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Montgomery County Council backs package to fund MCPS, restores parks and planning items
Summary
The council approved a package that would provide Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) with 99.8% of its FY26 funding request, restored previously proposed reductions, and moved $3,560,000 into the parks and planning base budget; all motions passed unanimously.
The Montgomery County Council on May 14 approved a council president–led FY26 funding package that would provide Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) with 99.8% of the total resources requested by the Board of Education.
"The council president has proposed an FY26 MCPS funding package in collaboration with the board of education and the superintendent of schools that would provide MCPS with 99.8% of the total resources requested by the board of education," said Mr. Howard, council staff, as he outlined the three components of the proposal: a county appropriation above the minimum maintenance‑of‑effort level, one‑time drawdowns from the retiree health benefits trust, and other adjustments to narrow the board’s request to an $8.6 million gap.
The package combines a $210,000,000 appropriation above the MOE level and a one‑time $50,000,000 drawdown (split as $25 million in both FY25 and FY26) from the retiree health benefits trust to address retiree benefit payments and cash‑flow needs. After the presentation, the council took a hand vote and approved the proposal unanimously.
The vote on the MCPS package was paired with related budget reconciliation decisions. With the MCPS approach agreed, the council removed a staff‑recommended package of reductions from the reconciliation list so those line items will remain at the executive‑recommended levels. "These were not things that came out of our committee conversations but before we knew we had a path forward, looking at the MCPS budget," the council president said before the motion to remove the reductions passed unanimously.
The council also restored funding for parks and planning base budget items. "All those in favor of moving this $3,560,000 for the M‑NCPPC budget into the base budget, please raise your hand," the council president said; members voted to move the funding into the base budget unanimously.
Why it matters: The actions preserve near‑full funding for MCPS in FY26 while reversing proposed reductions and restoring targeted funding for parks and planning. Council staff said final resolution language for some drawdown items will be prepared for final action at upcoming sessions.
Next steps: Council staff will prepare budget resolution language for final action (including OPAD drawdown language) in advance of the council’s next scheduled budget session.
