PGCPS CFO warns of budget uncertainty, large planned use of fund balance and tariff-driven cost pressures

Zakiya Goins McCants, committee chair and District 8 board member, heard an update April 30 from Eugene Howe, chief financial officer for Prince George's County Public Schools, on the district's work to finalize its FY2026 budget and the financial risks the district faces.

The budget office said schools are completing student-based budgets while central teams reconcile assumptions, vendor quotes and grant forecasts; Howe warned federal grant levels, ongoing labor negotiations, tariff-driven price increases and an unresolved ESSER reimbursement appeal create significant uncertainty heading into FY2026.

Howe told the committee that schools "now receive their allocations and they're working through the process of building out their budgets for the coming school year," and described the district's three-step school budgeting structure: centrally managed "locked" positions, student-based allocations that principals control, and central-office programs. She said the district is updating many of its budget assumptions now that vendor quotes and market conditions have changed since the proposed budget was prepared in the fall.

The CFO flagged several specific fiscal pressures the board should expect. She said the district has about $374,000,000 in fund balance as of the end of last fiscal year, but roughly $90,000,000 of that is related to purchase orders already liquidated and that the