PGCPS board pauses new Imagine charter vote as finance staff outline funding changes for county charters

Prince George—s County Board of Education members spent much of their April 24 meeting on charter school funding, hearing a presentation from the district—s finance team, sustained public comment from charter parents and leaders, and agreeing to postpone a vote on a new Imagine-branded charter application until the board receives a needs assessment and more details.

The discussion centered on the implementation of Maryland—s —blueprint— per-pupil funding method and the district—s plan to reclassify and price centralized services that have been withheld from charters under a longstanding administrative fee. Chief Howe, the district—s chief financial officer, told the board that the switch to the blueprint methodology and the blending of legacy transportation revenue produced winners and losers in the 2025 allocations: —Seventy percent of our charters were receiving less funding in 2025 than they would have in the previous year. The district provided an additional funding subsidy, also known as a hold harmless, of around $6,000,000 to keep the per-pupil levels consistent for those 7 schools,— the chief said, adding that the hold-harmless was intended as one-time support during transition.

Why it matters: charter schools in Prince George—s County educate thousands of students and receive per-pupil allocations that now depend more explicitly on student demographics under the state—s blueprint. Changes to how centralized services are billed and to the administrative fee could materially reduce operating budgets at some charter schools, board members and public commenters warned.

Most important details

Chief Howe said the district moved to the blueprint allocation model in 2024 and…