Baltimore County superintendent reports attendance gains, higher teacher retention and outlines $126 million operating increase and $541 million capital ask

Superintendent Rogers updated the Baltimore County Delegation on Jan. 31, saying Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) has seen measurable gains in student attendance and teacher retention while presenting the school system's operating and capital funding requests for the coming fiscal year.

Rogers told delegates the system has “relaunched our efforts” around teaching and learning and that BCPS recorded “the highest improvement in the state of Maryland” last year on chronic absenteeism, an outcome she said was driven by professional learning communities, evidence-based curriculum and expanded support services. She also said BCPS is “outpacing the state” on teacher retention and that local retention is above 93 percent, compared with the most recent state figure of 89.3 percent.

The superintendent presented the operating budget request that includes a $126,000,000 increase (approximately a 6.5 percent rise) that would bring the operating-subtotal estimate from about $2.10 billion to about $2.26 billion. She identified components of the request as year-two compensation agreements covering roughly 20,000 employees; carryover of ESSER funds used for an extended school day; budgeting to actual expenditures for substitutes and related service providers;…