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St. Mary’s County Public Schools previews roughly $307 million FY27 budget with $8.5M in negotiated pay increases
Summary
School system staff presented a FY2027 budget plan that includes roughly $8.5 million in negotiated pay increases for about 2,300 employees, an estimated $149.6 million in preliminary state aid and recommended unrestricted fund revenues of about $307.4 million; staff also proposed modest position reductions tied to declining enrollment and expiring grants.
St. Mary's County Public Schools staff presented the board with a proposed FY2027 budget at a Jan. 28 work session, outlining preliminary state aid, pay increases and staffing adjustments ahead of a formal vote next week.
The budget presenter said the negotiation package in the FY27 proposal includes step increases of $4,700,000, a 2% cost-of-living adjustment costing $3,500,000 and national board certification payments of $300,000 — $8,500,000 in total for approximately 2,300 employees. "The budget priorities for your FY '27 budget do include the negotiated agreement, which includes step increases totaling $4,700,000, the 2% COLA with a cost of $3,500,000, national board certification of 300,000," the presenter said.
Staff reported preliminary Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) line items that together yield $149,600,000 in preliminary state aid, an increase the presenter described as $3,000,000 over the current year. The MSDE figures cited included foundation funding, special education, transportation, compensatory education, limited English proficiency, full-day pre-K and other targeted program allocations.
On the revenue side, staff summarized recurring funds as state funding of $149,600,000, federal funding of $1,600,000 and other funding sources of $3,700,000, for total recurring funds of about $300,900,000. Total unrestricted fund revenues were reported as approximately $307,400,000, an overall increase of 3.1% compared with the current year.
To address declining enrollment and the revenue picture, staff recommended a net reduction of about 5.51 positions in the unrestricted fund. The presenter said one operational change is the planned closure of the school system's print shop, which would eliminate one position. Oversight of environmental health and safety compliance would be redistributed within operations and maintenance so three administrators share those duties.
The presenter framed the package as aiming to protect classroom instruction while responding to reduced enrollment and shifting grant support. Board members asked clarifying questions and offered praise for the finance team's "zero-based" approach to documenting budget changes.
The board is scheduled to consider the budget at a subsequent meeting the week following the work session.
