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Howard County budget shifts staff to expand special‑education, multilingual and pre‑K supports while trimming some secondary media roles
Summary
Board discussion of the superintendent's FY27 proposal focused on a $4 million placeholder to expand special‑education programming, conversions of paraeducators into licensed multilingual teachers, and repurposing some media specialist roles into paraeducator support; staff said detailed FTEs and program breakdowns will be provided in February.
The Howard County Board of Education spent the bulk of its Jan. 22 work session on the superintendent's proposed fiscal 2027 operating budget, with staff arguing the plan repurposes resources to better serve students with the greatest needs while board members pressed for more detail on costs and implementation.
Jennifer Webster, the system's chief academic officer, told the board the proposal includes a $4,000,000 investment intended to expand the district's program continuum for students receiving special education services and to reduce reliance on non‑public placements. "There will be FTEs associated with it," Webster said, but she and budget staff said they are finalizing the specific positions and counts and will present a fuller breakdown at the February strategic plan update.
Webster said 471 students are currently in non‑public placements and the budget increases non‑public tuition funding to $32,200,000 for FY27, a $500,000 rise over the current year. Brian Hall, the district's chief financial officer, cautioned that the governor's proposal to freeze non‑public tuition rates could…
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