BCPS finance staff review state, county and federal funding; explain maintenance-of-effort and Blueprint allocations

At the Sept. 24 meeting, BCPS finance officials presented a report on local, state and federal funding responsibilities, explaining the district’s revenue mix and key rules that shape how money is allocated.

Dr. Grama and Whit Tantliff outlined the primary revenue sources for BCPS — county, state (including Blueprint funding) and federal grants — and emphasized that the board cannot levy taxes. They described maintenance-of-effort (MOE), the statutory floor for required local funding, and said the district now uses a three-year rolling average for eligible student counts under recent Blueprint updates. For FY26 the county provided $34 million above the MOE floor.

Tantliff reviewed the Blueprint funding components — foundation program, compensatory education, special education pass-throughs, multilingual-learner funding and the new pre-K full‑day tiers — and explained that most state formulas produce a state share and a local share based on relative wealth. He noted that pre-K funding applies only to full‑day tier 1 and tier 2 students, which is driving a conversion to full‑day pre‑K classrooms in new sites.

On grants, staff said most federal grants are reimbursable: the district must document expenditures before receiving payment. They also described spending-authority limits on contracts and monthly p‑card limits.

Board members asked about external audits and the Office of Legislative Audits (OLA) schedule. Staff said external audits are routine and that the OLA audit was delayed to spring 2026 so the district would be further into the ERP implementation; staff indicated they would check whether audit scope had been shared and whether the district could request a post‑implementation special review.

The presentation closed with staff noting the district’s use of energy-performance contracts and other fiscal controls; no board vote was taken.