Carroll County schools face $3.6 million shortfall; superintendent proposes cuts including Outdoor School closure

WESTMINSTER, Md. — At a Jan. 29 special meeting of the Carroll County Public Schools Board of Education, Superintendent Dr. McCabe presented a proposed fiscal 2026 operating budget that she said leaves the district with a structural shortfall of $3.6 million and forces program and staffing reductions.

"As we present the budget this evening, you will see that we find ourselves in a very challenging position," Superintendent Dr. McCabe told the board. Her presentation, which the board scheduled as a special meeting to allow earlier public hearings, laid out revenue updates, projected expenditure increases, and a series of proposed reductions to bring the operating budget into balance.

Why it matters: The district faces both lower-than-expected flexible state aid and inflationary cost increases. Dr. McCabe and staff said the combination reduces discretionary funding and will constrain the board’s ability to honor multi-year employee compensation commitments, expand programs or make new investments for FY26.

State and local revenue outlook: Mr. Burke, a district budget staff member, said the county has built $7,200,000 into local revenues for FY26 and that updates to the governor’s budget reduced the district’s most-flexible state aid (the foundation) from earlier estimates. "When we look at our projected state revenue and foundation, the $2,100,000 along with the county planned amount there, our request of 7.2, we come to a total increase in projected revenue of $9,300,000," Mr. Burke said. He added the district now projects a $12,900,000 increase in expenditures for FY26, producing a gap of about $3,600,000.

Proposed reductions and program impacts: To close the gap, the superintendent offered a slate of reductions and options, including:

- Ending or reducing elementary 1:1 student device assignments: The administration proposes returning grades 3–5 to a shared-cart model (the district already moved K–2 to shared carts), a change staff said would save roughly $1 million per three grade bands. "It means they will not have a 1 to 1 computer assigned to them," Mr. Shocne (district staff) said, describing the shared-cart model.

- Cutting Outdoor School staffing: The superintendent proposed closing the program and eliminating the staff positions that support it, which the presentation estimated would save about $1.1 million in personnel costs. Staff noted the district does not own the Outdoor School property (it is county property) and any long-term change would require county discussion.

- Reducing the bus-contractor salary formula increase from a proposed 5% to 3% (staff said this change would be about $200,000) while keeping a historically negotiated 3% floor to preserve contractor viability.

- Eliminating three central-office clerical full-time equivalents and other targeted central-office reductions.

Other specific budget pressures identified by staff included roughly $3.3 million in projected utility cost increases tied to new electric and natural gas contracts, about $1.9 million in device replacement ramp-up costs, and a $400,000 increase in digital curriculum/site-license costs. The district has already made more than $40 million in reductions over the prior decade, staff said, including the elimination of roughly 375.5 full-time positions between FY09 and FY19 and three school closures in FY17.

Contracts and personnel: The presentation made clear the district currently lacks FY26 funding to meet previously negotiated multiyear commitments for several employee groups. "We do not have the money to honor that third year of the contract," the superintendent said, adding the district would initiate renegotiation procedures required under law and follow the prescribed process with the affected bargaining units. Legal counsel/negotiation staff said they would meet with units in good faith.

Budget process and next steps: The board set a public hearing and work session for 6 p.m. Feb. 5 in the boardroom and a board meeting with public participation at 4 p.m. Feb. 12, where staff will present further detail, including the district’s blueprint fiscal compliance analysis and potential school-level staffing movements. Dr. McCabe and staff said larger staffing and reallocation decisions tied to the state’s Blueprint for Maryland’s Future compliance will be presented at or after Feb. 12.

Fund balance and one-time actions: Staff proposed using $500,000 of fund balance to help phase in the utility increase and identified a list of already-assigned fund balance items totaling $6,600,000 (including capital repairs to the Winchester building and a $1,000,000 Towson University teacher induction partnership). The district reported an unassigned fund balance after the proposed uses of about $11.5 million (about 2.7% of the budget), which staff characterized as historically average and healthy.

Board action and meeting housekeeping: At the start of the special meeting, the board approved the meeting agenda on a motion by Dr. Dorsey, seconded by Mr. Whistler; the chair, Tyra Battaglia, said the motion passed unanimously. After the budget presentation and questions, the board unanimously approved a motion to close the meeting.

What the board and public will see next: Staff said the Feb. 12 session will add school-by-school staffing analyses and projected class-size ranges tied to the blueprint reallocation process. Dr. McCabe and several board members urged the public to contact state legislators in Annapolis regarding the blueprint funding and mandate structure cited by multiple speakers as a principal cause of the district’s constrained flexibility.

The presentation and board comments left several items described in the meeting as "not specified" (for example, exact final staffing counts and the detailed fiscal-compliance cuts that will be presented Feb. 12). The board left the record open for public input during the scheduled hearings and work sessions in early February.

Votes at a glance: The meeting recorded two formal motions: approval of the meeting agenda (motion passed unanimously) and a motion to close the meeting (passed unanimously). No formal board vote on the FY26 operating budget occurred at this meeting; the board will consider further action after the Feb. 5 hearing and Feb. 12 work session.

Ending: The board will receive more detailed proposals and school-level staffing analyses on Feb. 12; any final adoption to forward a budget request to the county must be completed by March 1 under the district’s timetable for FY26.