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Cecil County school leaders outline $23.1 million budget increase and warn of revenue gap
Summary
School leaders presented a FY2027 operating request that raises unrestricted spending by about $21.6 million (total operating increase $23.1M) and warned that rising health care, pension and contracted-service costs, plus enrollment shifts, leave the system with a multi-million-dollar shortfall unless the county provides funding above maintenance-of-effort.
Dr. Lawson, the district’s top presenter, told the Board of Education of Cecil County at a Jan. 28 work session that the school system’s FY2027 operating budget request would increase by roughly $23.1 million, an 8.4% rise over FY2026, driven primarily by health-care and pension costs, contracted services and other fixed charges.
"We did use $10,000,000 of fund balance to balance the FY26 budget," Ms. Sopa said, outlining revenue choices and noting the system intends to commit $5,000,000 of fund balance into FY27 planning. She told the board the district anticipates being about $2.8 million below FY26 revenues in the FY27 projection unless the county provides funding above the statutory maintenance-of-effort level.
The presenters said…
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