BOE Adopts $3.32 Billion Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2025

During its business meeting on June 11, the Montgomery County Board of Education adopted a $3.32 billion operating budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, an increase of $147 million or 4.6 percent, over the prior year. Although the adopted budget allows MCPS to maintain a high-quality teaching and learning environment with highly qualified employees, it reflects a $30 million reduction for a same-services budget from FY 2024.

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

Reductions

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

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

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

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

Resources:

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