Charles County officials warn new Blueprint reporting rules may force waivers as redistricting and coding issues create compliance risk

Charles County Public Schools officials said at a Nov. 13 virtual town hall that the state's Blueprint for Maryland's Future minimum-school-funding rules are producing implementation challenges that may require the district to request waivers for some schools.

"The mission of Charles County Public Schools is to provide an opportunity for all school age children to receive an academically challenging, quality education," Board Chair Yanelle Morley Esquire said in opening remarks. Superintendent Maria Navarro and blueprint coordinator Chris Miller then described how the law's 75/25 requirement works and why it matters for local budgets.

Miller told attendees that minimum school funding requires, in many cases, that "75% of the funding for each school has to follow the student," and she listed the state funding categories that must be tracked (basic foundation, compensatory education, English-learner funds, special education, pre-K, transitional supplemental instruction, college-and-career and the comparable-wage index). She said concentration-of-poverty funds must be spent at the schools that generated them.

CFO Karen Acton described the mechanics and timeline the district must follow: fiscal year 2025…