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AACPS superintendent recommends $1.8 billion FY2026 operating budget; asks county for $94.3 million
Summary
Superintendent Mark Bedell and Chief Financial Officer Matt Stanski presented a $1.8 billion FY2026 operating budget recommendation at a Jan. 21 public workshop, highlighting enrollment growth, compensation investments, and state funding changes tied to the Blueprint for Maryland's Future.
The superintendent of Anne Arundel County Public Schools on Jan. 21 presented a recommended $1.8 billion operating budget for fiscal 2026 and asked the county for $94.3 million in additional local funding.
“we are requesting $1,800,000,000 in total operating funds,” Matt Stanski, chief financial officer, told the board during a public workshop led by Board President Robert Silkworth and Superintendent Mark Bedell. Stanski and AACPS staff walked board members through revenue assumptions, enrollment shifts and spending priorities that shaped the recommendation.
The recommendation breaks down as roughly 56.3 percent county funding, 32.5 percent state funding, about 5 percent from local fund balance and roughly 3.1 percent each from food service and federal sources. Stanski told the board the district’s September 30 enrollment count is 85,034 students and that demographic shifts are driving changes in formula revenue: compensatory education rose 2.4 percent, multilingual learners grew 6.8 percent and special education rose 2.7 percent year over year.
Why it matters: the district faces growing student need and a state funding formula tied to local wealth per pupil, which places…
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