$1.2B FY26 Operating Budget Proposed By Howard County Education Board

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — The county board of education adopted its operating and capital budget requests for the 2025-2026 school year at its March 4 meeting.

Operating budget

The FY26 operating budget totals $1.257 billion, which is a $111.9 million, or 9.77% increase from the FY25 operating budget and adds 250.3 new full-time employees. The request for county recurring revenue funding totals $868.0 million, which is $107.0 million, or 14.06% over the FY25 budget. The board also is requesting $3.6 million in non-recurring funds for one-time costs. State revenues in the budget total $370.4 million, an increase of $18.6 million or 5.29% over the FY25 budget.

"Building on the superintendent’s proposed budget, the board’s requested budget addresses numerous priorities that, if not brought forward in the board’s request, would be more difficult to fund later in the budget process without cutting other services," the county board of education explained.

Priorities added by the board include:

• Meeting the special education staffing needs at the elementary school level including instructional team leaders, case managers and student assistants
• Increasing funding for the employee compensation raises
• Adding positions to hire athletic trainers at all high schools
• Investing in reading and math instruction with more literacy and math positions
• Expanding the Innovative Pathways program
• Addressing middle school administration staffing needs with added assistant principals
• Restoring instructional team leader planning time at the high school level
• Bolstering staffing in human resources, the legal office and print services
• Replacing budget system software
• Funding for one-time costs to improve:
• Security
• Vehicle replacement
• Water filtration
• Transportation software
• Equipment

The board also is taking a "prudently cautious approach" in requesting the funding that could be needed for the potential impacts of Gov. Moore’s proposed budget to school systems and local governments, the board stated.

These potential impacts include:

• Reducing state aid by $5.5 million
• Increasing special education non-public tuition costs by $2.5 million, and
• Shifting $6.8 million of teacher retirement system costs to the local employer.

“The board of education appreciates the proposal brought forward by the superintendent which takes the right strides to meet many of the growing needs of the school system,” said Howard County Board of Education Chair Jolene Mosley. “With that proposal having been publicized, the board felt it was also important to leverage the budget request to memorialize some unfunded priorities of the system. The board’s proposal amplifies a commitment to special education services, adding 140 full-time positions. While the board recognizes the county’s fiscal capacity to fully fund the requested budget is unlikely, it is important for all stakeholders, and our county partners, to understand the gaps that persist between the priorities of the community and the funding available to the school system.”

Capital budget

The board also adopted the FY26 capital budget totaling $100.64 million for costs associated with the renovation/addition of Oakland Mills Middle School; to begin the design of the renovation/addition of Dunloggin Middle School; other systemic renovations/modernizations, roofing projects and equipment; and ongoing projects such as relocatable classrooms, capital technology needs and school parking lot expansions.

Along with the FY26 capital budget, the board adopted the fiscal year 2027-2031 capital improvement program request in the amount of $603.54 million, and the fiscal year 2026-2035 long-range master plan totaling $1.26 billion.

The board of education’s budget will be submitted to the county executive who will then consider considers the school system’s budget as part of his recommended budget for all county-funded agencies. In late April, the county executive will submit his proposed budget to the County Council with a recommended funding level for the school system. The County Council will then hold a series of public hearings and work sessions before final adoption of the county budget. Following County Council action, the board of education will make any necessary adjustments to its requested budget to account for the funding level approved by the county and adopt the final FY 2026 operating and capital budgets.

Additional information about the HCPSS budget can be found online.