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St. Mary’s schools face $6.3 million shortfall; superintendent warns of potential staffing reductions
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Smith told the Board of Education that county funding left St. Mary's County Public Schools $6.3 million short of the system's proposed FY26 budget and that honoring negotiated salary agreements without additional funds would equate to cutting about 90 positions.
St. Mary’s County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Smith told the Board of Education on April 23 that the district is “currently flat funded” by the county and faces a $6,300,000 gap between the system’s proposed budget and projected revenue.
The shortfall, Dr. Smith said, stems from the county’s proposed budget that provides no additional funding to cover negotiated salary agreements for teachers, support staff and administrators. “We ask for an increase of $5,300,000 from the county commissioners to fund our negotiated agreement,” Dr. Smith said. “We are currently flat funded...we are $6,300,000 off of that budget.”
Why it matters: the superintendent said recurring operating shortfalls must be balanced with recurring revenue. Without new funding from the county commissioners, Dr. Smith said the district would face hard…
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