Caroline County schools present $2.2 million local funding gap in FY26 budget

Caroline County Public Schools officials on March 11 presented an approved fiscal year 2026 operating budget that officials say leaves a $2.2 million revenue gap and asks the Board of Supervisors for additional local support.

Dr. Cabarrick, the school division superintendent, and other school leaders told the supervisors the division’s top priorities for FY26 are employee compensation and benefits, special education staffing, student support services including mental health, and technology refresh. “People over things,” Cabarrick said, describing stakeholder priorities collected during the budget process.

The division is adopting an average daily membership (ADM) of 4,340 for FY26 budget calculations and expects an additional $1.36 million in state revenue tied to modest ADM growth, a proposed 3% state compensation increase for Standards of Quality positions, and other state adjustments. But those state increases trigger an increased local match. School staff said the approved operating budget requests $2.1 million in new local support to implement the division’s priorities, and without new local operational funding the FY26 plan shows a $2.2 million gap.

Key FY26 proposals include: a 3% across‑the‑board increase for all employees (inclusive of a step), adjustments to the support staff pay scale with starting pay for support roles rising from $12.88 to $13.75 per hour, a recalibrated teacher salary scale (1.45% between steps), and additional staffing for special education (five nurses, five instructional aides and one teacher), mental‑health services (one secondary mental‑health provider) and classroom needs (about 8.5 FTEs including world languages and electives). The schools also asked for $519,700 in recurring funds to sustain technology replacement and device refresh cycles after prior VPSA and grant support declined.

Marsha Stevens, the division’s chief operations officer, told the board health insurance premiums are expected to rise roughly 12%, creating an estimated $775,000 employer cost increase. Stevens said the division’s eight‑year average annual premium increase is about 8.16%.

School staff described efforts since FY22 to raise salaries and close regional gaps, noting first‑ and fifth‑year teacher pay now rank in the middle of their recruitment region after prior adjustments. But they said support‑staff pay still lags regional peers and that targeted scale adjustments are required to recruit and retain custodians, paraeducators, food service technicians and similar positions.

The school presentation included enrollment and special education count trends: special education enrollment rose from 589 (2022‑23) to 694 (12/1 current year), an 18% two‑year increase the division said is driving requests for additional aides, case managers and teachers. Division staff also described uses of pandemic and one‑time grant funds and warned special grant funds will fall by about $2.8 million when pandemic funding expires.

School leaders asked for continued local engagement in the FY26 process. The county administrator is scheduled to present the county’s FY26 proposed budget March 25 and the public hearing on the county budget will be held at a later date. The schools asked supervisors to consider the division’s operating request to close the identified revenue gap so the division can implement the FY26 priorities presented.

The Board did not take a final funding vote during the March 11 meeting; supervisors and school staff agreed to continue joint conversations about capital and operating priorities in coming weeks.