Wicomico County Board of Education reports enrollment surge, Beaver Run expansion and budget request; COVID retainage poses short-term cash issue

Leaders of Wicomico County Public Schools updated the county council at the April 15 work session on multiple topics: gift-card purchasing controls, a two-classroom addition at Beaver Run Elementary, an enrollment surge and changing student demographics, a COVID-grant retainage the district expects to cover short-term, and the district’s FY26 funding request (maintenance of effort plus a proposed 2 percent reinvestment).

Gift cards: The superintendent reported that Wicomico County Public Schools revised procurement procedures after a 2014 Department of Legislative Services audit to restrict the purchase of gift cards with board funds for employees. Under the district’s current procedure, gift cards may not be purchased as gifts, awards or incentives for employees with board funds; they may be purchased when used as awards or incentives for students, and the district uses a gift-card validation form to track requests, purchases and distribution. The district said that in FY24 there were 179 gift-card purchases recorded; all were for students (not employees) and the purchases came primarily from state funding for PBIS/attendance incentives, school activity funds, grants, or donated cards.

Beaver Run addition and pre-K: The district said it has roughly $2 million remaining from bond funds for Beaver Run Elementary and plans to build a two-classroom addition beginning this summer with the new rooms opening in fall 2027. The school currently enrolls about 730 students and has limited pre-K space: the district said it serves roughly 750 pre-K students systemwide and that Beaver Run operates six pre-K classrooms with additional pre-K students transported to Fruitland Primary due to space limits.

Enrollment and demographics: Superintendent Mike Stauffer and other district leaders told the council that morning enrollment was 15,629 students (15,632 in the afternoon count) — roughly 400 students more than county projections. The district said 72.1 percent of students meet at least one of the state’s at-risk categories (eligible for free/reduced meals, special education, or multilingual-learner services). Specific figures cited: roughly 1,507 multilingual learners (about 15 percent), 690 identified as homeless (about 4.5 percent), 1,703 living in shared residences (about 11 percent), and 1,836 students receiving special-education services (about 11.7 percent). District leaders said the surge has driven immediate operational pressures — more teachers, more classroom space, and additional supports — and that many of the newly arrived students are multilingual learners who were not reflected in prior census-based projections.

COVID grant retainage: The district said it completed multiple COVID-related capital projects but is holding about $1.2 million in contractor retainage. A March 28 communication from the state limited counties’ ability to draw federal COVID funds further, creating a short-term cash requirement for the district; the district said it will pay the contractors and seek reimbursement through appeals and ongoing federal/state processes but that it will present an out-of-category budget transfer to the council in the spring to cover the interim cash need if reimbursements are delayed. The district noted that 16 states have filed legal action on similar sudden federal/state cutoff decisions, including Maryland.

Budget request and local funding: The district described its FY26 request as the maintenance-of-effort calculation tied to enrollment plus an additional 2 percent local reinvestment to address school climate, class size, student supports, transportation, and other recurring costs. District leaders said many items in their request are recurring and that local funding supports classroom materials, extracurricular programs, transportation and support staff that the state’s Blueprint funding does not cover. They asked the council to consider the county executive’s proposed local funding package and stressed that local investment will be needed to maintain class sizes and services as enrollment and student needs increase.

Capital projects and Fruitland Primary: District staff said the Interagency Commission on School Construction (IAC) has increased the district’s anticipated FY26 capital allocation for Fruitland Primary compared with earlier estimates, improving cash-flow projections for the project and reducing the district’s need for short-term forward funding this fiscal year. The district credited work by its state delegation and IAC advocacy for the larger allocation but said it remains focused on ensuring the project remains fully funded through construction.

Why it matters: Enrollment growth and changing student needs affect operating budgets, staffing decisions and capital projects. The COVID retainage issue creates an immediate cash-flow question that the district plans to cover while pursuing reimbursement.

What’s next: The district will send the gift-card validation form to county staff on request, begin the Beaver Run classroom addition this summer, submit an out-of-category budget transfer if needed to cover retainage, and continue coordination with the IAC on Fruitland Primary funding.