Montgomery County panel hears MCPS request emphasizing special education, staffing and building maintenance

The Montgomery County Council Education & Culture Committee received an overview of the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) FY26 operating budget request on the committee’s first of four work sessions, with board and system leaders urging investment to stabilize staffing, student supports and building maintenance.

"This is the first of 4 E and C set work sessions on the board of education's requested FY 26 budget, operating budget for MCPS," Chair Gewondo said at the start of the meeting. Board President Julie Yang said the request is intended to keep the system running and to address long‑standing needs. "This budget, for 1, it will keep our school system running," Yang said.

The superintendent framed the request as a "broccoli" budget — a set of necessary fixes instead of an array of new initiatives. "We have relatively flat enrollment changes," Superintendent Dr. Taylor said, "but the makeup of our student population is changing — students with disabilities and emergent multilingual learners are growing and need more resources." Taylor also highlighted academic performance gaps: "Just over half of our students meeting state proficiency for literacy" and "just a third of our students are meeting state proficiency in mathematics." Those shortfalls, he said, drive a portion of the funding ask.

Key numbers and priorities cited by MCPS staff and county staff in the meeting packet include: - Board of Education request:…