on fund
balance and the use of that fund balance as a result of that attrition
and how that's been reallocated.
okay. You know that? Yes. Or you can also send, um, did you get
that ms. Gover? I'm sorry? Did you get ms. Hen's
requests? Okay, thank you. I thought I saw another,
did I see any more hands? Ms. Humphrey? I, I mentioned this
already to the lgr committee, but I would like to, um, discuss
the possibility of the board supporting the superintendents, um, what she talked about on
the slide show this evening, the 24 school system request to the governor and,
um, uh, requesting that we, you know, we not switch
from the hold harm list to direct certification using snap in forms. Okay.
um, and that's the request for the legislative and governmental group to add that as
well. Well, I would like it to be a full board discussion, you know, full board request, but I believe
the process would be to run it through lgr first. Okay.
okay. Let me check teams.
okay, I don't see anyone's hands up. Ms. Hen. Um, to follow up
on ms. Humphrey's request, I'd like the, um, full board to discuss,
um, tab co's legislative priorities in, in full and that
may also need to, um, in be initiated in lgr,
but okay, for then it did come to the full board.
others. Okay, lemme get back
to board ducks.
the last item on the agenda's announcements. Another reminder that the board's public
hearing on the superintendent's proposed fy 2027 operating budget
will be in person on tuesday, january 20th, 2026, beginning
at six 30. Online. Signup opens january 13th, 2026.
the board's next meeting will be held on tuesday, january 27th
at 6:30 pm thank you everyone for joining us tonight and the meeting is
now adjourned.