Board hears debate over restoring summer programs vs. expanding virtual high school in FY26 budget

The Howard County Board of Education on Feb. 20 considered competing priorities in the superintendent’s proposed FY26 operating budget for the Equity and Innovation division, including a $3.7 million restoration for summer academic programming and a possible expansion of the district’s virtual high school that staff estimate would cost about $1.1 million to scale to ninth through 12th grades.

Caroline Walker, Chief Equity and Innovation Officer for Howard County Public Schools, told the board the division’s FY26 request includes restorations of programs reduced in prior years and shifts to account for a new division structure. “The funding requests in this year's budget around equity and innovation are either restorations to prior programs…or things that are transitioning from grants,” Walker said. She identified the academic intervention program and summer programming among the largest restorations, and listed virtual high school programming, transportation for after-school programs, and expanded professional learning as unfunded priorities.

Board members asked how staff decided to prioritize the summer restorations over expansion of the…