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PGCPS budget office explains student‑based allocations, warns TSI funding ends July 1
Summary
Director Siobhan Smith told the Feb. 11 committee that student‑based budgeting represents the discretionary portion of school allocations, described locked funding categories and said Transitional Supplemental Instruction (TSI) restricted funding ends July 1; staff asked board members to submit amendments early to allow incorporation before the Feb. 26 budget vote.
Director Siobhan Smith, head of Budget and Management Services, briefed the committee on Feb. 11 about how the district calculates school allocations and what principals should expect in the student‑based budgeting process.
"As you know, we receive funds from MSDE based on our wealth equalization," Smith said, noting allocations depend on certified enrollment counts (reported as of Sept. 30, 2025) and per‑pupil amounts. She described student‑based budgeting as "the discretionary portion of the allocation that principals can now plan and budget for," and explained that some funds are locked at the school or centrally managed and therefore not under principals' direct control.
Smith highlighted a timing and funding change: "Transitional supplemental instruction...is going away come July 1. So this fiscal year, '26, is the last year that we get funding, restricted funding for what we call TSI." She also said the budget office is calculating allocations and expects to have principals' allocations and the budget tool (Apex) available for schools to enter line items; staff aimed to have allocations finalized "no later than April 21."
On amendments, Smith advised board members to submit ideas — even conceptual ones — through the board's amendment tracker and to select Business and Management Services (BMS) so proposals route to the budget office. Chief Howe added: the board will vote on the requested budget that will be transmitted to the county at the Feb. 26 meeting, and having amendment requests by the 19th gives staff time to prepare materials to present to the public in advance of that vote.
Board members raised process questions. Committee Vice Chair Brown said she does not plan to submit amendments given the district's deficit but asked whether members should publicly state positions at the Feb. 26 meeting or submit amendments earlier. Smith replied that members who wish to change the proposed budget should submit amendments via the tracker so staff can analyze fiscal impact and collaborate with other divisions if needed.
Next steps: principals will be asked to plan budgets with their instructional directors, enter budgets in Apex when the tool is live, and staff will work to incorporate any vetted amendments ahead of the Feb. 26 board vote. The committee did not vote on amendments at the Feb. 11 meeting.
