Councilmember Kristin Mink has issued the following statement regarding the Board of Education’s adoption of the MCPS FY25 operating budget:
As I stated when I abstained on the County Council’s final MCPS budget vote three weeks ago, the funding we allocated for MCPS is inadequate. It does not allow our school system to maintain current levels of the most critical services, including class sizes, in the face of cost increases from inflation, enrollment changes, and the end of significant federal funding.
The deep-dives of the Education and Culture Committee, on which I sit, into MCPS budget details had backed up the school system’s assertions: Significant cuts had already been made, including 56 central service positions, and the funding level ultimately passed by the Council could not be absorbed without an increase in class sizes and other painful cuts. Unfortunately, we are seeing this play out in the MCPS Fiscal Year 2025 Operating Budget the Board of Education voted to approve yesterday.
About 90% of the school system’s budget is spent on people, from teachers to bus drivers. The Council’s decision to underfund MCPS’s request by 1% may sound small, but that amounts to over $30 million and a tenth of the non-personnel costs of one of the largest school systems in the country. Those non-personnel costs include expenses like:
▪ maintaining 211 schools and a full transportation system;
▪ afterschool programs;
▪ summer school;
▪ academic, grading, and family communication technology systems;
▪ Chromebooks;
▪ supplies for classrooms, offices, libraries, athletics, music and theater programs;
▪ contracts to provide tutoring, enrichment opportunities, and critical services like CollegeTracks.
From the Committee’s analysis and my own review of the MCPS budget, a half-percent cut to their request could have been managed, with difficulty but without devastation. Underfunding their request by a full percentage point made classroom personnel reductions unavoidable. Per the Board of Education’s vote, 20 more central service positions will be cut (for a total of 76), and class size guidelines will increase by one for a reduction of 123 teacher positions.
MCPS reopened the window for teachers to retire with full benefits, to encourage more to leave voluntarily. I’m relieved there have been enough retirements and resignations to avoid layoffs, but it’s a deep shame to lose more experienced teachers, and I’m extremely concerned that numerous contracts with intended new hires will not be honored, endangering our ability to hire in the future. Additionally, hundreds of teachers are facing the pain and disruption of being involuntarily transferred to new schools and positions.
On the non-personnel side, the Montgomery Virtual Academy will be eliminated, prekindergarten expansion will be paused, equipment maintenance services will be reduced, valued enrichment opportunities and tutoring services will be cut, and more.
At a time when special education demands, Emergent Multilingual Learners, and Free and Reduced Price Meals (FARMS) enrollment have all increased dramatically, when families and staff are crying out for more support in our schools — literally in tears at recent PTA meetings I’ve attended – we will instead see the results of funding which provides less.
I am deeply committed to the ongoing work to increase transparency of the MCPS budget, and to further collaboration with the community, Council colleagues, the Board of Education, and MCPS to better ensure that children in our schools have the resources they need to succeed and to thrive.