Baltimore County Schools superintendent proposes $2.58 billion operating budget

Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Myriam Rogers presented her proposed $2.58 billion operating budget for the fiscal year 2025, a 2.2% increase compared to the previous year.

Roger’s first budget request as superintendent comes as Maryland prepares for a slowing economy and federal coronavirus pandemic funding is set to expire this year. Mandated changes required by the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, the state’s landmark education reform plan, remain, while the district will receive a smaller percentage of state funding for the programs.

“This budget has been challenging,” Rogers said Monday during an hourlong presentation in the auditorium of George Washington Carver Center for Art and Technology. County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr., state legislators and members of the county Board of Education were in attendance.

Describing the proposal as the “people’s budget,” Rogers said the largest share of funding, about $95.45 million, is allocated for teacher compensation, substitute salaries and paraeducator support.

Members of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County are in the process of voting on a three-year contract with BCPS, the first time in recent history that the district and union members will know how much to budget beyond a single year.

If the contract is approved, “teachers know what their raises are going to be, they know where they’re gonna land on the pay scale,” said Cindy Sexton, president of the union.

“It just makes things a lot easier logistically and just moving forward with what to expect,” she said.

A proposed $45.8 million would go toward improving academic achievement. That includes reducing class sizes for third through fifth grades, adding preschool and prekindergarten programs, increasing training and professional development for teachers, and implementing a new curriculum for English-language learners.

BCPS is the third-largest school district in Maryland, with more than 110,000 students and over 20,000 employees. The proposal shaves off $104.1 million in expenses, mostly in benefits and wages, by instituting a hiring freeze for district administrators in the central office. There are no planned layoffs, but vacant positions would be eliminated, Rogers said.

The number of community schools, which receive a concentration of poverty grants and have additional neighborhood social support, would increase to 84 schools over the next year. The county would also add more student safety assistants and athletic trainers, which together account for $42.4 million in proposed funding. Rogers also requested $6.1 million in infrastructure costs, such as school bus contracts and moving costs for renovated school buildings.

County school students have an 84.5% graduation rate, slightly below the state average of 86.3%. Math and reading scores in third grade are an important indicator of college and career readiness. About 43.9% of county third graders’ reading scores were proficient or above in 2023, signaling a “significant area of need,” Rogers said.

Maryland, overall, saw 48% of third graders score proficient or above in reading, compared to 67% nationally.

Rogers will present her operating budget proposal to the Board of Education on Tuesday night. A public hearing is scheduled for Jan. 17 before the board votes in February on whether to adopt the budget and send it to Olszewski.

Olszewski praised Rogers and her team for “reimagining their budget process to be more open and accessible than ever before.”

“I remain committed to working with our partners on the County Council to make the critical investments needed to empower BCPS to deliver the first-class education system our communities expect and deserve,” Olszewski said in a statement.

Sexton said Roger’s plan to add a staff development teacher in each school will benefit students and their academic achievement. The position involves helping other educators understand the curriculum and craft lesson plans.

Roger’s budget also calls for adding an Individualized Education Program facilitator at each elementary school. Currently, many assistant principals are filling that role by running team meetings and overseeing the programs for special education students.

“I want to see more details but overall; it looks like a good budget to me,” Sexton said. “She really did get people’s input and opinion, and it really does seem to put our people and our students first, which we have to do.”

A previous version of this article incorrectly reported the fiscal year 2025 budget’s percent increase over last year. The Sun regrets the error.