Educators and community groups urge Howard County Council to fully fund schools' $6.2M gap remains

Bill Barnes, superintendent of the Howard County Public School System, urged the County Council to preserve the County Executive's proposed investment in schools, saying the executive's plan provides $57 million in new recurring operating revenue that would enable the district to implement its priorities.

The plea came at a public hearing on the FY2027 operating budget, where school officials and dozens of community members pressed council members to fully fund the Board of Education's $1,285,000,000 request, which the county executive's proposal funds at about 99.3%.

"With this investment, my team can implement the strategies necessary to put forward a recommendation that meets the board's request in full," Superintendent Bill Barnes said, asking the council to "maintain the funding level included in the county executive's proposal." The superintendent framed the request as the result of months of coordination among the district, bargaining units and community stakeholders.

Brian Hall, the school system's chief financial officer, told council members that the remaining shortfall is roughly $6.2 million and said the board expects final state aid numbers from the Maryland State Department of Education that could reduce that need; if not, he said the district would consider using a portion of its fund balance to close the gap. "A little over $6,000,000 at the moment, it's looking like about $6,200,000," Hall said in response to a council question. He also said projected year-end fund balance is about $14 million.

Educators and labor leaders told the council that relying on one-time reserves to pay recurring costs is unsustainable. "Close is simply not good enough," Benjamin Schmidt, president of the Howard County Education Association, said. He cautioned that using fund balance for recurring obligations is effectively "borrowing from the next fiscal year" and highlighted program and staffing reductions that, he said, have already reduced services such as paraprofessional support and elementary media services.

Teachers and parents emphasized priorities the superintendent and board asked the county to fund, including pre-kindergarten expansion, multilingual staffing, special education investments and professional development in the science of reading. Chief Academic Officer Jennifer Webster described targeted investments to strengthen learning and reduce reliance on costly nonpublic placements, and Erin Parker, a literacy advocate, urged the council to preserve funding for diagnostics and coaching so educators can provide interventions aligned to students' needs.

Several witnesses, including Board of Education Vice Chair Meg Ricks and parent and PTA leaders, framed the request as a long-term policy choice rather than a year-to-year expenditure, noting that repeated use of reserves had led to program cuts over multiple cycles. "Please ensure a path for the Board of Education's requested budget to be fully funded," Ricks said, urging the council to protect programs for multilingual learners, special education and expanded pre-kindergarten.

Speakers disagreed on the county's fiscal capacity but converged on process: several called for the council to use recurring county revenue rather than HCPSS reserves. PTAC Executive Vice President Corina Fisher and other speakers pointed to updated county revenue projections and investment-income gains as evidence that the county could close the gap without depleting school reserves.

Council members indicated they would press the issue further at upcoming work sessions. The council's formal budget work sessions were scheduled to continue in April and May, with a specific education work session noted for Wednesday following the hearing.

The hearing did not include a council vote; the council will consider amendments and take further action at its scheduled work sessions.